Trading Matters: New ITG Survey of Canadian Trading Professionals

NEW YORK and TORONTO, May 24, 2017 -- ITG (NYSE:ITG), a leading independent broker and financial technology provider, today released the results of a survey of Canadian investment professionals on key industry trends. The poll was conducted at the Trading Matters Conference hosted by ITG in Toronto in late April. The event drew more than 120 buy-side and sell-side attendees for panel discussions on topics including next-generation ETFs, the impact of MiFID II financial regulations and the role of independent investment research. 

Survey Highlights:

• ETFs – a majority of respondents (64%) are very concerned or somewhat concerned that liquidity could be negatively impacted by the growing use of exchange-traded funds.
  
  To remain competitive in the ETF space, 38% of respondents say brokers need to provide capital as an ETF market maker, while 36% think brokers need to develop analytics to provide NAV transparency for ETFs. Only 19% see a need for brokers to build ETF-specific algos.
  
  
• Broker Transparency – Canada remains one of the few developed equity markets to employ public broker numbers for trades, and those surveyed say the broker numbers are still extremely relevant (42%) or somewhat relevant (48%) in today’s market.  
  
  

• MiFID II – Most Trading Matters conference attendees agreed that the coming MiFID II rules on unbundling research from execution will likely be positive for independent research providers, as smaller asset managers devote more of their investment research budgets to the independents. 84% of respondents currently use independent research at least some of the time. The survey showed that unbundling is not just a European phenomenon, with 17% of respondents reporting that they are already fully unbundled and another 44% planning to unbundle in 2018 or thereafter.

Commenting on the Trading Matters Conference panel discussions and the results of the survey, Etienne Phaneuf, CEO of ITG Canada, said “the Canadian investment industry is in a period of evolution, with changing fund flows, market structure and financial regulation creating new challenges for institutional investors. We are committed to partnering with our clients to provide innovative tools and expert guidance to navigate the road ahead.”

ITG is the leading electronic equity broker in Canada, ranked #1 in the 2017 Greenwich Associates survey for algorithmic trading share, electronic trading service quality and client satisfaction.

For more information, please call the Toronto trading desk at +1-416-874-0700 or email us at [email protected]

About ITG

ITG applies technology and trading expertise to reduce implementation costs, helping clients improve investment performance. An independent broker established in 1987, ITG provides liquidity, execution, analytics and workflow solutions to leading asset management and brokerage firms. Investment Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE:ITG) has offices in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America and offers trading services in more than 50 countries.

ITG Media Contact:
J.T. Farley
+1 212 444 6259
[email protected]