THETRADETECH DAILY THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF TRADETECH 2022
Eric Boess : The future of the market in Europe
Global head of trading at Allianz Global Investors , Eric Boess , explores shifting market structure , the retail segment and consolidation in this edition of the TRADETech Daily .
How do you feel changing market structure and price formation in equities is impacting institutional investors ? This is a classic question that ’ s asked at every TradeTech conference , and it brings up the key question : what actually has happened since last year ? To be frank , there hasn ’ t been an awful lot of change . There have been no major developments in terms of consolidation on the exchange side , or in terms of market participants . If anything , fragmentation is probably still an issue , and Brexit has added to the complexity . But these have had limited impact because both the UK and Europe are currently redefining their frameworks . I think that will have an impact at a later point in time , but I don ’ t see a fundamental change in how we trade now versus last year .
Are we seeing retail investment growth in Europe ? We focus entirely on institutional investment , but we ’ ve seen a lot of news coming out to suggest that people are trying to adjust to growing retail involvement and participation . Maybe it is access that is improving , rather than volumes growing . I don ’ t think retail flow is as important in Europe as it is in the US , where it is significantly bigger . It ’ s also quite difficult to define retail flow and market size in Europe as there are not many really good sources of information .
Do you expect consolidation in Europe to continue and what impact does it have on the markets and the trading desk ? Asset management consolidation is what we ’ re waiting for , and it has proved to be notoriously slow , as it has on the banking side . I wouldn ’ t expect any significant developments or market impact from consolidation in the near-term . Trading platforms , liquidity providers , venues – that might be a different story , but right now we don ’ t expect any major acquisitions there either .
What panel are you most looking forward to at TradeTech this year ? Rather than looking forward to a specific panel , I think I am most excited about finally having the event in person again and actually being able to meet people face to face and shake hands , rather than seeing them in a small square on a computer screen .
“ Asset management consolidation is what we ’ re waiting for , and it has proved to be notoriously slow , as it has on the banking side .”
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