TradeTech (Paris) 2025
25th Anniversary Edition
I attended to TradeTech Paris today. It is the 25th year that this French-based conference exists. This conference has accompanied the transformations in market microstructure, going through MiFID1, and 2, the Brexit and now facing the transition from a multilateral to a multi-polar world.
As usual is was a pleasure to see familiar faces and company names, but also new ones that could be the silver bullet for the next 10 years.
Let’s go through my main impression and a list of the booths I visited:
Tech outsourcing of brokerage
It is now possible to build an agency broker (including algo trading TCA), outsourcing all the main services to other companies, possibly on the cloud (with edge solutions like colt). The positive point is that the fixed costs of running such services are close to zero. That correspond to a business with strong cycles of activity that does not try to invest or innovate. It is a way to keep your margin when you do not try to compete on IP but focus on the relation with existing clients. The negative point is that it means most of these companies abandoned the IP they could have built after mifid (better pre trade or post trade analytics, better trading algos, advices based on unique analytics). This is the sign of commoditization of brokerage, or disruption by a new entrant. It is impressive that US based companies like S3 is able to provide TCA and best exec solutions for European brokers, exchanges or asset managers.
Cloud and database solutions
- AWS are progressing in tick-by-tick market data provision from exchanges like NASDAQ and LSEG
- ArcticDB - the open-source, high-performance time-series database used a lot for quantitative research and trading.
- KX who provides kdb+, a highly used high-speed time-series database for tick by tick market data, launched KDB.AI, a vector database for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) .
Tools to improve the quality of algo trading codes
- Rapid Addition provides high-performance, asset class- and protocol-agnostic electronic trading middleware and FIX messaging platforms,
- Imandra provides formal verification and automated reasoning, offering tools to mathematically prove the correctness and compliance of trading algorithms and financial systems
Tech solutions for traders and exchanges
- Edge networks UK - Specializes in precision timing solutions using cesium atomic clocks and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to ensure sub-microsecond synchronization for low-latency trading environments.
- Colt - operates PrizmNet, a dedicated financial extranet connecting over 160 exchanges, venues, and service providers globally, delivering secure, deterministic low-latency connectivity for capital markets firms. I noticed that they developped a connector broadcasting ticks on the edge of AWS.
- Options Technology’s AtlasVision is a real-time monitoring suite that provides clients with a live, interactive world map of their global market data distribution network. It offers instant visibility into the health and status of 17 global ticker plants
- Keysight - Delivers network packet capture and visibility tools (e.g., Vision + xMetrics) to monitor trading infrastructure, diagnose latency, and ensure compliance via real-time traffic analysi
- ITRS -Offers real-time FIX protocol monitoring (Geneos FIX) to track trading communications, validate message integrity, and minimize latency in capital markets
- HPR - Develops ultra-low-latency matching engines and optimized network gateways for trading,
- Reactive market - connects market makers to venues for bilateral trading
Trading platforms (OMS/EMS/Risk/TCA)
- FactSet offers advanced order blotter and analytics tools, including BEAST for best execution and transaction cost analysis (TCA), having legacy to Portware’s trading and analytics platform
- big xyt provides a comprehensive TCA suite and analytics as a service (it is bidding for a European consolidated tape),
- S3 is a US-based provider of transaction cost analysis and regulatory analytics, supporting best execution and compliance for broker-dealers and asset managers.
- Etops delivers outsourcing and digital solutions for middle- and back-office operations, supporting asset managers and wealth managers with data management, reporting, and process automation.
- Enfusion offers a cloud-native SaaS platform for investment management, integrating portfolio management, order and execution management, and risk analytics.
- Quod delivers order and execution management solutions, recently featuring a blotter that allows users to group and manage orders in “bags”
- Horizon trading provides an open, modular trading platform enabling the development, testing, and deployment of automated trading algorithms
- FlexTrade - a global provider of customizable multi-asset EMS and OMS platforms
- Code Willing, a spin-off from an hedge fund, offers a quantitative research and trading platform with backtesting, supporting data integration.
More systematic internalizers but less informed price formation?
