( i . e ., fast , real and retail money ), as these make a market where investors can express a view , whether its short term , trending or fundamental , and let ’ s not forget , that each investor type is a liquidity provider / taker , and they all are integral for the market to operate efficiently .”
Communication is key At Fidelity , she trades European and emerging markets focusing on financials , real estate and multi-asset . The team has five sector traders , one systematic trader and an order management analyst , lead by head of trading Tom Stevenson . Based in London , they cover markets across EMEA with a mix of both buy- and sell-side experience . Across the firm they work with over 80 fund managers from as far afield as Brazil , Toronto , continental Europe and Hong Kong , while Fidelity also has equity trading desks in Hong Kong to trade Asia Pacific and Toronto to trade North America , again making communication crucial .
“ Essentially , I think the communication barriers have been totally demolished , and that has really helped PMs and traders work much better together .”
“ There ’ s a lot of collaboration between the trading desks and with my trading counterparts , we talk a lot about what works in one region versus another . We all use the same systems , but we might all use them differently , so we hold continuous roundtables to discuss issues such as liquidity , automation and so on , and our approach to them . Those conversations and how we can leverage experience are absolutely vital to our success .”
Even small things can make a big difference , when it comes to building those internal relationships . When O ’ Connor started at Fidelity in 2018 , the traders and fund managers sat in different offices from each other , and sometimes even different buildings . “ It felt quite segregated ,” she said . “ We ’ ve made significant communication enhancements since then – and in 2019 we moved to our new offices , with an open floor plan and , crucially , strategically located next to the tea station . That might sound silly , but it means everyone walks past you all the time and it gave us an opportunity to interact with the fund managers on a less formal basis , which makes all the difference when it comes to building relationships as well as chatting about liquidity opportunities , market soundings ,
and investment rational for particular orders .”
Pace of progress On the trading floor , things can change fast . “ When I first joined Fidelity , email was the main communication , which I found very strange and quite different – no one really used Bloomberg IB Chat , for example ,” said O ’ Connor .
But Covid and lockdown brought a lot of changes , both in terms of work-style and technology . “ We now use communication channels like Teams as our primary method , and that ’ s made a big difference . We have a lot of PMs that are not based in the office , or even if they are they might be on client or company meetings or listening to client calls . So
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