TradeTech Europe 2025
13 - 15 May, 2025
Palais des Congrès de Paris
Day 2 | 15th May
8:40 am - 9:20 am
Registration & Breakfast
9:20 am - 9:30 am
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks
Julia Streets -
CEO,
Streets Consulting
Assessing Macro & Geopolitical Events
9:30 am - 10:00 am
Investment Keynote & Q&A: Cross Asset Market Outlook: How is sticky inflation, higher-for-longer rates and persistent market volatility impacting asset valuations, and how can you adjust portfolios in response?
Laurent Clavel -
Global Head of Multi-Asset,
AXA Investment Management
- What are the key geopolitical risks expected to shape 2025, and how with this impact investor sentiment?
- Which sectors might benefit or suffer from the rate environment, and how have recent cuts impacted the cyclical sector?
- How should investors approach growth vs value stocks?
- How is sticky inflation impacting corporate earnings and influencing market sentiment?
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Guest speaker: Elections, politics and financial markets- lessons from the past
Charles Myers -
Chairman and Founder,
Signum Global Advisors
Our guest speaker will examine the interplay between politics and finance, and how past elections have shaped the financial landscape. Gain insights on how to navigate the complexities of election cycles and their impact on global markets, economies and investment strategies.
The Future of Equity Investing
10:30 am - 10:50 am
Star Fund Manager Keynote: Making the case for active investment strategies: What are the unintended consequences of the rise in index tracker funds?
Stephen Yiu -
Managing Partner and CIO,
Blue Whale Growth Fund
Stephen Yiu launched the Blue Whale Growth Fund in 2017. The fund may only be 7 years old, but the manager is already being compared to the best stock pickers out there. Stephen’s big break came through the billionaire Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of the UK’s largest investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown, who seeded the fund with $30 million (currently at $1.5bn AUM). Stephen’s fund has delivered significant outperformance versus its peers and index ETFs, with a total return of over 140% vs. average global funds at 78%.
In this session Stephen will explore equity investing trends, the long-term impacts of passive investing on SMEs and the capital market function, and how active managers can survive the index fund storm.
The TradeTech 25th Anniversary
10:50 am - 11:10 am
Future Trends Keynote: Examining advancements in equity trading: From human to automated markets and the road ahead
Dave Cliff -
Professor of Computer Science,
University of Bristol
Our guest speaker will take attendees through the transformative journey of equity trading over the last 25 years. From human trading to the world of automation and AI- driven decision- making, uncovering the milestones that have redefined our market.
- A historical overview of equity trading and reflecting on the major milestones in the evolution of the market
- How have technological advancements, such as algorithmic and high-frequency trading, reshaped the market?
- How will the rise of Generative AI and LLM revolutionise equity trading, from data analysis through to risk management?
11:10 am - 11:40 am
TradeTech 25th Anniversary Panel: The evolution of the equities market- a look through time
Henry Wallis -
Director, Head of Strategy for Financial Markets,
WBR
TradeTech has been bringing the equity trading community together for 25 years, through the dotcom bubble, 2008 financial crisis, flash crash, coronavirus, and the more recent stock market meltdown caused by a yen carry trade. In this panel we will bring together market experts who have been involved in TradeTech since its inception to share their views on how the equities market has developed over the years, and expectations for the next decade. Speakers will look to answer the following big three questions:
- From automating your trading processing platform to a world of Generative AI- where have we come from and what does the future hold?
- Will AI live up to the hype, or has it been overvalued?
- Will London remain the major financial centre of decades gone by, or will its position be eroded in the new regulatory and political environment?
*By invitation only*
**Hosted under Chatham House and by Invitation only**
This is an invitation-only session hosted under Chatham House, open to 15 buy side Global/European Heads of Trading and senior traders from private banks. This will provide an opportunity for private banking traders to collaborate on their shared challenges and projects with a group of senior peers who have similar priorities.
