Wall Street & Technology is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Trading Technology

10:25 PM
Leslie Kramer, Contributing Writer
Leslie Kramer, Contributing Writer
News
Connect Directly
RSS
E-Mail
50%
50%

Putnam Investments Works to Compete in a Fragmented, More-Complex Market

Head of Global Equity Trading Richard Block thinks that linking order execution to commission systems will make his job easier.


Putnam Investments
Richard Block
Head of Global Equity Trading

Putnam Investments
1 Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109

Assets under management:

$180 billion.

Fund(s) for which you trade:

We trade for multiple mandates across all of Putnam's Global Equity Funds and Institutional Accounts.

Types of products traded:

We trade in all markets, equities, convertibles and derivatives. In fixed income, we are basically across the board - Treasuries, mortgage backs, municipals. We also have a global asset allocation.

Daily volume in equities:

$850 million - $600 million domestic; $250 million international.

Structure of trading department:

We all are based in Boston. We have a large-cap trading desk. We have four international traders - two trade Europe, two trade Asia. We have seven domestic equities traders, two program traders who also trade derivatives and three support staff.

Previous Positions:

I worked at Morgan Stanley both in the New York office and in the London office as an equity derivatives trader. I came to Putnam to start up the program trading and derivatives operation, and that has branched out into head of global equity trading.

Education:

My undergraduate degree is in business from Albany State (New York). Then I attended NYU business school, where I earned my M.B.A.

Vision for the Future

I think the marketplace will get more interrelated across multiple product spaces. So, whether it is fixed income or equity products, as those relationships get tighter and tighter, volatility views between different products will be analyzed more and more. I see that being more developed. And I see the equity market being traded more and more electronically. However, the need for capital will continue for block business.

Previous
1 of 2
Next
Register for Wall Street & Technology Newsletters
Video
Exclusive: Inside the GETCO Execution Services Trading Floor
Exclusive: Inside the GETCO Execution Services Trading Floor
Advanced Trading takes you on an exclusive tour of the New York trading floor of GETCO Execution Services, the solutions arm of GETCO.