Waters USA 2010: Silverman Sparkles

Andrew Silverman, managing director and co-head of Morgan Stanley Electronic Trading (SET) in New York, kicked off this year's Waters USA conference, held at the New York Marriott Marquis on Times Square, with a slick presentation with a simple message: it's preferable for the industry to regulate itself rather than be reined in by the industry's various regulators.

Deputizing for his partner William Neuberger who was not able to make today's event, Silverman spoke at length about high-frequency trading trends which, according to his presentation, show no signs of slowing down.

What he did note, however, and this was a theme present throughout his address, is the need for sell-side firms to act in the interest of their clients (the buy side), in a responsible and ethical manner. It's important for us to execute trades according to our clients' needs and not our own, he said, stressing that "we" referred to the industry as a whole and not specifically Morgan Stanley.

Judging by the positive feedback from the 200 or so delegates, many of whom requested copies of his presentation which covered the expected issues of low-latency infrastructures, fragmented liquidity (both in the US and European markets), off-exchange execution and increased trade volumes and volatility, Silverman's message clearly struck a chord.

A full write-up of Silverman's presentation, written by Rob Daly, will appear in the January issue of Waters.