A growing number of investment managers are turning to outsourced trading desks to manage market complexity, control costs, and scale their global footprint more efficiently. In the second episode of this four-part series, experts from Marex and Coalition Greenwich explore the role that outsourced trading can play as both an extension of internal trading desks or as the core execution desk. Looking at the competitive pressures on the buy side, the industry speakers discuss where these providers can offer broader market coverage, specialist expertise, and cost savings.
Interview
VOICE OVER – In today’s fast-moving markets, investment managers need trading operations that can handle rising complexity, keep costs under control and scale without adding headcount or infrastructure. It’s no surprise that a Coalition Greenwich study of asset managers found 10% of them had paid trading commissions to outsource trading platforms in 2025.
Jack Seibald, Marex – The basic premise is that the outsourced trading desk functions as if they were a buy-side trading desk working directly for that firm. It’s a replica, if you will, of what an internal trading desk would look like if you could build one from scratch, except it’s outsourced to an institution that already has all of that in place.
Jesse Forster, Coalition Greenwich – The best outsourced trading providers are going to enhance their clients’ operations with seamless and efficient trade execution and settlement. It’s really that simple.
VOICE OVER – Outsourced desks provide specialist expertise, extended market coverage, and improve liquidity access, all while reducing fixed costs. The result is better execution and more time to focus on strategy and clients. Some use it to supplement their own trading teams, while others fully outsource for efficiency, flexibility and scale.
Jack Seibald, Marex – The most important thing that outsource trading solution can bring to a client is the flexibility to meet the specific needs they might have at any particular point in time.
Jesse Forster, Coalition Greenwich – There tends to be two main goals when buy sides leverage outsource trading platforms. The first is scale. Everybody’s doing more with less, particularly trading around non-core regions or asset classes. The second is the same reason why buy sides tend to choose almost any discretionary counterparty, that’s execution, performance, and liquidity seeking. More and more we’re hearing the outsourced trading shops have gotten really good at sourcing liquidity, particularly abroad, where they’re aggregating liquidity across multiple buy-side shops.
Massimo Labella, Marex – With some of the firms that we work with. They already have an internal dealing desk, but need to reach into a new part of the world, the new asset class, and they don’t really have boots on the ground or credit lines set up in that particular asset class. And for other clients, we are everything. And this, this could be the genesis of the trading desk for a new launch, for example, where we will help build the nut and bolt startup infrastructure.
Bobby Crosswell, Marex – You immediately have access to so many different levels and options in terms of finding liquidity. For instance, our desk, we’re partnered up with 250 brokers globally, fixed income side alone, you sign up with us day one, and you have access to 80 different liquidity providers.
John Orrock, Marex – Unlike the equity world, where prices are displayed on an exchange. Our pricing is often quite opaque, and actually a large part of what we do is help with pricing and liquidity discovery, pre-trade, in that can I even get this trade done?
VOICE OVER – The benefits are tangible. Lower operational costs within an asset manager mean more efficiently run portfolios. Access to much broader and deeper liquidity should improve execution quality by streamlining operations. Managers can devote more time to research, innovation, and delivering long-term returns. Ultimately, outsourced trading desks help investors get more value from their capital.
Bobby Crosswell, Marex – With the outsourced trading model, it turns into variable cost versus fixed cost if you’re going to hire an internal trader. And then you look at all the other costs involved if you’re going to have an internal trader, whether that’s salary, bonus time, sick days, Bloomberg health care, the list goes on. So if you’re going to outsource your trading, it immediately turns into variable, and you can scale with that.
Massimo Labella, Marex – An additional cost, efficiency, and better quality of execution, we can obtain a lower net cost overall for certain trades and certain asset classes around the world. Over time, it can add up to significant sums of money.
Bobby Crosswell, Marex – You’re freeing up the portfolio manager to focus on what they do best, which is coming up with ideas and making money and putting everything else on the trading side, on the outsourced desk.
John Orrock, Marex – That PM may well say I’m as good as this guy, but the biggest difference is that whilst he may be as good as me, the difference is that I’m doing it all day long. I’m in the flow. I’m in the market 24/7, whereas when he wants to trade, he has put his trader hat on and try and get into the market flow. I think that’ss a big advantage.
Jesse Forster, Coalition Greenwich – Clients are just starting to really soften up around the sentiment of outsourced trading. That wall of resistance has come down a little bit. It’s not quite that third rail it used to be. The buy side is less concerned that they’re going to be hiring their assassin, and more interested in the tools that outsource trading can provide.
VOICE OVER – With rising regulatory complexity, margins under pressure and advances in trading technology, outsourced desks are built to keep pace, giving investment managers instant access to global trading services and expertise without the strain of adapting and scaling internally in.
