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other . If you ’ re going out every time with $ 2-5 million and putting everyone up against each other for every trade , there is an element of winner ’ s curse there . If you win , everyone else knows you ’ ve won .
“ They might not know who it is , but they ’ ll know someone has taken on $ 5 million-worth of risk . They can then position themselves accordingly , and you are off-side very quickly . The banks don ’ t like that , they would like more bilateral trading , and a lot of that comes with trust . The banks don ’ t have a lot of balance sheet to provide necessarily to every client , they have to pick and choose . It ’ s important , as a non-trillion dollar asset manager , that we seek to strengthen those relationships .”
Ringing the bells So where next for Jupiter , with Poole at the helm ?
“ There are some immediate changes I think can be implemented ,” he reveals . “ We currently have a cash management element to our trading desk – I would like that to become more dynamic , and more valueaccretive : more cash trading as opposed to oversight of cash positions and collateral .
“ I ’ d also like to use technology more strategically . At the moment we use BlackRock Aladdin as our OMS , so we ’ re going to be partnering up with them a lot more to try and standardise views across the investment floor when it comes to how people look at cash positions especially . Data is only ever as good as understanding what you ’ re looking at – if everyone ’ s looking at a different view then when something goes wrong , you spend the first hour trying to work out what you ’ re looking at .
“ A reluctance to change can be
an issue , and we on the buy-side often get tarred with the same brush . It can be difficult to move the needle , although as an industry , I do think that ( especially on the buy-side ), we are more collaborative than ever . But within the four walls that constitute Jupiter Asset Management , my views are very clear . We should be looking at how we use data , we should be looking at how we use the platforms at our disposal , and how we can better utilise the technology that we pay for . We should be more vocal about the demands we have of that technology .
“ If we can fix the current internal fragmentation around disparate datasets and technology usage , I think we ’ ll be in a far stronger position to achieve the goals that I have in mind : which are to help the trading desk utilise their experience and skillset in order to add to the investment process , as opposed to feeling like they are fire-fighting .
“ By this time next year , I ’ d like every trader to feel comfortable using a dataset in order to tell a story about what they ’ ve traded and why . We ’ re quite a quiet trading desk , which is fine at times , but I ’ d like us to be more proactive . I want us to be able to tell our investment managers what we ’ ve done , why we ’ ve done it , and use the data to illustrate that . Then we ’ ll be able to demonstrate our value , and that ’ s never been more important for the buy-side . It ’ s on us , to show that value .
“ And that will happen , within the next year . That ’ s my role , and I ’ m looking forward to the execution .”
22 // TheTRADE // Q4 2022