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shift system to manage the day .
“ The bulk of what we trade comes overnight and will be quant orders ,” explains Derbaudrenghien . “ That keeps us busy right from the morning .”
Robeco has an equities offering in Asia but has also recently launched a fixed income fund from Singapore thanks to increased demand in the region . The fund began trading at the start of last year . The firm trades half of its Asian equities flow electronically and half with cash , Derbaudrenghien confirms , adding that the way the firm ’ s Asian trading offering is set up makes it unique in comparison with its local peers .
“ Part of the Asian trades will still be traded from Rotterdam because we have large quant programs and cash must be managed between regions . Therefore , everything that ' s very liquid will be traded overnight through programs by our Rotterdam colleagues with oversight from the Hong Kong desk ,” says Derbaudrenghien .
Given the market structure nuances of Asia , Suen stresses the importance of the high touch traders on the ground in the region to find natural liquidity . Asian markets have fragmented and regionalised regulatory and market structures to adhere to , he explains , with varying levels of appetite for dark trading . This is something the Hong Kong based pair must manage .
“ The Asia region is very different compared to Europe and the US because the liquidity here is very light . It was worse during Covid because there was no volume ,” says Suen . “ We base a lot of algos on the machines , but then at the same time , we trade a lot in the crossing platforms and in the dark venues .”
“ At times , you can cross against a VWAP order 100 shares at a time without problems and it will complete half of your order in the dark ,” adds Derbaudrenghien . “ Managing the dark is very important for Australia , Hong Kong and Japan . Overall , we cross a lot of blocks in those markets and in ASEAN markets as well , or in New Zealand early in the morning .”
Across the Pacific sits Robeco ’ s US-based high touch trading team . As a European asset manager with a trading desk based in the US and a global outsourced middle-office provider , Robeco has found itself better equipped than others to weather the fallout caused by the market ’ s shift to T + 1 settlement in the US .
“ However , that [ the T + 1 shift ] has definitely had an impact on portfolio implementation and operations and not just the trading desk ,” says Wijgerse .
Sitting in the US are trader Jules Boletis and senior trader Tamara Botteldooren , both of whom were drawn to the region by a love of the markets and of living abroad . After three months on an exchange programme to Boston with Robeco ,
“ You must ensure that you are comparing apples to apples , which we do through randomised controlled trials .”
LARS TER BRAAK
Botteldooren asked to move to the US permanently . Originally joining Robeco in 2004 , she is now in her second decade at the asset manager .
“ The firm I left to join Robeco was still using spreadsheets to send orders ,” she explains . “ I joined Robeco as they were already way ahead of everyone else technology-wise back in 2004 . Today we are still one of the leaders .”
Working alongside her is Jules Boletis who has been with Robeco for five years and has spent the last two of those in New York . The US desk does not have local portfolio managers . Instead , Botteldooren and Boletis represent and execute on behalf of the Rotterdam and Hong Kong based equities portfolio managers .
24 // TheTRADE // Q1 2024