Brokers adapt to buy-side’s ‘broad touch’ needs

Difficult market conditions since the second half of 2008 have accelerated a trend toward a ‘broad touch’ approach to trading, delegates at the TradeTech securities industry conference were told in Paris last week, as clients demand access both to market intelligence from experienced sales traders and electronic execution tools that can identify liquidity in a low-volume climate.

“The death of the high-touch has been greatly exaggerated,” said Andrew Sharpe, partner, sales trading at UK stockbroker Redburn Partners. “Today’s sales trader is connected to the product, the analysts, the decision makers all the way through the chain, but is also technologically savvy and able to navigate through all the different pools of liquidity.”

“In times of high volatility, clients are looking for guidance on where the markets are headed. They don’t want to look foolish 30 minutes after a trade, so are increasingly using participatory algorithms. But clients still value the input of the sales brokers. Voice brokers won’t go away; the ones that remain will be the best of the best,” said Bill Cronin, managing director, US broker Knight Equity Markets.