Paul Scott, director, FIXCITY, a global software provider of FIX IOI solutions, says technology will enable the buy-side to take advantage of market fragmentation as more innovative, flexible liquidity venues emerge.
Industry experts debated the role of electronic trading and the impact of dark pools during a series of panel discussions at the Financial News Technology for the Buy-Side event on 2 April 2008, at The Savoy Place, London.
The panel participants predicted that the European markets will follow the US, with a proliferation of trading venues and fragmentation. The discussions highlighted the importance of having the ability to access the growing number of trading venues, as new destinations emerge, with varied offerings including dark pools.
“Dark pools are attractive to the buy-side because they offer anonymity and the ability to lower market impact. As more venues open up in Europe, knowing which ones to target and how to best access them will become increasingly challenging. However, fragmentation does not have to become a major issue for buy-side firms. Today’s firms have access to tools that allow them to connect to these venues and improve the flexibility, speed and quality of liquidity available. Technology has improved the standard of liquidity displayed by the sell-side and enabled the buy-side to become much better at harnessing this liquidity and finding natural counterparties,” says Paul Scott, director, FIXCITY.
Taking part in the panel discussion were: Andrew Howieson, managing director, Tabb Group; Paul Scott, director, FIXCITY; Hirander Misra, COO, Chi-X; Bob McDowall, senior analyst, Europe, TowerGroup; and Chris Smith, head of business development, EuroMillennium.