Spreads Grab the Headlines, but Infrastructure Gets the Institutional Flow
By Paul Golden
AI summary of the source article
Trading technology and execution infrastructure have overtaken spread size as the primary competitive differentiator for institutional traders. Broker executives note that robust infrastructure determines whether competitive pricing and liquidity can be consistently delivered during market stress.
Why it matters
Sam Meisel of Spreadex states that technology matters because "ultimately, it determines whether pricing and execution are consistently deliverable in practice and that matters whether you're operating at retail, professional or institutional scale."
Key facts
- Institutional traders prioritize execution infrastructure, APIs, algorithmic execution, and automated hedging over index CFD costs.
- Executives from XTB, IC, Spreadex, and CMC Markets highlight that technology determines whether liquidity and spreads are deliverable in real-world conditions.
- Saxo Bank performs quarterly and annual reviews of third-party price feeds and client execution quality to evaluate pricing fairness.
Source excerpt · Finance Magnates
Financial market technology has become an increasing priority for institutional traders as they recognise the role of infrastructure in delivering the best pricing and access. Institutional trader analysis suggests that they are less concerned about index CFD costs than the quality of the execution infrastructure. Institutions need to demonstrate that execution was competitive and expect access to…