A Rich Man's Game?

When it comes to smart order routing (SOR) there are really only two choices for most firms: Either roll your own platform or rely on your neighbor’s engine to route your orders to market. The former involves a significant investment in time and resources while the latter, though cheaper, always leaves the lingering doubt of whether you are truly getting best execution.

Over the years as the market has become more fragmented and the clients’ demands have become more complex, smart order routers have been forced to keep pace. In this report, we speak with Jamil Nazarali, managing director and global head of the electronic trading group at Knight Capital Group, to discuss the environment in which the next generation of smart order routers will need to operate and some of his comments may surprise you. Not only should firms prepare to scale their systems out to other asset classes and geographies, but they also should be prepared to have the regulators completely change the rules of the game.

We also sit down with Margaret Bailey, vice president, business development at smartTrade Technologies, and Charles-Henry Choël, director of trading and client connectivity with SunGard Global Trading, to discuss the future of smart order routing and how firms can optimize and scale their router’s performance.

Setting up your smart order routing with the proper architecture and trading venue connectivity is sure to help future-proof it against any major changes coming down the pike. Is yours ready?