Kevin McPartland, Head of Market Structure and Technology Research at Coalition Greenwich, revisited CG's Top Market Structure Trends to Watch in 2024 and provided an assessment of which trends occurred as expected and which ones took unexpected turns.
The ten market structure trends were evaluated in light of actual market conditions witnessed throughout 2024.
Many rules proposed in 2024 that were expected will ultimately die, given the outcome of the US election.
GUI Search is expected to be replaced by AI Search.
The market for private market access, ETFs for private markets, and workflow automation will continue to be a priority.
Crypto and blockchain for capital markets will see interest along with central clearing, although it is slow-moving.
T + 1 prematurely creating T + 0 talk was considered less than expected.
Cheap capital is still difficult to find and buy, build and integrate is replacing buy vs build.
The search for normalcy continues, with the industry finding its new, new normal.
The dealer-to-dealer market and innovation in electronic trading was a big surprise trend that emerged in 2024.