Quant funds at a crossroads

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:55 -0400

The rise of lower-cost IT systems has been a huge boon to the many quantitative hedge funds and quant system providers out there. The credit crunch has led to a bit of handwringing over the future of quant funds. The issue appears to boil down to whether technology can overcome the drawbacks. In a column, the founder of the Aite Group notes that declining IT costs across the board and more a powerful system that can deal with once unfathomable amounts of data will continue to be powerful drivers. But a quant system is only as good as the designers who create it. A talent shortage looms. People are hungry for something that delivers above average alpha. Interestingly, that will make the role of technology all the more prominent. Every second, every trade counts.

For more:
- here's the column in Advanced Trading

Dark pools seek retail customer order

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:59:57 -0400

Among the most exciting technology-driven trading developments of the last few years has been the rise of dark pools. Institutions clearly want electronic execution in venues that allow them to trade anonymously and with as few market ripples as possible. Increasingly, as the dark pool competition heats up, more firms are seeking additional liquidity from the retail side. Large broker dealers, such as Citigroup, are leading this wave. For example, Citi Match allows big clients' internal algorithms to match trades against orders from Smith Barney and other retail broker-dealers. All this continues a recent trend in which technology once available only to the big boys has found its way to the little guys.

For more:
- here's an article from Traders Magazine

internal algorithims

Quant funds at a crossroads

Dark pools seek retail customer order