Sell-side electronic equity traders under pressure from understaffed desks, sub-par technology systems and growing compliance demands are looking forward to getting some relief from an expected uptick in hiring, the positive impact of artificial intelligence (AI), and a friendlier relationship between the industry and regulators.
A combination of declining commissions, rising costs and intense competition has made life difficult on sell-side electronic trading desks. The U.S. sell-side electronic equities professionals participating in a recent study from Crisil Coalition Greenwich say these conditions have led to a lack of staffing, complaints of inadequate customer service, and inefficient trading technology on their desks. At the same time, execution and connectivity costs, such as venue access fees and OEMS and analytics tolls, are consuming a large portion of trading commissions, leaving less budget for trading desks.
Jesse Forster
“Despite these challenges, sell-side electronic equity traders are optimistic about the future, believing that tailwinds such as increasing volatility and trading volumes, the emergence of new trading venues, and the adoption of AI and automation are positioning the industry for growth and expansion,” said Jesse Forster, Senior Analyst, Market Structure & Technology at Crisil Coalition Greenwich and author of U.S. Equity Electronic Trading: The Broker View 2025.
On the staffing front, almost half of study participants expect to add headcount to their frontline trading-desk coverage in the coming year. A similar share expects to add more juniors and trading assistants, which could help to alleviate some of the staffing pressures and provide a pipeline of talent for the future.
Traders also expect relief from what they see as an increasing compliance burden. Study participants believe that the SEC’s renewed focus on market structure and trading issues will lead to more effective and efficient regulation, which will ultimately benefit investors and the broader market.
“Electronic brokers are optimistic about the potential for greater cooperation between the SEC and the industry, with many seeing the new leadership as an opportunity to work together to address common challenges,” said Forster.
AI’s Long-Term Impact
Only about 30% of electronic brokers are currently incorporating AI into their equity trading workflow, with most of those deployments taking the form of algo optimization and venue selection. But electronic equity traders believe AI will become a core requirement for effective customer service and are excited to leverage AI more proactively for tasks such as alerting on orders going limit away, prints going up, participation rates, auction sizing, and more—things that low-touch coverage already does. Finally, the introduction of AI is making algos more autonomous.
“In the not-so-distant future, it’s likely that brokers will no longer have to build different algos for different situations,” said Forster. “With AI, a single algo will be able to handle multiple scenarios.”
U.S. Equity Electronic Trading: The Broker View 2025 presents the complete results of the Q2/Q3 study. The report reveals traders’ 12-month outlook for the industry and their own desks, identifies top challenges and pain points facing desks in the year ahead, discusses what traders see as the top selling points or differentiators of their desks, and examines the current and expected impact of AI on sell-side electronic equity trading.
By Jeff O’Connor, Head of US Market Structure and ATS Sell-Side Strategy, Liquidnet
Jeff O’Connor
Headlines point to a macro catalyst vacuum, and a federal government shutdown certainly doesn’t help. But here’s what should be getting attention: 20 billion+ shares are trading daily in U.S. equity markets on what are essentially non-event days.
The numbers are staggering. The 2025 daily average of 16.9 billion shares represents a 48% year-over-year jump—the highest single-year percentage increase ever recorded. Share counts and notional levels are hitting new records almost monthly. While structural and cyclical shifts are driving this surge, one thing is certain: these volume levels are the new norm.
But there’s a catch. The traditional institutional flow that once made up the bulk of 5-7 billion shares traded daily just seven years ago? It’s losing market share to non-traditional liquidity sources, creating new complexities for buy-side traders.
Off-Exchange Becomes the Exchange
When off-exchange first consistently cleared 50% of total market volumes in Q4 ’24, it was newsworthy. As seen in Figure 1, it now clears that mark with ease, regularly hitting crisis-level volume numbers typically associated with black swan events—except this time, it’s not brief. It’s standard.
