Our Fragmented Market Structure, Alternative Trading Systems, Dark Pools, Algo and High Frequency Trading

 

We imagine our orders being sent to an exchange and executed by humans on noisy floors. While the market floor has always been an iconic image, it is as archaic as an 8-track tape. Today trading is electronic, low cost and done in millionths of a second. Even with an undergraduate degree or an MBA in finance, it doesn’t prepare you for the realities of how our equity markets work today.

 

60-75% of equity trading in the US is done electronically by automated market makers, with algorithms, and high frequency quant models. Most retail order flow and about 37% of all equity trading is done off exchange “in the dark”. Regulatory changes, technology and competitive responses have dramatically changed our markets and trading practices. We have over 50 market places, Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs), internalized markets as well as an electronic NASDAQ and Designated Market Maker (DMM) based NYSE.

 

We will answer your questions.  What is the mysterious dark liquidity and co-location? What may have caused the flash crash? Institutions need to understand how to trade blocks in a complex environment using Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA), algorithmic techniques, new order types to achieve the sought after best execution. This seminar will describe the equity trading markets and the issues faced by the pension and mutual funds and other institutional asset managers, as well as sell side firms. It will start with an historical perspective and continue to describe the current issues facing market participants.

 

Program level is basic.  8 CPE credits.

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Click here for the agenda.

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Please contact us for the next classes open to the public or for private booking.