The BlackRock EMEA equity trading team picked up The TRADE’s highly coveted Trading Desk of the Year, Long-Only award at the Leaders in Trading 2023 event in November. Shortlisted by The TRADE, the desk took home the award after an industry vote, having impressed the street with their continued commitment to, and success in, their space.
Head of the EMEA equities desk at the world’s largest asset manager, Paul Battams, oversees a highly talented team of 14 traders covering the scope of equities and equity derivatives execution for the entirety of BlackRock’s investment teams.
Speaking to the most important elements for success in the space, he explains that it’s essential to prioritise embracing change: “It’s the only thing that is constant. Every day is different, and markets are evolving at a phenomenal pace. Be inquisitive, open minded and innovative.”
And that is exactly what the London-based trading team embodies. As Nancy McCartney, director of equity trading and head of the EMEA fundamental equity trading team asserts it is a group of individuals who are “passionate, professional, dedicated, driven,” and, importantly, close knit.
“We each have a role to play but are fully prepared to step into another’s shoes when required, so that PM/client coverage is seamless. Cross-product knowledge is strong and we have regular multi-asset internal and external calls to stay informed of broader themes.”
She adds that “strong partnerships exist between traders and PMs, with constant free flowing dialogue. The uniform use of our OMS and EMS and the complete visibility of the platform allows for efficient execution while frequent system enhancements improve oversight and risk management controls.”
Battams agrees, explaining that the desk is at its core “a very open and collaborative environment,” which has great connectivity within the firm’s wider global trading team which comprises more than 220 individuals across 11 offices.
“It’s an extremely busy desk and each day is different, so the team needs to be able to pivot and align resources accordingly. High levels of communication are required. Each trader is a student of the markets and every day is a learning opportunity. There is a huge amount of data and a very detailed focus on transaction cost analysis and automation. We also recognise that the human element, trader intuition and strong relationships and partnerships both internally and externally are essential.
“Every trader has an area of focus and responsibility […] there are lots of projects and initiatives that traders contribute to or own. It’s a very diverse team with lots of different personalities and characters.”
Staying ahead of the game
One of these characters is Marie Geekie, director EMEA equity trading, who runs all things equity in CEEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa). Having joined the desk in 2020, Geekie is a key facet of the team – a regular at industry events, recognising the value of keeping up relationships with exchanges, brokers and liquidity providers in order to deliver only the best outcomes for BlackRock’s clients.
In terms of what impacts her day-to-day work the most, Geekie highlights “the constant variance of the CEEMEA space and the hunt for liquidity with wrap around execution coverage.”
In addition to trading, Geekie also facilitates business-wide ‘action groups’ aimed at monitoring developments of, and providing intelligence on, key market events. This includes geopolitical conflicts in Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East, as well as other goings-on such as earthquakes and market suspension in Turkey.
“This involves working with teams such as financial crime, risk, sanctions, compliance, corporate communications etc. [and] I also engage with exchanges on developing market structure and investigate new market openings,” explains Geekie.
As a team, subject matter expertise and the continual pursuit of keeping abreast of market happenings is a core focus, with the entire desk encouraged to both continually develop strategies and embrace technological changes.
“From a desk perspective, we need a diverse team with a high level of core competency but with subject matter expertise in specific areas such as index rebalances, electronic trading, block trading, emerging markets, small cap, market structure, regulation, coding, data analysis and project management to name just a few,” says Battams.
Trader Nick Craze spoke to the importance of incremental change and innovation, explaining that the team are encouraged to develop and evolve execution strategies and processes, with developing technology essential.
Over the years, the BlackRock team has embraced electronification and made significant investments in technology, as demonstrated by the customisation of its EMS, aimed at handling complex trading workflows.
“The strength of technology teams at BlackRock give us the confidence to be innovative and drive the market leading trading solutions,” says Craze.
The importance of passion
The desk has a wide breadth of coverage with individuals working across teams in order to provide a seamless service. McCartney heads up the EMEA fundamental equity trading team, having made the shift from the London Stock Exchange to the front-office earlier in her career.
She has now been with BlackRock for 14 years, inspired by the fast-paced and dynamic environment, as well as the firm’s culture which places growth and development at the fore.
“The people I work with are inspirational and the trading team are very close knit. We are respectful, inclusive and supportive of each other and we are encouraged to grow and develop our own ideas,” says McCartney who adds that “BlackRock offers a unique platform to showcase talents in a supportive environment. There is plenty of room for career growth and [we] are challenged to develop as individuals on a daily basis.”