Figure 1: TRF Volume, October 2024 – October 2025
The drivers are clear: 40%+ of all volumes now come from non-bank market making and HFT firms (higher spreads and real price volatility fuel this). Retail flows can hit 20% of total volumes, boosted by U.S. equity outperformance. And trade sizes continue to shrink as market makers migrate to ATS venues and OTC reported volumes, eroding bank-owned market share, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: US ATS Breakdown, Percentage of Volume
The Volatility Paradox
Volatility has been stripped from the market through Q3 and Q4, but don’t mistake calm for safety. The first half of 2025 saw the S&P 500 move +1% on 36 days (30% of trading days). The second half? Just four days (5% of the time).
Yet uncertainty lingers. The market craves certainty on inflation, the dollar, corporate results, and fiscal policy—the very things that created shocks in the first half of 2025 and there’s evidence of an undercurrent.
SPY: The Canary in the Coal Mine
SPY trading tells the story. The most widely traded ETF is averaging ~$40 billion in daily notional for 2025, significantly higher than any other security. Over the past 5-6 weeks, that number has jumped 25% to nearly $50 billion, highlighted in Figure 3.
Figure 3: SPY: Notional Over the Years
Unlike the VIX—mainly an institutional tool—SPY serves everyone: institutions, hedge funds, advisers, and individual investors. It’s a substitute for futures, single securities, and mutual funds. In a market where traditional volatility measures have been muted, SPY’s elevated trading volumes reveal what macro uncertainty really looks like.
What’s particularly telling: throughout 2024, SPY price growth and notional traded diverged. Since April 2025, they’re running together—evidence that SPY is being used as both an exposure tool and a hedge against elevated uncertainty.
Blocks: Down But Not Out
Block appetite remains subdued, as seen in Figure 4—an aftereffect of a year spent navigating economic uncertainty and intraday volatility. Trade sizes have dropped significantly, as seen in Figure 4, particularly in ATS venues as exchanges now provide higher average fill sizes. Some ATS platforms have completely shifted their profiles in terms of average size and percentage of block fills.
Figure 4: Average Trade Size by Venue Type*
*Excluding auctions and after hours
As ATSs evolve, Liquidnet maintains top-tier market share in overall blocks done in ATS venues and continues to lead in percentage of blocks relative to total pool volume. While Liquidnet’s Negotiation ATS remains a block-centric venue, the Liquidnet H2O ATS has adapted to market-evolving order sizes, making dark liquidity available across changing trade tactics and urgency levels.
The ability to offer traditional negotiated blocks alongside continuous volume execution puts Liquidnet in a unique position, as seen in Figure 5—equipped for any market conditions to suit trading needs, whether minimizing market impact through blocks or completing trades on schedule through continuous algorithms.
Figure 5: Liquidnet ATS Block Market Share
What’s Next
STA National kicks off this week with the usual suspects: private pools, 24-hour trading, hedge fund disclosure. But the rising chorus around the Order Protection Rule signals an SEC regime ready to assert itself. “Harmonization” is the betting favorite for most-used panel term, with “market efficiency” a close second.
Earnings season also launches this week, adding weight to an already rich market in valuations and sentiment. While earnings rarely catalyze volumes directly, portfolio managers hunt for volatility bands to adjust fundamental positions. Current consensus expects 8% year-over-year S&P 500 growth.
Correlations sit at extreme lows—a signal of high risk, but also an opportunity for portfolio managers confident their picks can outperform. Should macro uncertainty clear, intraday volatility stay low, and policy stabilize, block appetite will return.
The structural shifts—market making and HFT dominating U.S. volumes—aren’t going anywhere. But changing conditions will reshape how portfolio managers approach liquidity and those who adapt will thrive.
Just weeks after its official debut, IntelligentCross’ JumpStart has already begun to reshape how institutional traders source liquidity. Built in collaboration with Jefferies, FactSet’s Portware EMS, and long-term value investor Harris | Oakmark, JumpStart offers a fundamentally new way for buy-side traders to access agency algo flow – without exposing their intentions or disrupting their workflow.
Traders Magazine spoke with Roman Ginis, CEO of Imperative Execution, the parent company of IntelligentCross, to explore how JumpStart is reshaping the way institutional investors access liquidity.
Roman Ginis
How does JumpStart fundamentally shift the balance of power between the buy-side and the traditional tools available to them?
IntelligentCross created JumpStart to provide investors with more direct control, and access to more of the liquidity they want, while minimizing their risks of market impact and adverse selection.
