[ I N D E P T H | F O R E I G N E X C H A N G E ]
years-plus of experience – concisely confirming the need to embark on a rethink and transformation that was already well underway across the pond.
Despite the departures being an inevitable loss, there’ s a coincidence of timing at play, given the company was already looking to replicate much of its recent US transitions and restructurings across the UK, APAC and beyond.
Transitions that would seek to embrace multi-asset desks to aggregate expertise across trading arms, increasing levels of efficiency, and synchronisation. Changes that would encourage automation to dilute the impact of lost experience as more routine trades play out electronically while high touch trading is turned to for more complex deals.
Additionally, an evolution which( inevitably) is set for a focus on fostering the next generation through thoughtful, thorough, programmes to prepare junior traders for a multispecialised, digitised desk of the future.
The retirements and loss of experience have simply demonstrated the need for proactivity, rather than sparked sudden reactivity, as Smith reflects.
“ When the opportunity presented itself for two of our senior FX dealers in the UK to retire, they took advantage of that, and with their departures we lost a lot of experience of relationship-based voice trading, of navigating volatility, and of, specifically, navigating FX volatility.
“ You’ re never going to fully replace individuals with that
much institutional knowledge and long asset-class experience. But, we could immediately respond by having a young trader who has really come up to speed well, training the rest of the team. We could respond by rethinking the split between automation and voice trading to become more efficient during the transition and beyond.
“[…] A move towards multi-asset desks, knowing that a good trader can trade almost anything as long as they still value the familiarity, repetition, and the relationships of each specific asset.”
Overhauling to create longevity Managing headcounts while maintaining service quality and responsiveness is the unwavering goal,
56 // TheTRADE // Q2 2026