Conference Agenda
Thursday, September 24, 2009
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Continental Breakfast and Registration
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Ken Heath
Publisher
Traders Magazine
Michael Scotti
Editorial Director
Traders Magazine
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
Crash...Boom...Bounce: A Year to Remember
The tumult of markets worldwide over the last year is still reverberating throughout Wall Street. The credit crisis brought instability that included record volatility, a ban on short sales and the implosion of firms and the creation of new ones. This session will analyze how the equity trading world (sellside and buyside) have been impacted, and how the industry has changed.
Moderator:
Timothy Mahoney
Chief Executive Officer
Bids Trading
Presenters:
John Colon
Managing Director
Greenwich Associates
Richard H. Repetto, CFA
Principal
Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P.
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
The Brokerage Business: Retooled and Ready?
The Credit Crisis has altered the brokerage landscape like never before. Many of the bulge bracket firms caught up in the credit crisis were crippled financially and then suffered yet again from a "brain drain," as trading and sales pros fled to regional and independent firms. This panel will discuss how this shift of human capital has affected the business of trading. It will also explore the value of the services, both high touch and low touch, that firms offer clients. In addition, brokerage execs will give their views on the prospects for the bulge bracket and the sustainability of the independent firms for the long haul. Lastly, panelists will share their vision for a retooled brokerage industry.
Moderator:
Keith Gertsen
Global Head of Trading
Viking Global investors
Panelists:
Jim Fehrenbach
Head of U.S. Sales and Sales Trading
Piper Jaffray
Robert Gasser
CEO
Investment Technology Group
Henry Mulholland
Head of Americas Cash Trading and Sales Trading
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Thomas Wright
Global Head of Equity Trading
Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Networking Break
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Hard Times: Is the Buyside Adjusting?
With the rebuilding of Wall Street firms and an erosion of their own asset base, institutions have seen a major shift of the playing field for cash equities trading. How is the buyside adapting as it relates to their trading strategies and behavior? And how are these strategies altering the buyside-sellside relationship? Indeed, recent studies of the buyside show the shift to increased self-trading continues. Combine that with an ever shrinking commission pool, and it is clear why every commission dollar is more dear. This panel will address trends in trading strategies, plus the valued-added services that the buyside is demanding - or not demanding - from the sellside, in a highly competitive business
Moderator:
Robert Shapiro
Executive Director of Trading and Execution Analysis
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Panelists:
Dan Farrell
Managing Director, Head of Equity Trading
Putnam Investments
Frank Laughlin
SVP, Americas Equity Trading
AllianceBernstein LP
Edward Doyle
Senior Equity Trader
AllianceBernstein LP
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunch
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
Dark Pools Go Under the Microscope
The SEC is considering whether dark pools require new regulation. One issue is how volume executed in dark pools affects price discovery in the displayed markets. Another is how much post-trade transparency should be required for ATSs. For traders, the pressing issue is sourcing liquidity in these venues while avoiding information leakage. Dark pools have developed various mechanisms to find liquidity, but how does this affect execution quality and size? As dark pools continue to grow their market share, what's in store for this segment of the market?
Moderator:
Robert Colby
Counsel
Davis, Polk & Wardwell
Panelists:
Whit Conary
President
LeveL ATS
Brian Hyndman
SVP, Transaction Services
Nasdaq OMX
Dan Mathisson
Managing Director, Head of Advanced Execution Services (AES)
Credit Suisse
Justin Schack
Vice President, Market Structure Analysis
Rosenblatt Securities Inc.
Owain Self
Managing Director, Head of Algorithmic Trading, Americas & EMEA
UBS Investment Bank
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM
Break
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Speed of Light: The Impact of High-Frequency Trading
High-frequency traders dominate equities trading volume. Some estimates say that they represent more than 70 percent of the shares traded each day. But is this a positive or a negative for the quality of the equities market? Detractors of high-frequency traders claim they bring "noise" to the market and do not provide "meaningful" liquidity. In fact, some critics would argue they exist simply to "sniff out" institutional orders and then run ahead of them. Conversely, supporters of high-frequency trading argue that if they did not fill in the void left by traditional market makers, the markets would not function. This panel will take a look at how these rapid-fire traders have impacted institutional trading and what role they will continue to play in the future.
Moderator:
Larry Tabb
Founder & CEO
TABB Group
Panelists:
Fred Federspiel
President
Pipeline Trading Systems
Richard Gorelick
CEO
RGM Advisors
Robert M. Hegarty
Managing Director, Market Structure
Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.
Rishi Nangalia
Managing Director, Global Head of Business Development
Goldman Sachs Electronic Trading
Joe Ratterman
Chairman and CEO
BATS Global Markets
Bryan Harkins
Head of Sales and Strategy
Direct Edge