Waters Wavelength

This week, Steve Rubinow, former chief innovation and technology officer at the New York Stock Exchange and lecturer at the Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University, joins Tony on the podcast. They talk about AI disruption and the state of the education system. 3:30 – Tony reminisces about how he first met Steve. 7:00 – Steve explains how CIOs and CTOs assess the AI shift, particularly generative AI models. 14:00 – The best use of these tools is with an expert human-in-the-loop. 18:00 – People dealing with technology tend to fall into two groups. 24:00 – What does progress in AI mean for our future? 27:00 – Steve brings up the “ikigai” concept, a Japanese word that means “life purpose.” 32:00 – One of the important elements of AI is the timeframe. 35:00 – Thoughts on exchanges moving beyond their marketplace role. 38:00 – What becomes of the Big Tech firms? 43:00 – The state of academia and how it’s changing.

This week, Brad Levy, CEO of Symphony, joins Tony on the podcast. They discuss Levy’s vision for Symphony going forward and how his managing style has changed since 2020. 7:30 – Brad Levy joins the podcast and talks about his vision for Symphony. 10:30 – Brad chats about moving towards a markets-focused platform, extending to buy-side firms. 14:00 – The journey from a messaging system leveraging chat to a collaboration platform. 18:00 – Brad discusses Symphony’s acquisition of Amenity Analytics. 19:00 – Know your incentive and intention of AI. 22:30 – Brad and Tony discuss the challenges surrounding the current state of ESG. 27:30 – Brad talks about how his management style changed during the pandemic. 34:00 – Thoughts on industry adoption of open-source, large language models and generative AI, blockchain.

This week, Emanuele “Manny” Conti, Numerix’s new CEO, joins Tony on the podcast. They talk about his vision for Numerix’s future, the company’s acquisition strategy, and major trends that are changing the industry. 3:30 – Manny is a Midwesterner and a fan of Ohio State football, which Tony finds unfortunate. 7:30 – Manny discusses how he became familiar with Numerix and why he took the job. 13:30 – A look at the major trends driving change in the industry. 16:00 – Manny talks about his management style and whether he views himself as an outsider. 20:30 – What will Numerix’s acquisition strategy be going forward? 25:30 – As a manager, how will Manny help to guide Numerix’s tech evolution strategy? 33:00 – What keeps Manny up at night? 34:30 – Will Ohio State ever beat a Jim Harbaugh-led Michigan team again?

This week, Steve Moreton, global head of product management at CJC joins Tony on the podcast to explain why firms should start experimenting with virtual reality now, because VR’s capital markets adoption is not a question of if, but when. (Actually, it’s already here.) To view Moreton’s Metaverse presentation at FISD Netherlands from earlier this year, click here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACfLdPF0pVA&t=1135s&ab_channel=SIIA) In 2017, WatersTechnology spoke with senior executives from Citigroup and Fidelity Investments about how they’re experimenting with virtual and augmented reality. For a blast from the past, click here. (https://www.waterstechnology.com/front-office-tech/2480705/the-reality-of-virtual-reality-vrs-future-in-financial-services) 6:00 – Steve Moreton joins the podcast and gives an overview of what CJC does and his different roles there. 8:30 – He walks through how VR is the next evolution of communication. 13:00 – How do avatars feel like a real-world experience? 14:00 – These h

This week, Reb joins Tony and Shen on the podcast. They talk about returning to in-person conferences after what feels like many years of having these done online. They delve into how these events can, and should, stimulate more interesting interactions—whether in the form of case studies or topic-specific fireside chats. Having the right moderator and the right speakers are key. Then, Tony goes on a long spiel about his thoughts on the finale of the TV series Succession, and also Barry.

This week, Shen records the podcast at The Grapes, Limehouse, one of the oldest pubs in London. (Fun fact: Ian McKellen owns it.) She’s joined by Reb and Nyela, as well as Theo and Eliot, our newest reporters representing WatersTechnology in London. It’s chaotic, extremely noisy (cause we’re at a bar, duhh), and Shen is greatly outnumbered by Gen-Zers. Dear listener, you have been warned.

This week, Tyler Derr, chief technology officer at Broadridge, joins Tony and Shen on the podcast. They discuss how Broadridge has grown through acquisitions, interoperability in the capital markets, blockchain use cases, and thoughts on emerging technologies. 4:00 – Tyler joins the podcast and walks through his background in the transfer agency space to his current role at Broadridge. 7:00 – He talks about some lessons learned through acquisitions as a CTO. 10:00 – From a capital markets perspective, how is the acquisition model and creating best-of-breed solutions through that changing? 13:00 – Openness to a platform is key. 17:30 – Legacy “walled-off gardens” are being challenged. 19:00 – How can firms be better integrators? 25:00 – Tyler shares his thoughts on blockchain use cases in the capital markets. 33:00 – How is Broadridge helping clients move to T+1? 37:00 – Tyler’s thoughts on large language models, low-code/no-code, and quantum computing.