These are the very things that differentiate JumpStart from the traditional tools available to the buy-side: more control, access to their choice of liquidity, and lower risks of information leakage.
What makes JumpStart’s approach to information control different from legacy tools like conditional orders or blotter scraping?
Blotter scraping means that they must expose their blotter to a platform or a broker and allow it to search their interest and seek matches, and frequently with a bi-lateral notice, which means the contra-side is also notified. That means sharing information that the trader may not actually wish to share in the hope that some of it will get filled.
With JumpStart, there is no order to expose. No one will have access to the buy-side trader’s blotter. The traders use their OMS/EMS to send an IOI and seek potential matches in a bespoke Hosted Pool inside IntelligentCross ATS. Not even the broker that created the pool will know about the institutional trader’s IOIs unless and until the trader confirms a match. This puts the control into the hands of institutional investors.
What role did collaboration play in building JumpStart—and how did each party (ATS, EMS, broker, buy-side) shape its functionality?
The concept of JumpStart came about as a direct result of ongoing collaboration between IntelligentCross and Jefferies, which evolved to include direct user insights and input from Harris | Oakmark, who then brought FactSet’s Portware into the process as the first buyside EMS. This gave the project a 360-degree perspective. It was not a “solution in search of a problem;” it was an organic, integrated solution to a real inefficiency faced by the buy-side.
Can JumpStart truly deliver both better outcomes and lower signaling risk—or is there a tradeoff?
There was traditionally a tradeoff for the buy-side trader: they had to choose between seeking liquidity or protecting their intentions. But JumpStart, combined with IntelligentCross Hosted Pools, can help minimize pre-trade information leakage, while still providing access to a broker’s unique liquidity. So, this tradeoff is no longer necessary. Jefferies buy-side clients can access Jefferies agency algo flow in an anonymous environment. The agency algo clients will have priority access to the interest of other buy-side investors if they happen to have contra liquidity. It’s a win/win.
What’s the long-term vision for expanding JumpStart’s ecosystem—and how might it influence broader market structure trends?
As new brokers onboard with JumpStart, they can bring their specific “flavors” of flow to the process, and give their buy-side clients a unique experience, accessible with the same kind of control and minimized footprint. We expect a wide array of use cases that institutional investors can choose from. Likewise, as additional buy-side traders access JumpStart liquidity, their specific natural flow, once firmed up, will be unique liquidity accessible to other brokers’ clients. As new EMS/OMS platforms certify for JumpStart, this workflow becomes available to more buy-side traders. So, the efficiencies should grow in a ripple effect, which will hopefully meaningfully improve outcomes for a widening circle of investors.
FLASH FRIDAY is a weekly content series looking at the past, present and future of capital markets trading and technology. FLASH FRIDAY is sponsored by Instinet, a Nomura company.
Retail trading and options trading have a close Venn diagram relationship, as many retail traders buy and sell puts and calls, and many options traders are individuals not affiliated with any financial institution.
So it made perfect sense for the Security Traders Association to run Retail Investing and Listed Options sequentially on Wednesday afternoon at its annual Market Structure Conference in Washington, DC.
Both panels assessed the past, present and future of their respective areas, with somewhat similar broad themes: volumes have continued to boom beyond expectations and the outlook for the future is constructive, though there are some areas of concern.
The retail panel noted that one year ago, there was an expectation for a pullback given political uncertainty ahead, but that didn’t happen. Instead, ETFs and options have seen record inflows amid “incredible thematic momentum,” largely around advances in artificial intelligence.
Reasons for optimism include modernization initiatives at industry regulator Finra, potential clarity around the order protection rule, more sophistication on the part of retail investors, and a sizable wealth transfer that’s coming up for the younger generation.
Concerns for retail investors include low-price, low-float stocks that sometimes see extreme price swings; listing standards for IPOs of some foreign-domiciled companies; and the proliferation of reverse stock splits.
Reviews on 24-hour trading were mixed: one panelist said volume is still too low and should be more like crypto, while another panelist said certain times, such as the night of Sunday October 12, have a lot of activity and show the long-term potential for extended hours market activity.
Regarding what might be discussed on the retail panel next year, panelists cited innovation, market access, technology, education, AI, and digital assets.
