Coming in at number 10 in our 2024 most read countdown was a major merger and acquisition scoop announced at the start of the year. As revealed by The TRADE and sister publication Global Custodian in February, fintech giant acquired SaaS post-trade platform Torstone Technology.
The deal will further bolster FIS’ capital markets technology offering, having acquired SunGard in a major deal back in 2015. The firm has also made waves through a number of other bolt-on acquisitions and landmark mandates.
Torstone is a global SaaS platform for post-trade securities and derivatives processing technology, originally built by and for a global investment bank.
The fintech was founded in 2011 with originator and CEO Brian Collings still chief executive and chair today. Torstone is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Toronto, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Speaking at the time of the deal, a spokesperson for Torstone confirmed that the firm was not able to disclose more detail at that stage. A spokesperson for FIS added that the firm as a rule does not comment on market rumour or speculation.
A source speaking to The TRADE, under the condition of anonymity, said: “The acquisition makes perfect sense from the FIS perspective as the vendor can add modern securities processing capabilities to its existing suite of capital markets focused offerings. On the Torstone side, it gives the smaller vendor deeper pockets to build out its capabilities and reach into new geographies.
9. Citadel names new head of American Treasury quantsThe TRADE is renowned for its coverage of major people moves from across our industry and so it’s fitting that number nine this year in our most read stories is quant-focused role at Citadel.
As revealed by The TRADE following a post on his social media, Citadel appointed Mukunth Raghavan as head of American Treasury quants, based in New York, in October earlier this year.
As part of the role, Raghavan will serve a broad mandate across both Citadel Asset Management and Citadel Securities. He joins Citadel from Goldman Sachs, where he most recently served as vice president within the bank’s global equities team.
In an earlier stint at Goldman, Raghavan worked as vice president, quantitative strategies within the bank’s equities prime services. In this role he built analytical tools, trading strategies and optimisation models.
Elsewhere in his career, Raghavan spent three years at McKinsey & Company, most recently serving as a management consultant.
8. Goldman Sachs AM set to leverage BNY’s buy-side trading solution
And finally, coming in at number eight and concluding this first roundup of The TRADE’s most read series, is news relating to an outsourced trading deal involving some rather large household names.
News broke in March that BNY was set to begin offering its buy-side trading solution to Goldman Sachs Asset Management as the firm continues to expand the reach of its outsourced trading offering across the market.
The new buy-side trading relationship specifically concerns a division of Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s EMEA business, The TRADE understands.
As part of the agreement, BNY is delivering global trade execution services in EMEA, the US and APAC markets across fixed income, FX, derivatives and ETFs.
BNY’s buy-side trading solutions business was launched in 2023, providing a flexible solution. As the firm explained, “outsourced trading does not have to be a onesize fits all approach, it can be customised to meet your needs”.
Currently, the offering includes a ‘partial outsourcing’ offering wherein a supplemental service is offered, as well as ‘full outsourcing’ where the firm assumes the responsibilities of the trading desk. It supports institutional clients with global multi-asset trade execution services across over 100 countries.
Read more: The Outsourced Trading Handbook 2023
“BNY is proud to support Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s sophisticated trading needs as they grow their world class investment platform,” said the firm in an official statement.
Outsourced trading is a trend which continues to be on the rise, whether full outsourcing or a supplement to the trading desk, more factors are pushing firms towards the service.
The attention has been increasingly turning to larger managers and while for the C-suite it might be an obvious economic decision, for many on the trading desk the topic continues to be a somewhat contentious one.
That concludes this first roundup of The TRADE’s most read content in 2024. Tune back in tomorrow for stories seven to four.