This week, Tony and Shen discuss the upcoming North American Financial Information Summit (Nafis) on May 16, 2023. They walk through the themes that will be discussed during the summit and why they are important. You can find more information about the summit here: https://www.financialinformationsummit.com/na , and if you want to register, you can click here: https://nafis.eventmaker.io/ You can reach out to Tony at anthony.malakian@infopro-digital.com or Shen at wei-shen.wong@infopro-digital.com

This week, Jerome Kemp, president at Baton Systems, a company looking to transform post-trade processing using distributed ledger technology (DLT), joins Wei-Shen on the podcast. They talk about the processes within the post-trade ecosystem that can benefit from DLT and some of the challenges that firms face in the implementation phase. 3:00 – Jerome joins the podcast and gives an overview of his career and Baton Systems. 6:30 – He talks through the main challenges within the post-trade ecosystem. 10:00 – Why is DLT a good fit for post-trade? Which process would benefit most? 14:00 – There needs to be some reality testing before using DLT to solve a problem. 18:00 – Where do firms encounter challenges when implementing a DLT-based system? 22:30 – Jerome talks about a recent partnership between Baton and BNY Mellon. 31:30 – Any solution only works as well and fast as the slowest in the chain. How can this change? 34:30 – What other technologies are driving change in post-trade processes?

This week, Stephen Richardson, head of Apac and senior vice president of financial markets at Fireblocks, a digital asset security platform, joins Wei-Shen on the podcast. They chat about private key security and the technology traditional firms need to interact with digital assets. 5:00 – Stephen joins the podcast and gives an overview of Fireblocks. 7:00 – He explains the technology behind managing private keys. 10:00 – The difference between multi-signature and multiparty computation infrastructure. 18:30 – Stephen discusses how Fireblocks works with traditional custodians. 21:30 – What are some institutional-grade tools that are still missing? 26:00 – They discuss settlement infrastructure considerations. 30:30 – How can firms better enable interoperability and harmonization of tech infrastructure between traditional and digital assets? 38:30 – What needs to change from a people standpoint? 43:30 – Stephen talks through some trends in this space that may take off this year.

This week, Matt Smith, CEO of compliance technology and data analytics firm SteelEye, joins Wei-Shen on the podcast to discuss the evolution of compliance solutions for electronic and voice communications and the regulatory landscape. 1:30 – Matt joins the podcast and talks through some of the points in a report SteelEye released at the end of 2022. 6:30 – He explains the nuances between how the regulators in the UK and the US approach how firms meet systematic and control obligations. 13:30 – They talk about the prevalent communication mechanisms. 16:30 – Matt details some of the creative loopholes. 19:00 – Are there examples of the regulators being too invasive? 22:30 – Matt discusses what’s in the pipeline for SteelEye. 30:00 – What is the future of compliance for e-comms and voice?

Andrea Gentilini, head of SEI Novus, joins Wei-Shen on the podcast. Together, they talk about using the term ‘target operating model’, and how the buy side should use data to evaluate managers’ skillsets better. 3:00 – Andrea joins the podcast and gives an overview of his career and how he landed at SEI Novus. 6:30 – He gives an analogy about how asset allocators and managers only treat their fever symptoms. 10:00 – They talk about how asset allocators want more context from their data and how technology can help. 16:00 – Then, they get into the target operating model. What does it mean, and why is it needed? 18:00 – Sometimes, the problem is the infinite investment horizon. 21:00 – How do asset managers approach the Tom now, especially when looking to incorporate new technologies? 26:00 – Why don’t allocators, and asset managers use behavioral analysis tools more?

It’s just Shen and Tony on this week’s podcast. To start, they chat about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday in the US and Rebecca Natale’s undying love for Taylor Swift. Then, they get into the nitty-gritty of the recent announcement by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to scrap the replacement of its clearing and settlements system using distributed ledger technology (DLT), and the lessons capital markets firms can learn from this case. Read: https://www.waterstechnology.com/emerging-technologies/7950308/waterswrap-asxs-chess-dlt-meets-calamitous-fate-what-can-be-learned