The options panel noted that the 17 busiest-ever days in cleared volumes have occurred this year. Growth has been driven and sustained by short-dated options, an expanded kit of trading tools, education, and influencers.
Anecdotally, one panelist said one can learn how to trade zero-days-to-expiration (0DTE) options from watching videos on YouTube. Another panelist said they’ve been encountering people socially who trade options, whereas it used to be that the mention of options prompted eyes to glaze over.
There is concern about “uncharted territory” in aggregate numbers, and whether market structure in a very interconnected options industry can handle much higher volumes. One panelist said “we are seeing issues here and there” with today’s volumes.
The options panel generally expects growth to continue, especially globally, though the macro environment is a risk to that.
Nasdaq has unveiled a series of enhancements to its market surveillance platform, having completed a pilot which successfully embedded advanced AI functionality at every stage of a market abuse investigation.
The platform is used by financial institutions globally, including 50 exchanges and 20 international regulators, providing advanced capabilities to investigate suspicious activity from anomaly detection through to regulatory enforcement.
Edward Probst
“Manipulative actors are increasingly coordinating sophisticated schemes through indirect relationships that evade traditional detection methods, demanding equally sophisticated tools that can unmask hidden connections and advance at a faster rate than the threats we face,” said Edward Probst, Head of Regulatory Technology at Nasdaq.
“As more marketplaces and participants adopt the added functionality, Nasdaq is uniquely positioned to draw on the collective strength of our client community to uphold the integrity of global capital markets,” he said.
As market manipulation schemes have grown increasingly sophisticated across jurisdictions, traditional detection methods, which rely on manual processes, have become increasingly ineffective and labor-intensive.
Nasdaq’s new AI detection capabilities leverage extensive industry and internal data sets to provide comprehensive activity assessments and predictive analytics to improve detection and reduce false positives.
This allows market operators and participants to identify high-risk activity and instruments more effectively.
The added capabilities build on existing AI functionality integrated to the platform, which streamlines the triage and examination process involved in reviewing suspected abuse.
Together, these capabilities can also be used by global regulators to accelerate enforcement of suspected market abuse.
Nasdaq intends to offer these enhancements to all market surveillance platform customers, starting in Q4 2025.
Through a strategic partnership with the Capital Markets Authority of Saudi Arabia, the pilot AI-powered anomaly detection tooling was used to identify periods of unusual activity associated with a pre-defined set of behaviors. The pilot identified 80% of pump and dump schemes in a historical sample set compared to traditional detection methods.
“We welcome the opportunity to partner with Nasdaq and demonstrate our relentless commitment to maintaining the trust and integrity of Saudi Arabia’s capital market,” said Saeed Ali Juraybi, Director of Market Surveillance and Analysis for the Capital Markets Authority of Saudi Arabia.
“The dramatic improvement in detection accuracy we experienced during the pilot period validates the transformative potential of these AI capabilities. Global capital markets face increasingly sophisticated threats that operate across borders, and this technology represents a quantum leap in our ability to identify and combat market manipulation. By working together as an industry to develop and enhance innovative new capabilities, we can stay ahead of the threats we face.”
Nasdaq’s surveillance technology serves the world’s most comprehensive range of asset classes and market structures globally, connecting to extensive data sets through both the lifecycle of a trade and subsequent review processes.
“Each market segment benefits from tailored multi-agent behaviors that can be adapted to specific trading patterns and regulatory requirements,” said Tony Sio, Head of Regulatory Strategy and Innovation at Nasdaq.
“The platform’s machine learning models continuously improve and respond to new market conditions and manipulation patterns. This means market operators and regulators have access to a dynamic defense system that stays ahead of sophisticated market abuse schemes,” he said.
As part of Nasdaq’s broader commitment to fighting financial crime, Nasdaq Verafin recently announced an Agentic AI Workforce, a suite of digital workers designed to transform the efficiency and effectiveness of financial institutions’ anti-money laundering programs.
Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is expanding its global asset recovery capabilities by leveraging global Fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.’s (NYSE: BR) proprietary global class action technology, enabling clients to optimize claim recoveries and increase engagement in settlement processes.
