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Thursday
08 January 2009
01:39 GMT
Women in finance survey - PDF 91k
In September, Financial News surveyed 1350 women working in the financial services industry about gender bias in the workplace. Nearly 60% believed their gender made it harder to succeed. Just 3.5% felt being a woman made it easier to succeed. A third of respondents worked in investment banking, nearly a fifth in asset management, another fifth in financial technology, 10% in law and about 5% in each of private equity, hedge funds, wealth management and securities trading. Click here to dowload the survey results in full.
The future of capital markets - PDF 655k
The balance of power in global financial markets is shifting. As the world becomes flatter and different sources of wealth seek new areas of investment, financial institutions will have to position themselves carefully. Financial News examines how the credit crisis has catalysed this flattening effect and the challenges investment banks face.
Feature
Trading & Technology Quarterly - Cutbacks hit systems providers
24 Nov 2008
Trading & Technology Quarterly - Cutbacks hit systems providers
24 Nov 2008
There are few areas of the financial services industry that will escape the market turmoil unaffected and the financial systems business is not one of them.
Financial News asked senior trading and technology executives for their views on the impact of the credit crunch on technology budgets and their predictions for the future. Question 1: Will the credit crunch lead to a cut in technology budgets and IT spend? Question 2: Will technology budgets in 2009 be hijacked by risk management systems?
Opportunities in the Middle East for western exchanges and technology providers may have diminished in the global financial crisis, but practitioners in the region are positive about the long-term growth potential.
As companies throughout the global capital markets and securities industry struggle to overcome problems they did not realise existed 12 months ago, they will increasingly lean on their technology providers to handle non-core functions so management teams can concentrate on digging themselves out of their respective holes, and to provide better tools to do the heavy lifting.
Cost-cutting and regulatory pressures will drive much of wealth managers’ technology budgets over the next few years, as private banks move away from splashing out on new IT systems and concentrate on the integration of existing systems.
The European Union last November introduced a long-awaited piece of legislation that aimed to forge a single European market for financial services. The markets in financial instruments directive sent a wrecking ball through Europe’s established equities trading structures, smashing old monopolies and clearing the way for new competitors and trading methods.
The proliferation of alternative trading platforms launched in Europe since the arrival of the markets in financial instruments directive has put pressure on established stock exchanges in the battle for order flow. Add in the recent financial crisis and the action is getting a lot more intense as exchanges overhaul their technology, lower tariffs, improve speed and launch their own dark liquidity trading pools.
Regulators are focusing on the surveillance and forensics of how trades are executed, but they will have a fight on their hands from a cash-strapped industry that prefers self-regulation.
With market confidence eroding in the face of extreme volatility, the role of technology remains firmly under the spotlight as fund managers seek best execution.
- The view from Harvard 05 Jan 2009
- Outlook for 2009 04 Jan 2009
- Year End Review - Investment banking 15 Dec 2008
- Year End Review - Asset management 15 Dec 2008
- Year End Review - The storm that was 2008 15 Dec 2008
- Year End Review - Private equity 15 Dec 2008