The Headhunter

Turquoise - September 2008 Launch

At Finexpo yesterday, Turquoise's CEO, Eli Lederman, announced a launch date in September 2008 and trading will begin in 300 liquid stocks with a gradual roll-out to 1200 stocks in a darker liquidity pool.

Earlier this week the press reported that Turquoise is to work with Progress Software and Detica to provide surveillance data to root out trading irregularities, spot breaches of trading rules and deliver detailed analysis of trading on the platform. Click here for press release.

An AFX report yesterday cites Lederman's view that some shareholders in Turquoise Trading Ltd. are also backing rival share trading platform Chi-X as a 'sector bet' that both will be successful rather than a hedge in case one of them fails. AFX reference an interview to be published in A-Team's Electronic Trading.

Trade Support Executives - London - Equity

Our client is in the equity electronic trading arena with a global trading platform.

We seek 2 executives for their trade support and market surveillance business division.

You will liaise between the business and our client's equity trading platform. You'll interact with the middle office at their client sites (investment banks). The team handles client calls and trading questions. Additionally you will monitor daily trading activity and identify any areas of risk and/or market abuse. This will mean dealing with Compliance for investigation into market abuse issues etc., and performing the crucial role of market surveillance. You'll also manage feedback to clients for post-trade related activity including daily trade allocation processes.

This will suit someone with experience  of trade support in an investment bank's middle office. Equally it could suit someone employed by an equities electronic trading platform in a similar role.

Contact Aine Hall for a confidential discussion.

Senior Sales Executive – Equities – Electronic Brokerage – London

We represent a well-known electronic brokerage which is aggressively building a global equities trading business. The company has achieved significant trading volumes in the US and is committed to building a global brand.

We seek a Senior Sales Executive to join the London based team. Candidates should have a sound record of success in selling within the European equity markets and will be comfortable with transactional technology. 

Remuneration is negotiable and will be linked to performance.

Please contact Paul Chambers on +44(0)20 7392 2644 for an initial discussion.

Banks to Sell Stake in Boat to Markit

Reuters reports that the nine investment banks that set up trade-reporting platform Project Boat in September 2006 are selling their stakes to Markit, the data vendor that operates the platform.

The bank consortium, which hired Markit to operate the equity trade-reporting system a year ago, has agreed to spin off Markit BOAT™ three months after it went live, to make the platform more independent. The value of the stake has not been disclosed.

Read the report here.

NYSE Euronext Buys American Stock Exchange

Advanced Trading reports that NYSE Euronext is on a shopping spree to consolidate the global exchange landscape and has agreed to acquire the American Stock Exchange for USD260 million in its own common stock, to boost its options business and multi-asset class product range.

The article states the deal signals that global exchange consolidation is resuming at full throttle in 2008. Last month, Nasdaq agreed to buy the Philadelphia Stock Exchange for USD652 million right after purchasing the Boston Stock Exchange for about USD61 million.

Last week, NYSE Euronext agreed to pay USD200 million in cash for Wombat Financial Software, (press release here), a leader in low-latency market data technology.

Head of Alternative Investments - London or New York

This is an opportunity to play an executive role with a world renowned provider of solutions and services within the global investment community. The company has enjoyed sustained growth over the past decade and has ambitious plans for new product initiatives.

As a member of the company’s senior product team you will have “end to end” responsibility for building  products across alternative investments (real estate, commodities, private equity, hedge fund, private banking). You will set strategy to bring new products to the market and grow revenues.

We seek candidates with at least 10 years experience in the international financial services sector. Ideally you will have previous experience of building and leading a product development function across alternative investments. You will possess first class analytical, communication and management skills.

Please contact Paul Chambers for an initial discussion +44 (0) 207 392 2644.

Product Manager - Equity Indices - International Focus, London based

Our client is a global indices provider with ambitious long-term growth plans.

We seek a Product Manager to build and develop equity index products. This is a pro-active role and there is extensive interaction with customers (investment managers/Committee practitioners) and internal stakeholders (marketing, sales, service and quant. teams). The role requires entrepreneurial flair (you will be targeted to increase profits), excellent networking skills as well as strong attention to detail.

You will develop and implement a commercial strategy for equity indices products. The product development cycle includes research, feasibility analysis, product testing, pricing, roadmaps, documentation, marketing collateral and product launch.

To be successful in this role you will have worked with equity indices, either for an index provider or a financial services firm where you have developed benchmarking products around indices.

Please call Aine Hall for a confidential discussion.

Project Turquoise Predictions for 2008

Financial News has two reports, one vaguely serious, the other more serious which include mention of Project Turquoise.

One article, with its introduction warning of "some highly unlikely but vaguely serious predictions for 2008", the author predicts a May launch for Project Turquoise and their seizing 37% of European equity trading volumes in that first month.

On the serious side, it is predicted that if successful Project Turquoise will be the most ambitious European equity trading initiative. The article states that many market commentators doubt the project will see the light of day, arguing Turquoise is a bluff to scare the exchanges into dropping their fees. If successful, Turquoise will offer the first credible competition to Europe's stock exchanges.

Computer weekly reports that developing a bespoke platform with Cinnober could lead to delays. In this article, however, one Tower Group Analyst states that that may not be such a bad thing because "with the credit crunch and the fact that MiFID is developing as an evolution rather than a revolution, delays may not actually disadvantage it competitively."

Modest Growth for Financial Services IT Spend in 2008

Finextra yesterday reported that a recent research report from Celent shows that IT spending by global financial services institutions slowed in 2007 to stand at USD$342.1 billion, a year-to-year increase of 5.9% but substantially lower than the 8.7% growth achieved in 2006.

The first annual Waters Europe Congress in November 2007 ran a panel which had mixed views on how candidates view the prospects of a good career in financial services IT. On the one hand there's talk of job cuts as jobs are outsourced to India and other outsourcing capitals. On the other hand, one CTO says the future's bright for technologists in the global   financial markets. Firms are building systems to help traders reach   alpha. Increasing data volumes and new technologies, for example, algorithmic trading mean that systems must be faster and stronger.

TradersMagazine, in their 2007 Review, focuses on how MiFID has given a green light to new markets and venues, called multilateral trading facilities (MTFs). The legislation has also led to changes in two other important areas: 1) market data and 2) clearing and settlement where businesses are being hatched around the provision of market data and related services.