Enhancements available with the new service include expanded coverage for more than 35 markets and, for the first time, support for “opt-in” markets where claimants can elect to participate in litigation prior to the suit being settled. In addition, enhanced reporting provides clients with greater detail over the lifecycle of their class action cases, including upcoming filing deadlines, case summary and claim detail reports, and detailed listings of all claim distributions.
Kevin Blair
“Northern Trust is committed to delivering innovative solutions that help clients unlock the full potential of their investment strategies,” said Kevin Blair, global head of Securities Services at Northern Trust. “Expanding our collaboration with Broadridge reflects our dedication to integrating cutting-edge technology and market insights to help elevate client outcomes and drive forward-looking growth.”
“With the rising complexity and volume of securities class actions, financial institutions must seize every opportunity to protect and recover assets through best-in-class stewardship practices,” said Steve Cirami, senior vice president, general manager of U.S. Proxy, Corporate Actions and Global Class Actions at Broadridge. “Broadridge’s Global Class Action Services equips firms like Northern Trust with tools to increase recoveries, streamline settlement participation and bolster operational performance.”
The enhanced solutions provide investors with greater transparency, operational agility and broader access to global asset recovery opportunities as new laws are passed, including support for investments in countries with “Opt-in” class action systems.
Northern Trust’s implementation comes at a time when the global class action landscape is expanding rapidly, with over 35 jurisdictions now supporting collective redress mechanisms for shareholders. In 2024 alone, class action settlements reached $5.2 billion across 135 cases worldwide, highlighting the growing importance of comprehensive asset recovery solutions.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) is a global technology leader with trusted expertise and transformative technology, helping clients and the financial services industry operate, innovate, and grow. We power investing, governance, and communications for our clients – driving operational resiliency, elevating business performance, and transforming investor experiences.
Our technology and operations platforms process and generate over 7 billion communications annually and underpin the daily average trading of over $15 trillion in equities, fixed income, and other securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 15,000 associates in 21 countries.
Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 24 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of June 30, 2025, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$18.1 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.7 trillion. For more than 135 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit us on northerntrust.com. Follow us on Instagram @northerntrustcompany or Northern Trust on LinkedIn.
Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at https://www.northerntrust.com/terms-and-conditions.
Just six months into his tenure, US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins is aready in the weeds on a number of issues, but he indicated a bigger-picture goal: to straighten the regulator’s long-term path.
“We want to future-proof what we do,” Atkins said Thursday at the Security Traders Association’s Market Structure Conference in Washington, DC. “We don’t want to see ping pong with changing administrations and changing rules.”
Indeed there has been ping pong over the years. Changeovers between Democrat and Republican US Presidents typically result in a new SEC head, with concurrent wholesale changes in regulatory approach.
Much of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s unfinished rulemaking agenda was unceremoniously scrapped shortly after he stepped down earlier this year.
Atkins didn’t provide specifics as to how he plans to future-proof the SEC.
Aside from that long-term goal, there are a host of narrower issues that Atkins is tending to. He indicated that “job one” is addressing Rule 611, the order protection rule, which was adopted in 2005. A long-time critic of the rule, Atkins said the OPR would be more accurately called the “order discrimination rule” for the distortions it has created in the market.
Atkins said securities markets most likely will look very different within five to 10 years, as digital assets and tokenization evolve. To that end, he said he wants the SEC to lean in to the future and be known as the “Securities and Innovation Commission”.
The SEC Chairman acknowledged that the SEC hasn’t worked well with its sister regulator, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the “no man’s land” between the agencies is “littered with corpses of would-be products that make sense,” such as portfolio margining and single-stock futures.
Animosity between the two agencies has been a drag on the functioning of markets, and Atkins said that is now changing with a newly harmonized approach.
Atkins also cited the decline in initial public offerings, which he attributed to litigation risk, cost, and the “weaponization of corporate governance.” He want to change rules to make public markets more attractive for private companies.
Overall, the SEC “needs a spring cleaning of the attic, basement and garage, to make rules productive and not redundant,” Atkins said.
BOSTON, Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HPR, the leader in high-performance trading infrastructure solutions, today announced MEG, a complete matching engine gateway with a full hardware data path, enabling execution venues to enhance their client experience with deterministic low latency and a reduced footprint.
