Dr. John Bates is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Head of Corporate Development at Progress Software. Bates is also a respected expert, frequent author and speaker in the areas of Capital Markets technology, with a specific focus on algorithmic trading, risk and surveillance, and distributed computing systems. As 2009 draws to a close, he predicts what the Capital Markets landscape will look like in 2010:
Hosted, Software as a Service Platforms go Mainstream:
“We will see hosted services for algorithmic trading and risk management become the major method of deployment. Hedge funds in particular will be key adopters of hosted trading systems as a way of dealing with the operational and cost challenges caused by the financial crisis. Hosted platforms remove the technology burdens and maintenance issues from fund managers, allowing them to focus on making money. As such, this model will become increasingly popular with firms looking to get a piece of the high frequency trading pie.”
Technology Manages Regulatory Compliance:
“In the aftermath of the economic crisis and with greater scrutiny placed on financial institutions, 2010 will see a dramatic uptake in the use of technology for regulatory compliance and enforcement. Market participants will be forced to deploy better trade monitoring systems particularly as the debate over the use of high frequency trading rumbles on. Dark pools will be forced to become more open and regulators will take a greater interest in examining everything from policing trading in real time to the use of social media within trading.”
Emerging Markets:
“Over the last six months, markets such as those in South America have been growing at a phenomenal pace and show no sign of slowing. We expect this to carry throughout the next 12 months at least as more firms turn to algorithmic trading. The fast growing economies of India and China also are beginning to adopt advanced trading technologies aggressively.”
Getting Ahead:
“2009 was certainly a tough year for many financial institutions. While 2010 holds some promise, firms that set themselves up to cope with the ever changing regulatory landscape coupled with the increasing global commercial competition that will get ahead.”
Learn more about the Progress Apama Capital Markets Platform.