Joining Tony on the podcast this week is Spencer Lee, chief markets officer at TS Imagine, a trading, portfolio, and risk analytics solutions provider. They talk about the needs of buy-side fixed income traders, innovation in the space, and how traders deal with the various trading protocols. (2:30) – Spencer Lee joins Tony on the podcast and gives an overview of his 20-odd years at the buy side before he joined TS Imagine. (9:00) – They talk about innovation within the capital markets and how fixed income uses those tools. (13:00) – What are the needs of a buy-side fixed income trader? (17:00) – Trading platforms need to cast a wide net to liquidity providers and distill the information into a single view relevant to the trader. (20:00) – A “fancy sports car” for the buy side. (21:30) – What is the impetus to get everyone working together? (26:30) – How is TS Imagine fulfilling the needs and analytics for fixed income trading? (31:30) – They wrap up by discussing the direct dealer connectivity protoco

This week, Wei-Shen speaks with Josephine about her experience attending the World Financial Information Conference (WFic) in Prague in mid-October. She also recounts some of the engineering streams and panels that discussed challenges with delivering and consuming data on the cloud. Do check out her story covering the cooperation between JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. (https://www.waterstechnology.com/data-management/7950180/goldman-sachs-jp-morgan-join-forces-to-explore-market-data-in-the-cloud)

This week, with no guest in tow, Tony and Shen go off the rails discussing how firms are migrating more workflows and processes to the cloud. They then touch on interoperability, blockchain, APIs, and open source before circling back to the cloud.

This week, Andy Volz, chief operating officer at Clear Street, joins Tony on the podcast. They discuss the challenges existing technology infrastructures pose to the capital markets, the growing necessity of the cloud, and some trends in the market. 9:00 – Andy joins Tony on the podcast and gives an overview of his career and what Clear Street does. 12:00 – They discuss the bottlenecks in capital markets tech infrastructure. 14:00 – Where does the broker community struggle to provide additional insights? 18:30 – The advantage of being “cloud-born.” 20:30 – The lack of innovation in technology and regulation are systemic threats to liquidity within public equity markets. 22:00 – Andy explains how legacy infrastructure adds cost to end-users. 24:30 – Is there something fundamentally changing the markets? 28:00 – They discuss using blockchain in equity clearing and the risk of vendor lock-in. 33:00 – Andy gives an insight into Clear Street’s next growth stages.

James Crosby, founder and CEO of data management firm Fencore based out of Singapore, joins Wei-Shen on the podcast this week. They talk about the risks of vendor lock-in and how firms—both end-users and service providers—are working towards interoperability. 4:30 – James joins the podcast and gives an overview of what Fencore does. 8:30 – They discuss if there’s a balance between creating product stickiness and true openness. 12:30 – What are the biggest risks of vendor lock-in? 15:00 – How should firms balance consolidation of system providers versus spreading across different providers? 17:30 – James talks about how having a single approach to systems is a utopian ideal. 19:00 – What needs to happen to achieve true interoperability between different systems? 21:30 – James walks through the work required in implementing and configuring a new platform. 23:30 – How does providing flexibility to the end-user work from a contracting perspective? 28:00 – They discuss what the end state of interoperability ma

Bill Dauge, head of alternative data at Nasdaq, joins Tony on the podcast this week. They talk about Nasdaq’s partnership with AWS and what it entails, and the trends that are driving this. 4:30 – Bill joins the podcast and gives an overview of his role at Nasdaq. 7:30 – He goes into Nasdaq’s partnership with AWS and the exchange’s overall cloud strategy. 9:30 – Bill outlines the journey to becoming a fully cloud-native exchange and the current challenges, such as speed and security. 15:00 – They assess the cloud landscape and scalability. 18:30 – There is another layer coming: data as a product. 21:00 – The next shift is data delivery mechanism, better query interfaces, tools, and dashboards. 25:00 – Bill addresses the main challenges in deploying cloud infrastructure at scale.

Joining Wei-Shen on the podcast is Enrico Bruni, managing director and head of Europe and Asia at Tradeweb. They discuss electronification in the repo markets, particularly in the dealer-to-client space, and Tradeweb’s “reverse onion” approach. As Bruni puts it, there’s nothing simple in repo land. 7:00 – Enrico joins the podcast and gives an overview of his time at Tradeweb. 8:30 – Then, they discuss the current state of electronification in repo markets in the dealer-to-client space. 12:00 – He walks through Tradeweb’s “reverse onion” approach to automating some repo workflows. 15:00 – What are the existing barriers to further additional electronification of repos? 17:00 – What role do OMS providers play here? 20:00 – The element of bilateral execution can make workflows more complex. 21:30 – Enrico talks about the ongoing initiatives the industry is working on. 22:30 – Then, he discusses the difference between electronification of repos in the US, Europe, and Asia. 28:00 – Enrico walks through Tradew