As a critical component of HPR’s matching engine technology, MEG offers end-to-end sub-microsecond deterministic latency with 85+ single order and aggregated real-time risk checks, per trade, giving clients complete trading and risk control with unparalleled resilience under volatile market conditions.
MEG scales to 1,000 client sessions and 40 physical 10/25GbE ports per appliance, with built-in routing and switching that streamlines order flow, replacing legacy gateways and simplifying exchange architecture.
Anthony Amicangioli
MEG supports 50+ protocols, globally, accelerating time-to-market for any new and existing exchange.
HPR Founder and CEO Anthony Amicangioli said, “The MEG is revolutionizing market access technology for the exchange landscape by driving the inevitable evolution from legacy software to hardware-based matching engine technology.
“With a flexible performance configuration and comprehensive risk controls, purpose-built for any execution venue, MEG is pushing the boundary of what is possible within a hardware design, maximizing compute density and overall throughput.”
About HPR HPR is a comprehensive platform-as-a-service, pioneering hardware-based trading infrastructure solutions as the natural evolution in capital markets. Powering global investment banks, hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, and exchanges, HPR takes a unified approach to supporting electronic trading technology and enterprise risk management with unparalleled speed, efficiency, reliability, and determinism. HPR’s products, all offered as a fully managed service, provide ultra-low-latency pre-trade risk management, direct market access, market data delivery, and matching engine technology. For more information, visit www.hyannisportresearch.com.
As Managing Director, Global Head of Data & Analytics and CEO of Eagle Investment Systems, Julie Gerdeman is focused on building a modern data culture at BNY. She spoke with Traders Magazine about her leadership approach, the evolving role of data in finance, and why curiosity is key to navigating change.
What does your day-to-day look like as Managing Director & Global Head of Data & Analytics — what are your top priorities, metrics, and responsibilities?
Julie Gerdeman
I can summarize my priorities succinctly – growing the business globally, delivering exceptional data and analytics products and services to BNY clients, and building a high-performing team supported by a culture where transparency, accountability, and collaboration is both expected and rewarded. But describing a typical day is much harder, because truly no two days are the same. I get tremendous energy from being with people who are passionate about creating solutions to problems – so the best days are when I’m visiting our offices around the world and meeting with my team members – hearing what’s good, what we can improve, and what gets them excited to come to work every day. And the same with clients – listening to their challenges, co-innovating, and learning, in their words, how we’ve helped them.
As for metrics, as a SaaS company, we are focused on recurring revenue growth and client satisfaction – as measured by CSAT and net promotor score – “would you recommend us to a colleague?” We are relentlessly focused on net revenue retention, which shows how we are expanding our relationships with existing clients. When a client continues to add new business, that’s the ultimate indicator of client satisfaction.
Coming from the tech and startup world — including your time as CEO of Everstream Analytics — what leadership lessons have translated well into your current role at BNY?
First, you have to remember that being a leader is a privilege. You shape the culture of the organization. For me, that means an environment where everyone understands how they contribute to our purpose and goals, they feel a sense of belonging…of community….and a sense of pride in their work. It may sound simple, but today’s business climate requires enormous resiliency, and leaders must foster that by encouraging open collaboration and trust, experimentation, and smart, measured risk-taking. An organization where people are afraid to make mistakes or deliver the bad news will not thrive – or even survive – in the long term.
Have there been mentors, networks, or strategies you found especially helpful along your own path?
I’ve been fortunate to learn from exceptional mentors and tap into powerful networks throughout my career, but what has really helped me forge my path is curiosity. By asking questions and diving into subjects outside my comfort zone, I’ve unlocked doors I never even knew existed. This mindset aligns directly with our BNY principle to “Stay Curious.” When we are curious, we spark progress—for ourselves, our teams, and our clients—challenging assumptions and uncovering new ways to solve problems. Curiosity has been the compass that has guided me to new opportunities and helped me grow as a leader.
In your experience, what are the biggest challenges asset managers or financial institutions face in turning raw data into actionable intelligence – and how do you advise overcoming them?
