< The 2016 Trading Technology 40

29
Anton Katz and Stephen Mock
Head of Trading Systems Technology and Head of Trade Execution Technology
AQR Capital Management
PNR

Information technology doesn’t just serve or support the portfolio strategies of AQR Capital Management. It’s integral to the quantitative investment firm’s processes and is even part of the performance equation reported to clients. “AQR doesn’t have silos like many quantitative firms do,” says Stephen Mock, who as head of trade execution technology manages algorithmic trading systems. IT and investing ideas are routinely linked in internal conversations. “We are very transparent with investors about our technology — it is part of a holistic view of how they are benefiting,” explains Anton Katz, head of trading systems technology. Although Greenwich, Connecticut–based AQR, which was formed in 1998 and has $141 billion under management, may have been a trendsetter in its embrace of IT, Katz and Mock represent a new generation of approaches that could radically redefine the alternative-investment technology niche. Like any financial institution, AQR weighs “build versus buy” decisions, and old proprietary biases are giving way to openness and collaboration. Katz, 35, who joined AQR in 2015 after six years with Broadway Technology (see Tyler Moeller and Joshua Walsky, No. 22), says “a lot of proprietary-built software” goes into the trade-order management platforms that he oversees. “But the vendor space is interesting, and we look at what we may be able to do in a collaborative way.” Mock, 36, who has a low-latency trading background and left Macquarie Capital for AQR in 2012, says the firm keeps on the cutting edge with a “culture of experimentation that is mindful of the marketplace.” Katz’s vendor experience complements Mock’s in investment management (Magnetar Capital, BMO Capital Markets and BNP Paribas’ CooperNeff Advisors) as they scan a five- to ten-year strategic horizon. Trends like cloud and virtualization “cannot be ignored,” Katz says. “In a few years it may not make sense to run your own data center.”

 

 
2016 Trading Technology 40

1. Raymond Tierney III Bloomberg 2. Richard Prager BlackRock Methanol Gains Traction as an Alternative Energy Source Sponsored by CME Group May 5, 2025 3. Chris Isaacson BATS Global Markets 4. Jonathan Ross KCG Holdings 5. Bradley Peterson Nasdaq

6. Brad Levy Markit 7. Dan Keegan Citi 8. Ronald DePoalo Fidelity Institutional 9. Raj Mahajan Goldman Sachs Group 10. Ari Studnitzer CME Group

11. Mayur Kapani Intercontinental Exchange 12. Gerald O’Connell CBOE Holdings 13. Nicholas Themelis MarketAxess Holdings 14. Gil Mandelzis EBS BrokerTec (ICAP) 15. Bill Chow and Richard Leung Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing

16. Rob Park IEX Group 17. Philip Weisberg Thomson Reuters 18. John Mackay (Mack) Gill MillenniumIT 19. Robert Cornish International Securities Exchange 20. Paul Hamill Citadel Securities

21. Eric Noll Convergex 22. Tyler Moeller and Joshua Walsky Broadway Technology 23. Rishi Nangalia REDI Holdings 24. Veronica Augustsson Cinnober Financial Technology 25. Alasdair Haynes Aquis Exchange

26. Manoj Narang Mana Partners 27. Gaurav Suri Arcesium 28. Robert Sloan S3 Partners 29. Anton Katz and Stephen Mock AQR Capital Mgmt 30. Stu Taylor Algomi

31. D. Keith Ross Jr. PDQ Enterprises 32. Donal Byrne Corvil 33. Alfred Eskandar Portware 34. R. Cromwell Coulson OTC Markets Group 35. Masayuki Hosaka Rakuten

36. Peter Maragos and David Karat Dash Financial 37. Amar Kuchinad Electronifie 38. Jennifer Nayar SR Labs 39. Dave Snowdon Metamako 40. Dan Raju Tradier