5 – 5.30pm Registration & Reception (drinks)

5.30 – 6.30pm Introduction & Presentation

6.30 – 7pm Q&A – Wrap up

7pm Networking & Drinks

Introduction by Michael Warren CTO London Metal Exchange
Responsible for ensuring the smooth running of all LME IT & technology operations

Presentation by Terry Keene CEO & President iSys

The Future of Trading Platforms
Four years ago over 60% of all trades were made through voice brokers, matched on the exchange floors and phoned back to the trader. Today more than 60% of all trades are executed by algorithms running on quantitative analysts’ computers to electronic exchanges. The trade execution round trip has gone from many minutes to a hundred microseconds.  The landscape of trading has changed forever. How do you compete?

ECNs have taken liquidity from traditional exchanges, the FOREX has become the asset class of choice for volume and volatility and other commodities are rapidly becoming the asset class of choice for the hot trading markets.  As a result, the closer the algorithm is to the exchange, the earlier the trading data feeds hit the algorithm. The advantage gained by these proximity platforms is enough to create a delta of millions of dollars every hour.  How do you compete?

Exchanges and ECNs are changing their matching platforms continuously to gain volume, reduce latency to provide traders with the market advantage to move liquidity. They are also reducing the data center footprint to increase the number of proximity servers and capture traders’ volumes. How will you compete?

Over the past 15 years the financial market’s technology has shifted through varied architectures for solutions. Each shift was driven by the perceived ability to solve the current challenges via implementation of IT industry’s latest technology. Now it seems no architecture is able to provide, on its own, a solution for the challenges that we face today. Most IT organizations are facing the reality of having to begin “inventing the wheel” as opposed to the merely judicious application of better technology, which no longer seems to work. There are only two processor technologies left for the trading platforms of the future. You will either select Intel, from Intel or AMD, or you will select IBM Power systems. What are the differences? Who will have the advantage?  What happens to your profits if a competitor has disruptive technology, giving them a market edge?

Terry Keene will cover the challenges of the future trading platforms and describe the value of both Intel and IBM Power at each level of the trading process, from market data feeds, orders, matching and back office reconciliation.  You will have to make decisions to capture volume, execute trades and gain liquidity. Profit will follow. iSys has been working with high frequency traders, interdealer brokers, hedge funds, Exchanges and ECNs for four years during this critical time of latency and volume. This will be a perspective that you have never heard.