It’s a complex challenge, but you can distill the hurdles into three core themes: data quality and governance; dated and fragmented technology; and organizational readiness to align around and adopt a data-centric operating model. Overcoming these challenges requires cross-functional data governance with clear data owners, standard taxonomies, and automation to support data quality checks – with a recognition that “fit for purpose” means different things to different consumers. As for technology, modernization is key – a modular, cloud-native platform with open APIs is a must have. And finally, a change mindset is critical. For organizations that are lower on the data maturity curve, it’s fine to start small. Identify a data domain where you can prove out the pattern, focus on high-impact quick wins, and celebrate the success. These are commonly multi-year initiatives that completely transform the organizational operating model – so it’s important to have milestones to achieve along the way to maintain momentum and justify the investment.
What role do you see cloud infrastructure, hybrid architectures, and ‘data fabrics’ playing in the evolution of investment data platforms?
Cloud infrastructure provides the elastic foundation to build upon – a robust catalog of infrastructure services and built-in redundancy, resiliency, and security capabilities that provide assurance that data will be available and protected. But the reality is that most investment data platforms today are hybrid architecture, bridging on-premise or private cloud applications with public cloud, to meet regulatory, internal security, and data residency requirements without sacrificing innovation. The data fabric weaves together the disparate data stores – with metadata-driven governance, lineage, and data quality checks – to present a single, logical layer that business users can discover, query and join regardless of physical location. When you combine the scalability and managed-service richness of the public cloud, the control and compliance benefits of a hybrid footprint, and the metadata-powered integration of a data fabric, the end product is an investment data platform that’s open, elastic and secure – ready to support advanced analytics, decision making, and rapid product innovation.
Strategic partnerships seem key to innovation in your space – whether with cloud providers, fintechs, or data platforms. What makes a partnership truly impactful from your perspective?
Approximately 30-40% of investment managers in financial services are currently undertaking or planning significant operating model transformations, with data at the center. In my experience, there is optimal mix of partners that can architect a proper data foundation – enterprise technology providers like Microsoft or AWS providing the cloud infrastructure and ability to meet data residency requirements in emerging markets; consultant partners that bring expertise in designing the operating model and change management; and the fintech that provides the data platform and domain expertise. When you have that combination, along with a shared vision and a value proposition that clearly articulates how you win together – with joint goals and metrics – that’s when you can deliver exponential market impact.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of finance and data analytics?
I’m extremely excited about the potential for AI to transform finance. Today, we’re using AI to simplify data onboarding, governance, and migration activities with chatbots that assist with the creation of data models and data quality rules. AI is augmenting our staff, enabling them to focus on higher-value tasks by reducing manual workloads and error rates. Now we’re starting to see real-time data streams and AI converge to turn massive volumes of data into predictive insights. As AI technologies continue to mature, we’ll see shifts from discrete automation projects to more comprehensive, AI-enabled platforms. Imagine anticipating market shifts before they happen…hyper-personalizing client experiences at scale…reimagining entire processes in the investment lifecycle. We’ve really just scratched the surface.
What advice would you offer women who aspire to senior roles in finance and technology?
One word – courage – and particularly as it relates to adapting to change. My organization is going through a major transformation in our operating model that will help us break down silos, streamline delivery, and prioritize more effectively – all positive outcomes but requiring very different ways of working. When we launched, I had just read a powerful book by Margie Warrell, called The Courage Gap – all about the endless possibilities when you have the courage to embrace change. This quote really stayed with me – “The fearful mind creates the gap. The brave heart closes it.”
By Max Melmed, Head of Capital Markets at Monark, and Barry Bernstein, Managing Director, COO – Technology Services at ViewTrade
For decades, private markets have remained the exclusive domain of institutional investors and the ultra-wealthy. Today, key market drivers are converging to transform how private investments are accessed and integrated into the mainstream. Traditional brokerage firms can now add access to private markets, putting what once was out of reach, at investors’ fingertips.
Barry Bernstein
The Allocation Gap and the Disconnect
Private markets represent a $16 trillion asset class. Yet, they remain largely disconnected from $27 trillion in retail accredited investor wealth across more than 24 million U.S. households.
