Our Experts
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Ralston Roberts
- senior managing director
- SunGard’s brokerage business
- ralston.roberts@sungard.com
Ralston Roberts is a senior managing director of SunGard’s brokerage business, responsible for pre-sales and sales for Fox River Execution Solutions, and the SunGard Global Network. Before that, he was senior vice president, product management and helped shape the strategic direction of SunGard’s trading business in the U.S., exploring integration opportunities across product lines and defining new product offerings.
Before joining SunGard, Mr. Roberts was chief technology officer at Wells Fargo Securities. He was also an associate at Robertson Stephens, supporting the trading desks use of trading technology.
Mr. Roberts is knowledgeable in the areas of equities trading technology and the corresponding trading strategies that leverage product advances. He has authored several papers, including a recent report on the future of sell-side trading, and is a popular speaker at events in the sell-side community.
Commentary
The convergence of technology, regulation and liquidity has become a catalyst in the trading world. Firms must examine the impact of rules such as Reg NMS and determine how regulatory shifts affect trading strategies. Similarly, the emergence of off-market liquidity has sparked the creation of new alternative trading systems (ATS), business ventures and technological innovation.
As increasing volumes migrate away from displayed markets and toward these ATSs and dark pools, a firm’s ability to provide best execution to its retail and institutional clients is becoming increasingly difficult. Trading firms must ask themselves several questions: How will my firm adapt to trading regulations in the pipeline? Is there a manner by which firms can leverage regulatory changes to improve business? Which protected venues will our firm maintain its membership with versus using a sponsoring broker to reduce cost? We know we need to seek off-exchange liquidity, but which dark pools provide the most value? Which trading venues meet our firm’s specific execution objectives? What is the overall impact (P&L, execution quality, etc.) to my business in changing my market access strategies?
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