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07 Jun 2007
TradingScreen, which just opened a Chicago office, and according to CEO Philippe Buhannic, plans to open a Singapore office soon, followed by one in Geneva, Switzerland, sees a shift of power moving from the sell-side to the buy-side. Citing the changing nature of trading, Buhannic told Trading Tech Daily that while historically the buy-side spent tons of money on portfolio management systems, the buy-side is now completely reassessing its systems, as the role of traders grows. He added that the “cost equation for tech systems changed dramatically, to get them up and running.” Buhannic believes that the emergence of technology has allowed the spotlight to shift from the portfolio managers to the buy-side traders, who are generally judged by execution performance. One factor enabling the change is the new generation of participants who are “keen on derivatives, international investments” because international investments often yield higher returns and they’ll do “anything for a return,” said Buhannic.
As for how TradingScreen will respond to such market changes, like many, it ranks equities, derivatives, futures and options and the FX boom as driving sectors.