The rise of (SI) systematic internalizers (market makers) , especially for ETFs continues. I know that over-regulation is not a solution, but I cannot prevent myself to think that trading ETFs at the milisecond adds value: ETFs are instruments for long term exposure. Thus simple closing and opening action, run by the structurer of the ETF that will create a redeem the correct amount of shares, should be enough. Moreover, making money of an ETF is not the hardest business, since the composition is known and hence its aggregated orderbook is easy to compute. There is not really price discovery since it takes place on the underlying components (this is not the same on Future contracts, that are less diverse than ETF and concentrate so much liquidity that market participants usually go first on the Future to hedge an exposure, before readjusting on its components). It is fast less risky than making markets on stocks or on corporate bonds, where a price discovery has to take place.
It is like if this activity, that was hidden before MiFID 2, because it had to become visible and apply for the SI status, had indeed attracted more clients and business since it is disclosed.
Regulated Markets and MTFs
ETF Market Makers
Indeed, at this TradeTech all these firms were advertising the way they make markets for ETF, they are indeed what is usually called “high frequency market makers”; especially Virtu, that is making markets on a lot of instruments and had a rapid (partly external) growth:
- DRW: a Proprietary trading firm making markets on ETF, starting to extend to corpo bonds and cash equities
- Flow Traders: an ETF market maker, headquartered in Amsterdam
- Virtu: initially an High Frequency market maker, that extended its offer to so many services around liquidity provisions, offering for instant block trading. Nowadays, Virtu provides execution services (Virtu bought the famous Investment Technology Group (ITG) in 2018).
Disappointing panels
The topics of the panels were not very innovative: lack of liquidity (compared to the US) that looks like “we would like to get more fees”, liquidity and transparency (that should be focus on questioning market participants where are their contributions to the understanding of liquidity dynamics). I would have proposed topics on innovation and disruption: at the era of AI and 15 years after the era of big data, what is proposed by the trading industray? I am not talking about new order types or debating on the current level of liquidity, I would tap points like:
- what do we know today about the price formation we did not know 10 years ago?
- what is the view of asset owners about the services provided by the current microstructure?
- how to fill the gap between blue chips and private assets?
- what is the DNA of electronic trading if it is not technology? what is the IP of brokers or venues if not the way they provide compete on the technology differentiation (and thus provoke stickiness of their clients)?
- AI being a components of disintermediation in the sense of restructuring usual menu to build on the fly bespoke solutions: where are the client-centric experiences?
- Another feature that AI is provideing is data-driven automation, what are the decisions that should remain in the hands of market participants?
Brokers
- BMO/Clearpool: Clearpool is a New York-based agency broker and trading technology provider, now owned by BMO Financial Group, offering a algorithmic management system (AMS) for best execution in electronic trading
- IS Investment, a leading Turkish brokerage firm, providing all the suite of trading services (from DMA to high touch).
- Kepler Cheuvreux, an independent European financial services company specializing in equity research, execution, advisory, and asset management
- ODDO BHF, a European broker offering extensive equity research, multi-local distribution, and execution services
Block trades providers
- Appital, offers a software-based bookbuilding platform for block trades (via a network of buy-sides).
- Northern Trust is developing a crossing facility layered on top of its global custodian platform, allowing institutional clients to internally match and cross large orders
A good overall impression
Nevertheless TradeTech is as useful as usual: the best place to connect with the universe of trading and where it goes, and discover innovatives companies. I remember when I met Rapid Addition for the first time (founded by Kevin Houstoun who I met during the auditions for the Foresight Report), and today I met Dave from Imandra (providing formal proofs for trading), Keysight (monitoring latency with hardware instruments) and Edge Networks (the company to call if you need a Cesium clock , large hedge funds are buying them to be autonomous in ticking).
Out of the box companies
Two interesting companies that I could not categorize in the previous sections:
- Axioma provides indexing, risk and portfolio management solutions, and since it has been bought by Deutsche Borse, things are evolving like I suspected: an alliance with STOXX that is providing more indexes to the exchange.
- EuroCTP is a joint venture established by European exchanges to deliver a European consolidated tape for equities and ETFs in the EU. The discussion I had with them was enlightening on the positive points a conso tape could bring to Europe (added value for retail execution, and an understanding of the influence of the diversity of post-trading costs on the tape).
Changed file
This file has been edited the 19th of May 2025, to reflect suggestions I had on linkedin and because of an error on my computer.