It’s been another eventful quarter for fixed income, exacerbating existing trends already developing in the space. Fragmented liquidity, reduced balance sheet on the sell-side, drooping volatility and increased regulatory burdens have continued to push fixed income traders into the arms of electronic algo-driven and automated solutions.
This edition of The TRADE Magazine touches on all this and more with in-depth features exploring the use cases for AI in fixed income, the changing role of buy-side traders as price makers in the current liquidity climate and what role a consolidated tape will play in the market.
It wouldn’t be The TRADE Magazine without an abundance of exclusive buy-side content and this edition is no different. Starring on our cover this quarter is State Street Global Advisors’ head of fixed income trading for EMEA and APAC, Sharon Ruffles, accompanied in this issue by a Meet the Desk interview with RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s London-based fixed income trading desk headed up by Stuart Campbell, and a Big Interview with BlackRock’s Laura-Jane Purnell.
Take a below for more detail on Q3 content:
In depth – The changing role of the buy-side in fixed income price making
As the liquidity landscape increasingly turns buy-side side firms to the role of price maker in fixed income, Annabel Smith explores the current technology available to them to do so and the role data will play in giving the buy-side the confidence to cement this trend as mainstream.
Buy-side cover interview – SSGA’s Sharon Ruffles on fixed income trading: It’s a different job every day
As global economies diverge amid rate hikes and inflation, Sharon Ruffles, head of fixed income trading for EMEA and Asia Pacific at State Street Global Advisors, sits down with Annabel Smith to deep dive into the fixed income markets, exploring the next step for electronification, the evolution of technology and the importance of variety when it comes to sourcing liquidity.
In depth – Artificial Intelligence in fixed income: A paradigm shift
With ongoing advances in technology, Wesley Bray explores the use of AI in fixed income, how it can help target liquidity and the shifting role of the trader as it adapts to work in tandem with new technologies.
Meet the desk – A new chapter for RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s London-based fixed income trading desk
Annabel Smith sits down with RBC BlueBay Asset Management’s newly reabsorbed London-based fixed income trading desk to talk counterparty relationships, technology, liquidity dynamics, as well as what the future might hold for the formerly boutique firm, now part of a global one.
The Big Interview – BlackRock’s Laura-Jane Purnell
Director, senior fixed income and FI ETF trader at BlackRock, Laura-Jane Purnell, sits down with Wesley Bray to discuss her journey to the trading desk, the key drivers in the modernisation of bond markets and how to navigate shifting liquidity supply and demand dynamics.
In depth – If you build it, will they come?
With consolidated tapes (CT) on the way and the market looking at increased transparency and competition, Claudia Preece delves into data access, cost, and risk in fixed income post-Brexit – does data hold the key to a healthier market?
Survey – Buy-side sentiment on the up, but EMS providers aren’t out of the woods yet
This year’s results revealed higher scores across nearly all service categories, with the survey average jumping up to an impressive 5.94 in 2023, the highest on record since the survey first launched in 2013.
Closing bell – Technology will solve municipal bond market fragmentation
Early adopters of modern fixed income EMSs within the muni market can gain an immediate edge by underpinning voice and electronic execution methods, writes TS Imagine’s chief markets officer Spencer Lee.
Read the full issue here.