Limited availability so please register by emailing Anna on: anna.andrews@wbr.co.uk
Paolo Angioletti
Global Head of Securities ExecutionEFG Bank
Conference Tracks
Talent & Desk Structure
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm Desk Structure Panel: Reviewing organisational structures: Where should the trading desk sit in the organisation to truly add value to innovation, alpha generation and the investment process? Ines de Tremiolles - Global Head of Trading, BNP Paribas Asset Management Simon Steward - Head of European Equity Trading, Capital Group Callum McPherson - Head of Dealing, Evenlode InvestmentThis panel will feature heads of trading who have different organisational structures and reporting lines (investment, operations, technology), as well as a CIO on how they view trading in the investment process. They will talk through the merits and drawbacks of each organisational model, how to strike the right balance of strategic alignment and technological innovation, and the optimum structure for a high performing desk.
- What are the various organisational structures of trading desks and where/ who they report to within the firm?
- What is the rationale behind different structures and reporting lines, and how do these influence the desks operations and strategic alignment with the firm?
- Is the trading desk viewed as an integral part of the investment process, or as an outsourced dealing desk?
- Should the desk be part of the investment process, or purely an execution and implementation function?
Talent & Desk Structure
12:30 pm - 12:50 pm Talent interview: The race for talent: How can you determine the skills needed to match the evolution of your desk, and how can you adapt your hiring processes to attract diverse and highly sought-after talent? Philip Bille - Head of Buyside Dealing Desk, Degroot Petercam- How are investment managers sourcing talent in an increasingly competitive landscape, where the tech industry is dominating?
- Is the reversal of hybrid working impacting recruitment efforts and the retention of staff?
- What role do internships, graduate programs, and industry partnerships play in building a diverse pipeline of future trading talent?
- How can you get the right balance of technical skills, market knowledge and soft skills to ensure a well-rounded dealing desk?
- How are firms determining whether to hire traders with data science skills, or traditional traders?
- Are firms seeing any trends in talent prioritizing lateral mobility opportunities over life-long trading career paths?
Track Chair: Rebecca Healey, Managing Partner, Redlap Consulting
Preparing for Regulatory Changes
12:00 pm - 12:30 pm Commission Management Panel: Exploring the new landscape for commission management: How will the new payment for research rules affect fee structures and best execution? Jack Pollina - Managing Director, Global Head of Commission Management, Virtu- What is best practise for commission management and collecting fees? Will people change the way they structure fees?
- Will asset managers change the way they structure fees, if so, how?
- How will re-bundling impact, trading desks, best execution policies and practices?
- Does ESMA’s MiFID II review of order execution policies add another layer of complexity?
Preparing for Regulatory Changes
12:30 pm - 12:50 pm DORA Briefing: Examining the impacts of DORA: What does DORA mean and how will it affect market participants, including buy side? Tanya Epstein - Deputy General Counsel, Citadel Darryl Cornelius - Head of Business Regulatory Change, State Street Global Advisors- What is the purpose and scope of DORA, and what are the key components?
- How are participants preparing to meet the DORA requirements?
- How will this impact infrastructure, governance and operational processes?
- Why should the trading desk care? How is DORA looking to address trading continuity and market stability during cyber incidences?
12:50 pm - 1:50 pm
Networking Lunch & Interactive Working Groups
**Hosted under Chatham House**
Relax with a glass of fizz as you reflect on the latest market insights and industry updates shared over the past couple of days.
These interactive roundtables provide the perfect opportunity to sum-up your findings, consolidate new connections and collaborate on lessons learnt with your peers, whilst we pour the bubbly
- Working Group 1: Examining developments in outsourced trading: What are the pros and cons of a pure-play vs broker-affiliated outsourced model?
- Working Group 2: Enhancing liquidity analytics: How can you leverage analytics to identify shifts in liquidity patterns during volatile market periods?
- Working Group 3: Exploring cloud-native solutions: What are the front office benefits and challenges of migrating to the cloud?