Smarter trading in a fragmented world

The FX market in Asia has been transformed in recent years due to regulatory developments and market structure adaptations, as well as significant macroeconomic shifts. Growth in the number of venues continues, while adoption of automation and digitisation draws closer to global practices. Crossborder flows stemming from merger and acquisition activity, while not insignificant, have been overshadowed by hedging activity related to hard-to-predict geopolitical events. 

In a survey conducted by FX Week in collaboration with Refinitiv of more than 100 FX traders in Asia, we uncovered several trends that highlight current developments in the industry. Key takeaways include:

• Over half of respondents (52.2%) said smart order types and smart execution will grow steadily over the next 18 months, while nearly one-quarter (22.8%) said it will grow rapidly.
• A large majority (62%) said breaking down large orders benefits the market.
• 39% ranked best execution as being most important, followed by greater liquidity (31.9%) and minimising market impact (29.1%).