Paul Aston

CEO and Director
Txiall Global Advisors

Paul has worked in the financial industry since 1994, specializing in quantitative finance for multi‐asset strategies, including currency. Throughout his career he has held positions on both the buy and sell sides of the industry, cultivating unique experiences, expertise and insights as a quantitative strategist, portfolio manager, trader and sales person in global equities, global fixed income, derivatives and global foreign exchange. Paul spent the first half of his career on the buy‐side holding prominent positions at Baring Asset Management, Santander Global Advisors, Putnam Investments, Fleet/Columbia Management and at his own fund Prometheus Quantitative Strategies. On the sell‐side Paul has spent the later part of his career specializing in strategies and quantitative alpha generation, utilizing electronic and algorithmic trading techniques, at Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and TD Securities. