Sylvain Thieullent is CEO of Horizon Software.

What were the key themes for your business in 2019?

Intelligent Automation was the key theme in 2019: our clients have made significant improvements in automating their trading functions to reduce trade completion time, drive higher investment returns and to mitigate risks.

More and more firms have adopted new ways to implement and use algos and AI in order to convert large volume of data into processed and useful information: Trading strategies can rely today on an important dataset that leads the way to ML initiatives even when you deal with derivatives / volatile instruments thanks to back testing improvement. We also see very complex algos executed with both speed and limited slippage.

Providing Software as a Service was also a key driver this past year: capital markets firms and particularly Investment Banks want improvements in technology development, deployment speed and service delivery.

What are your expectations for 2020?

I think that the industry will take a step forward in Automation with Deep learning. Clients need a trading platform that combines high-touch workflows with an open and flexible automation framework which provides them with the ability to streamline workflows and drive trading decision making with data and analytics.

A revolution is also taking place in the fixed income market, becoming more and more automated and into systematic strategies.

Who was the most important/influential company in your industry in 2019?

Euronext has strongly influenced the ecosystem in the last years. Aligned with strong performance and ambitious growth plans, the organization has taken a very agile approach when it comes to technology.

The successful roll out of Optiq to their Derivatives clients is a great example of Euronext’s agility. By operating Cash and Derivatives Markets on a single platform, Euronext is raising the industry standard. Thanks to Optiq®, Euronext can fully leverage features across asset classes and deliver a truly innovative and flexible trading environment to its clients. Euronext has implemented a very innovative strategy: intensify client centricity, continue to reduce cost, and strengthen its information technology and infrastructure platform.