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Interview with Ian Firla, Co-Founder and Director, OSTC Group
Q. The #WeAreMarketMakers campaign aims to give people a new window in the world of modern market making. What does modern market making mean to you?
Market making was, is and always will be about providing liquidity to the exchanges. About helping to reduce risk, and making markets more efficient. But from OSTC’s perspective, what makes market making ‘modern’ is who is doing that. It’s the shift from market making being a very generic and predominantly white male occupation, to one that is much more diverse and inclusive.
OSTC is proud to be at the cutting edge of that change with our global education programmes, which are all about introducing the job of market making to a much more diverse audience
“What makes market making ‘modern’ is who is doing that. It’s the shift from market making being a very generic and predominantly white male occupation, to one that is much more diverse and inclusive.”
Q. In your opinion, how does greater diversity within the market making community help to benefit financial markets?
At OTSC we are seeing a real democratisation in the trading space as more and more individuals are joining who are not from the traditional talent groups that have been recruited into the industry in the past. These new participants could be seen as a threat to current incumbents who are in the markets, but the reality is that they bring huge benefits with them.
These diverse new individuals will come with a multitude of views on the world and the industry, and a multitude of experiences. And with these views and experiences, we’ll see a further investment of creativity and diversity of thought that is going to make the markets become even more robust and stable. They will help us to innovate in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals that the UN is asking our industry to achieve in order to create a more sustainable world.
This big picture benefit is one of the reasons we are very proud of our global education programmes at OSTC which are all about introducing market making to talented individuals who may well not otherwise have had the opportunity to discover, or try it.
“New participants could be seen as a threat to current incumbents who are in the markets, but the reality is that they bring huge benefits with them.”
Q. You’ve talked about the benefits to the market making community, and to the markets, of introducing diverse talent. What are the benefits to the individuals who participate in your programmes like yours?
From our experience, we see a really wide range of benefits. First of all, when individuals participate in our programmes, the improved financial literacy they gain benefits them and their communities. They better understand the markets they operate in, and what drives them, and how global markets have an impact on them and their livelihoods.
More broadly, we’ve seen the impact measured by GVA that we have been able to make in countries like Poland where we were one of the first, and certainly the largest, proprietary derivatives trading programmes coming into the country. By enabling individuals there to learn about the markets and how to trade, we opened up opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise have been there. Individuals who took part in the programmes are now at the head of a very wide variety of financial services firms in Poland; in the front and back office. The GVA studies on our impact in countries like Poland, or Wales, have been incredibly positive.
Q. You and your teams must meet lots of aspiring market makers. What do you think it takes to be a great market maker?
Well, while we are often seen as a London based company, we have a presence across the world, from Poland to India, China to Russia, and Wales to the Ukraine. These might not sound like obvious places for a firm like us to be, but that is absolutely in line with our vision that anyone, anywhere can learn how to trade.
We believe that anyone with a sharp mind, who is good with numbers – and who has a desire to succeed, has what it takes to be a great market maker. You do need to understand risk, of course, but you certainly don’t need to be tied to a particular location.
At the moment we are exploring a push into Africa, which presents a fantastic opportunity. It’s an opportunity for individuals there to learn to participate in the global markets which have a direct impact on many African countries because of the products traded. Take cocoa, for instance, and the impact of commodities markets on a country like Ghana. And of course, it’s also an opportunity for us, and the wider markets, to benefit from the incredible talent there. There are upsides for everyone.