Interviewer: Ian, thank you so much for chatting to us today. Could you just start off by introducing yourself and the company that you work for?

Ian: Definitely as my name is Ian Mawdsley and I am the Chief Product Officer for Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions, formerly known as Itiviti the recent acquisition by Broadridge.

Interviewer: Fantastic. So what are some of the challenges that Broadridge is focused on solving for its clients in 2023?

Ian: Well, certainly from a BTCS perspective, in the front office, we're seeing clients that are looking for deeper integration into some of our existing solutions. I think our previous product was better known for its FIX integration layer. I think now people are asking and saying what else can they do with that integration? To see more of a push into high touch, low touch workflows, a lot of low latency trading solutions, a little push into the middle office as well from the front office. People trying to do a little bit more with the trading tools that we're giving them. We're also seeing a little diversification away from just pure agency and pure principle. And we're starting to see those lines blur a little bit as well. So a lot of people are coming to us because we're one of a few companies that can solve both sets of workflows.

Interviewer: Fantastic. Now, Broadridge acquired Itiviti in 2021, now known as Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions, as you said. So how is this side of the business powering multi-asset trading and automating the entire trade lifecycle?

Ian: So I think the acquisition for Broadridge really was the fact that they were very much focused in the post-trade business. I think they're one of the largest players in the equities, fixed income post-trade, but it's never really been a way to go and capture more of that front office flows. So that's street from processing. There are others obviously operating in that space, one or two very big incumbents. I think this is an opportunity to, first of all, get more into the front office and capture that flow. Secondly, probably increase the brand awareness internationally. So I think Broadridge has been very focused on the US and the ability to now take on more of an internationally focused on, particularly in EMEA, with Itiviti. Conversely, for Itiviti, BTCS now, Broadridge brings the brand awareness globally. I think a little bit of stability and understanding that it's not a private equity firm, it is somebody investing in technology and ultimately just the ability to bring some relationships that they had post-trade with that we wouldn't have been able to get to on our own previously.

Interviewer: And what's in store for Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions this year?

Ian: So we're due to imminently launch a product called COMS, which is going to be an extension of our FIX bridge product, which is kind of our flagship product. Most of the big players in our industry trying to use our bridge product and we want to be able to bring more tools to the business user. So traditionally, FIX has been very much something that's done at the technical level. I think what we're starting to realize that a lot of our customers get less staff to go and deal with and obviously you want to multipurpose some of those people. So we're trying to create user interfaces that make it a little bit easier to go manage and onboard FIX customers. Also, I think in our principle business, as formerly known as Tbricks. Again, we're trying to see a little bit more focus in going into some of the big tier 1 players, tier 2 players who are probably coming to the end of life with in-house built technology solutions and they've coming out of that: Do I build, do I buy? And I think with our Tbricks product, we're finally solving that with a buy and build solution that kind of creates a semi-finished product, if you like. It allows them to not have to build from scratch, but it's not off the shelf. And so it allows them to do some customization, give them a unique trading solution.

Interviewer: Sounds fantastic. And what are the main trends and themes influencing the electronic trading industry this year?

Ian: Certainly budgets. I think that that's the one thing that we're starting to feel there, and that's never more pleasant than seeing some of the cuts that we've seen in the industry just this year alone. And it continues over the last few years, and I'm pretty sure it will continue over the next few years. So people really are looking and saying, how can they use the dollars that they've got in technology to better use? One of those trends that we're certainly seeing is a real push into a host of solutions. So I think the buy side has gone through this journey already that probably all the way into cloud by now, we're a little laggard in the sell side space and capital markets, but it is that move now away from big on premise delivered enterprise solutions to more SAS solutions on the sell side, that's a little bit of a trend at the moment. We're also going to go back to one of my former points where I think we're seeing the use of principle in agency workflows. So people are really trying to work out how do I use the capital that I've got to service my clients better. So rather than just passing through orders straight into the market, trying to deal with all sorts of fragmented liquidity, now what can I do in-house? How can I enhance that? And who's got a technology solution to go to assist me in doing that?

Interviewer: And so here we are at the EMEA Trading Conference, are there any sessions or panels that you're looking for to watching?

Ian: What I would love to tell you is that one on crypto, but I feel like we've done that one to death, so I'd probably get to avoid that one today. Look, as a British person in working in the UK market, certainly, the briefing this morning, the advisor to the Treasury, I think that was incredibly important for us to happen here. We really want to understand what does Brexit actually mean for our market and as a technology provider into the UK market, you know, how do I go and address my product to be part of that journey. This afternoon I think there's one on onboarding vendors, I'm looking forward to listening to that.

Interviewer: Wonderful to chat with you, Ian, and we wish you luck with the rest of the event.

Ian: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.