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gained more clients in the UK and although it was challenging , we knew in that sense we had to be global . We can say today the platform is truly global , it ’ s a multi-asset platform and all of our traders are using the same systems .”
He says the team were handed complete control by the most senior managers at Unigestion when reviewing and choosing which vendors to work with as the trading desk shifted to multi-asset and the business became MiFID II compliant . This , Champenois says , made the process and decision-making far smoother , as they were essentially handed a blank cheque to choose the very best option for the trading desk .
“ The regulation is of course a very important point ,” Marie-Françoise , recognised Rising Star under The TRADE ’ s Rising Stars of Trading Execution initiative , and two-time nominee at The TRADE ’ s Leaders in Trading buyside awards , adds . “ There was a lot of additional administrative work and adjustments that needed to be made to the trading platform . We are now closely tied to MiFID II in terms of systems and processes , despite it being very new to Switzerland and our desk being a bit of an exception in Switzerland .”
In-depth discussions with peers and brokers were perhaps the most important tool for the traders when implementing such vast changes , and in becoming a MiFID II-compliant asset manager . Brokers also provided additional and regular training sessions to help the traders in Geneva and London , most of whom had a strong background in equities trading , gain the required expertise to trade the new instruments .
“ It was an obstacle to overcome in terms of gaining the expertise
“ We can say today the platform is truly global , it ’ s a multi-asset platform .”
ERIC CHAMPENOIS , HEAD OF MULTI- ASSET TRADING DESK , UNIGESTION
26 // TheTRADE // Fall 2020