Head of Advanced Execution Services
Credit Suisse
[6]
In the postcrisis regulatory glare, compounded by the brief but unsettling flash crash of May 6, 2010, Wall Street’s vaunted high-end trading services lost some luster as well as growth momentum. Dan Mathisson, one of the Street’s most respected advanced trading and execution executives, is determined to regain the mojo. “The flash crash and its aftermath clarified some business issues for us,” says Mathisson, 40, head of Credit Suisse Advanced Execution Services, which he built into an industry leader after leaving D.E. Shaw & Co. in 2001. “It helped us realize that first and foremost we sell safety.” Mathisson’s group has rolled out Light Pool, a trading venue that caters not to high-frequency traders but to longer-term investors, by, for example, not allowing orders to be filled ahead of the consolidated tape. Those investors “are investigating the specific details of how their orders get executed with more scrutiny than ever,” observes Mathisson, because of concerns about system integrity and reliability. “As the buy side examines the trading side more closely, the shops with the ‘cleanest kitchens’ will pick up market share,” he adds.