In collaboration with Stocktwits, Monark surveyed 500 Accredited Investors. This revealed that approximately 50% of investors have less than 5% allocated to private markets today. Only 7.4% have allocated more than 20%, despite 34% seeking to allocate more than 20%.
Historically, non-institutional investors faced significant compromises—lower-quality opportunities or multilayered fee structures that erode returns. Today, we stand at a transformative inflection point where this standard is poised for disruption. Those who successfully embed private markets access into existing platforms and bridge the gap stand to reshape the investment landscape.
The Four Driving Forces
1. Regulatory Changes: Numerous regulatory changes over the last three decades have laid the foundation.
● National Securities Markets Improvement Act (1996): Streamlined interstate offerings ● Regulation ATS (1999): Foundation for private securities trading platforms ● Electronic Signatures Act (2000): E-signatures validated ● JOBS Act (2012): Allowed for marketing and increased access to private investments ● Economic Growth Act (2018): Raised investor caps from 500 to 2,000 ● Expanded Accredited Definition (2020): Added professional certifications ● Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act (2025): Enables knowledge-based qualifications
2. Technological Advancements: Advancements in cloud computing, e-signatures, and automated KYC/AML have reduced friction and costs. API integrations allow private markets infrastructure to plug directly into brokerage platforms, making scale economically viable.
3. Cultural Evolution: Cultural norms have fundamentally shifted.
● Online Capital Formation: COVID-19 normalized remote investing ● Entrepreneurial Focus: Startups glamorized across media channels ● Unicorn Proliferation: From 39 companies (2013) to over 1,200 (2025) ● Equity Compensation: Broader acceptance created individual shareholders seeking liquidity ● Special Purpose Vehicle Normalization: SPVs evolved from taboo to standard ● Digital Comfort: Millennials and Gen Z embrace digital platforms
4. Business Environment Evolution: The landscape evolved to support these opportunities.
● Platform Development: Emergence of SPV providers and digital investment banks ● Extended IPO Timeline: Companies staying private longer, with more growth taking place in private markets ● Secondary Transaction Acceptance: More companies supporting employee liquidity ● Asset Manager Innovation: Traditional managers developing retail products
The Brokerage Gateway
Our research reveals:
Over 60% of accredited investors prefer accessing private markets through existing brokerage relationships rather than specialized platforms. Nearly 70% have never used direct-to-consumer private investment platforms.
Integration into traditional brokerage platforms represents a critical catalyst. There are over 100 million brokerage accounts in the U.S., representing one of the largest direct-to-investor distribution channels. By leveraging established trust, relationships, and a superior user experience, private market opportunities can reach millions of investors already managing portfolios through their brokerage account.
What’s Missing?
Until now, the missing link has been embedded API infrastructure that enables brokerage firms to integrate private market access directly into existing accounts, eliminating the need for new platforms.
Beyond this, a few key challenges remain:
Increased Investor Limits: Increasing private company investor caps beyond 2,000 and beyond 100 for 3(c)(1) SPVs.
Enhanced Education: Equipping investors with knowledge to evaluate risks and opportunities
Issuer Buy-In: Regardless of the tech, rules, and size of the investor pool, the solutions provided for issuers need to add value and solve problems. Luckily, this is already starting to happen.
Who Benefits?
For institutions, integrating private markets into brokerage platforms opens access to trillions in accredited investor capital. Those who act early can establish competitive advantage and capture new revenue streams.
For investors, accessing private markets within a brokerage account transforms what’s traditionally been a fragmented, manual, inefficient process into a seamless investment experience. Instead of juggling emails, PDFs, and multiple platform logins, investors can research, invest, and monitor their private holdings alongside their public portfolio in a single account.
This integration delivers immediate convenience through consolidated tax reporting and unified portfolio visibility, while providing structural advantages like enhanced secondary liquidity options for otherwise illiquid assets and streamlined liquidity event processing that keeps distributions within the same brokerage account.
The Bottom Line
Regulatory reform, technological advancement, cultural evolution, and business environment changes have converged to create a genuine inflection point. The next catalyst—seamless integration of private markets within a brokerage account—represents the key to unlocking full market potential.
With 60% of accredited investors preferring access to private markets via their existing brokerage accounts, the market signals demonstrate clear demand.