She emphasises that in order to fulfil the desk’s remit, being passionate about the markets is a key facet in order to ensure exceptional service, as well as having an array of tools in the toolbox in order to facilitate efficient execution. In addition, it is important for individuals to be able to maintain effective sell-side partnerships, says McCartney.
“What makes a good trader? Somebody who is very detailed, driven to achieve the best outcome for clients, is patient, who does not panic, a team player, tech savvy, determined and someone who has a good sense of humour!”
Battams echoes this sentiment, asserting that the role of traders has evolved significantly over those last two decades, now reaching further than just execution.
“The best traders are passionate about markets, focused on execution performance and willing to challenge the status quo. They are team players that add ‘trader alpha’ to the investment process. Good communication skills and cultural fit are extremely important.”
Developing strategies
The desk’s wide-ranging focus also includes derivatives, with Craze overseeing the ‘model and derivatives group’ since 2016, a team responsible for trading European equity derivatives, as well as all of BlackRock’s European equity index, transitions and quantitative active strategies.
Craze now manages a team of six traders, having been on the desk for more than 15 years, well-matched to the role’s “mathematical nature, technical development, faced paced market environment and supportive colleagues”.
Looking to the future and where the focus will lie, Craze tells The TRADE: “I think sourcing new and current liquidity opportunities efficiently will continue to be the priority and to compliment this, advanced automation of appropriate flow will continue to evolve, which here at BlackRock is very much the responsibility of the trading team.”
“Over the last five years, we have really developed our relationships with investment teams internally and I expect these partnerships to be extended into further investment process enhancements. On the derivatives side, we made large strides to remove any manual processes and we are now in a great spot to build more electronification in this space and build processes to support traders in the more complex assets,” he adds.
Within the ‘models and derivatives group’ Nat Foster focuses on executing equity derivatives, as he has done since the late 1990’s. He works across the spectrum, from vanilla products including equity index futures and equity options, to light exotic OTC trades.
Foster explains: “In addition to managing the derivatives order flow, I also have a role as the ‘eyes and ears’ in markets for a broad cross section of investment teams and risk takers. I regularly communicate the flows, positioning and themes we see in the market to global investment teams which adds a layer of granularity to all the published data.”
Addressing the current state of play, he highlights the increasing relevance of market volatility across all areas of focus, including derivatives. Where there is more risk to hedge, there is more opportunity to capture with derivatives an “excellent tool” in both circumstances, explains Foster.
He adds that volatility affects not only what traders do, but also how they do it, determining the approach to execution in the quest to deliver the best results to clients.
Speaking to the lessons gleaned from his experiences in this space, Foster tells The TRADE: “I consider myself very fortunate to have experienced first-hand some of the most remarkable world events and trading conditions. I have also traded for some of the greatest minds in markets which has informed not only my professional career but also my approach to life.
“The biggest thing I have learnt in trading or any decision you make in life is that you cannot control the outcome. You can only control your process.”
Looking to the future
Speaking to the main points of focus going forward from his perspective and the future outlook for the next five years, Battams tells The TRADE: “The growth in $ notional and number of orders that we execute has increased significantly over the years, and I don’t see that changing. At the same time, the regulatory landscape will continue to evolve. We’ve already witnessed a redistribution of risk taking and a shift in market share as balance sheets have become more constrained and more alternative or principal trading firms continue to build their trading franchises.
“Trading will be more complex, and we will be managing more risk. To do that successfully we will need to continue leveraging technology to build scale and operational efficiency. This will include more automation and more use of data and research driven workflows to ensure we optimise our access to liquidity both internally and externally.”
What is abundantly clear when it comes to the BlackRock EMEA equity desk is the collaborative nature of the team – tackling challenges and supporting one another continually in order to provide a collective service for funds, and subsequently, clients.
“I think our dynamic is best characterised as fast-paced, collaborative, and a results-driven environment. We are fortunate to have a rich pool of talent/experience/ages and everyone looks out for each other,” says Geekie.
Craze echoes this sentiment: “We tackle challenges as a team always supporting each other and it’s impressive to see the team pull together on our busiest days that require an exceptional amount of coordination and focus. […] Communication is key on a trading desk, especially one of our size and we have built an open and friendly environment to help drive collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation. For any trader, particularly one starting out their career, it’s an exceptional desk to be part of and the learning opportunities are enormous.”
BlackRock as a team is demonstrably primed to continue its successful run, having built a solid and diverse team of well-rounded traders, committed to not only embracing change, but leading it, as McCartney concludes: “Diversity of thought and a team that is driven to innovate is essential.”
Despite the busy, fast-paced nature of the desk, Battams confirms that it is also infused with balance, as he asserts that the hardworking team “also manages to have some fun too!”