By Lynn Strongin Dodds, Senior Writer, DerivSource
Equities and derivatives trading and market data infrastructure is coming under intense pressure due to a combination of factors including increased activity, automation and sharper, more unpredictable volatility spikes, according to a new whitepaper from Acuiti – 2026 State of Trading Infrastructure: How Structural Shifts are Redefining Market Data and Trading at Quantitative Firms.
These shifting dynamics are challenging systems that were originally designed for more stable session defined conditions. The turbulence may have been triggered by Covid in 2020, but a series of events have unsettled markets ever since. They include the return of higher inflation and interest rates, ongoing geopolitical tensions, regulatory changes and the unpredictability of the Trump administration’s policies, particularly on the trade front.
While swelling market data volumes is a significant strain on infrastructure, it is only part of the story. The report notes that equally challenging is the rise of the burstiness of market data traffic. In other words, instead of growing smoothly, data rates now surge sharply during short, intense periods of volatility which in turn creates peak loads that far exceed daily averages.
For many firms, these peaks represent significant operational risk. For example, in a recent volatility episode triggered by an unexpected shift in US trade policy, North American equities experienced data rates exceeding two times typical average levels, placing sudden and extreme pressure on market data processing systems.
Equities are not the only asset class though to be impacted. The report says that comparable long-term volume growth across listed derivatives and other electronic markets imply that baseline data loads across asset classes are unlikely to retreat, even outside periods of heightened volatility.
Will Mitting, founder and managing director of Acuiti told derivsource “listed derivatives volumes in particular have risen by significantly more than any other asset class over the past five years. Firms trading these markets therefore face significant strain on their trading infrastructure if it is not built for scale.”
Acuiti research shows that listed derivatives have experienced a staggering surge in volume growth of over 700% since 2016 while the figure in equities is at around 75% because they have been more variable year to year.
Looking ahead, the upward trajectory of volumes is expected to continue. Even before market conditions changed, many of the white paper’s senior executives at 61 firms anticipated significant rises in market data volumes, especially in cash equities and listed derivatives.
Confidence in infrastructure readiness though remains limited. Fewer than one third of respondents indicated that their current front-office infrastructure could handle anticipated volume growth without further investment, while the majority expressed uncertainty or a clear need for additional capacity.
Several components are in need of modernisation, but market data processing topped the respondents’ wish list followed by order execution, network infrastructure and algorithmic trading systems. Monitoring and control systems, market data distribution, capacity and performance testing were also high on the investment chart.
It is not just about investment but a change in mindset. The report believes the best positioned firms will be those that treat market data infrastructure as a strategic capability rather than a background utility. “Success will depend on architectures that can adapt to higher volumes, sharper peaks and greater complexity all the while preserving performance when it matters most,” it adds.
