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Trading at the frontier
ANNABEL SMITH sits down with the London-based trading team at emerging and frontier markets trading specialist Ninety One to get the inside track on how the desk fits into the global asset manager ’ s remit , along with discussing market themes , and the team ’ s technology wish list .
The London-based trading team at Ninety One has a very particular set of skills . The active investment manager specialises in emerging and frontier markets trading across fixed income , credit and specialist equities . And sitting on its global trading desks are a pod of traders known for their ability to interact with some of the most inaccessible financial markets around the world .
At the helm of the team is global head of trading Cathy Gibson who oversees trading across the asset manager ’ s offices in London , the US , Asia Pacific and South Africa . Gibson is a seasoned trader with an extensive career in markets .
She joined Ninety One in 2021 from Royal London Asset Management where she had been head of dealing for three years .
Previously in her career , she spent two and a half years as head of fixed income trading for UK asset management at Deutsche Asset Management [ now DWS ] and nearly five years at Pioneer Investments as a senior fixed income dealer . She began her career with a two-year stint as a principal dealer at Bank of Ireland Global Markets .
In her more recent roles however , Gibson has stepped away from the markets and instead refocused her attentions on leading and developing her global team . Having a cohesive team globally has proved an increasingly essential tool for institutions in light of the ongoing globalisation of finance and the turbulence caused by market events in the last few years .
Varied approaches to the Covid-19 pandemic starting in 2020 paired with the subsequently varied ap-
42 // TheTRADE // Q3 2024