[ A L G O R I T H M I C T R A D I N G S U R V E Y ] account for the largest share of trading activity at 92 %( up from 85 % in 2025), while North America increased from 78 % up to 87 %. Asia-Pacific was unchanged at 49 % year-on-year. Respondents also reported activity in emerging markets, with the Middle East and Africa increasing from 14 % to 20 %, while Latin America declined from 25 % down to 17 % over the same period. In terms of asset classes, equities continue to hold a near-universal position, accounting for more than 92 % of respondents ' trading activity. Meanwhile ETFs drop back to 53.3 %, after a big jump to 64.8 % in 2025. Fixed income, which held relatively stable between 2024 and 2025, has also dropped sharply in 2026, down to 29 %. This ten point fall is significant, and could reflect the rate the environment is shifting hedge fund attention away from fixed income strategies. In FX we see a consistent decline over the past three years, suggesting a structural de-emphasis of this asset class amongst hedge fund managers. Listed derivatives also records a steady gradual decline from 51.6 % in 2025 down to 46.9 % in 2026, mirroring the FX trend. Last and certainly least, just 4.5 % of respondents reported trading crypto. Despite the broader crypto market moves in this period, hedge fund adoption in this survey hasn ' t shifted meaningfully.
Rating algo performance The top five algorithmic trading capabilities identified in this year ' s survey were anonymity, customer support, cost, speed and increased trader productivity. Anonymity reclaimed the top position with a score of 6.23, rising from third place in 2025 and displacing ease of use, which had led the rankings
Figure 2: Reasons for using algorithms(% of responses) |
Feature |
2026 |
2025 |
2024 |
Ease of use |
11.67 |
11.71 |
12.00 |
Consistency of execution performance |
10.61 |
10.30 |
9.89 |
Reduce market impact |
10.18 |
11.07 |
10.35 |
Increased trader productivity |
9.63 |
9.36 |
10.17 |
Lower commission rates |
8.76 |
8.82 |
7.11 |
Greater anonymity |
8.24 |
9.49 |
7.02 |
Better prices( price improvement) |
7.29 |
6.89 |
7.74 |
Flexibility and sophistication of SOR |
7.10 |
7.78 |
6.95 |
Algo monitoring capabilities |
7.07 |
4.67 |
6.23 |
Higher speed, lower latency |
6.91 |
6.55 |
8.36 |
Customisation capabilities |
5.71 |
6.40 |
7.78 |
Data on venue / order routing logic or analysis |
4.30 |
4.18 |
3.89 |
Results match pre-trade estimates |
2.50 |
2.77 |
2.50 |
last year, but now drops down to seventh place. Customer support retained second place with a score of 6.16(+ 0.09), while cost(+ 0.31) and speed(+ 0.26) were the standout movers of the year, rising from eleventh and eighth place respectively to claim third and fourth, representing the two largest year-on-year improvements across all 15 categories under review. Increased trader productivity rounded out the top five, slipping one place from fourth but improving its score by 0.12( Figure 1). Across the board,
13 of the 15 categories posted score improvements from 2025, reflecting broad-based strengthening in how hedge fund managers rate algorithm performance overall.
In terms of measuring algorithm performance, VWAP TCA remained the most widely used metric, cited by 62 % of hedge fund respondents, followed by Implementation Shortfall TCA( 50 %), Liquidity Capture( 38 %) and Mean Reversion( 25 %). Alternative measures, including arrival slippage and PWP10 saw limited adoption, used by just 5 % of respondents.
Figure 3: Average number of providers used by AuM( USD billions) |
AuM( USD billions) |
2026 |
2025 |
2024 |
More than $ 50 billion |
3.48 |
4.81 |
4.85 |
$ 10- 50 billion |
4.52 |
5.21 |
4.37 |
$ 1- 10 billion |
5.09 |
4.63 |
4.12 |
$ 0.5- 1 billion |
3.50 |
4.80 |
4.40 |
$. 025- 0.5 billion |
3.89 |
4.00 |
5.71 |
Up to $ 0.25 billion |
2.00 |
2.50 |
3.00 |
Not answered |
4.12 |
2.87 |
3.88 |
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