Hiring For Electronic Trading Roles Is Expected To Increase On Wall Street

Banks and broker-dealers intend to hire more people for positions in electronic trading of stocks, going against the general trend of Wall Street companies that are cutting staff.

A Coalition Greenwich poll of 25 businesses discovered that over fifty percent of US sell-side firms want to increase their equities digital desk coverage in the upcoming 18 months. In execution and analytics consulting, about 30% of respondents say they want to hire more people, while about a quarter say they aim to do so in algorithmic sales.

In an interview, Jesse Forster, a senior analyst in Coalition Greenwich's market structure and technology division, stated that banks and brokerage are meeting their customers where they are, electronically, and increasing manpower to scale up quickly and effectively.

After a hiatus during the outbreak, during which there was greater high-touch handling of trades, the trend toward algorithmic trading has resumed, according to Forster. The growth contrasts with previous headcount reductions on Wall Street as businesses try to save costs by streamlining headcount. Although Goldman Sachs Group Inc. started one of its largest rounds of layoffs ever in January with a strategy to eliminate hundreds of positions throughout the company, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dismissed hundreds of mortgage staff.

Since speed and automation rule an ever-more-competitive market, electronic trade, or so-called low-touch positions supported by technology & algorithms, are in great demand. For instance, Citigroup Inc. is filling positions to upgrade its current infrastructure.

According to Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, "We kept making investments in our transformation" to modernize our bank. Our procedures are being streamlined and made more automated.

According to Coalition Greenwich, electronic sales traders had higher expectations for their desks' future sales than their counterparts on other Wall Street desks. According to the report, half believe their commissions will increase by at least 10% over last year in 2023. But not everywhere was that optimism. In the US, 42% of sell-side participants anticipate that street-level electronic equities commissions would remain unchanged from last year.

Compensation

Mixed expectations exist for future performance-based payments. Almost 40% of the electronic trading specialists who took part in the study anticipated pay rises in 2022, with the majority of them expecting increases of 10% or less. Before the majority of respondents received their final fiscal 2022 compensation statistics, including year-end bonuses, the poll was taken between December and January.

Forster stated that despite an increase in headcounts, "difficult market conditions mean that remuneration for electronic sales dealers will continue a mixed bag."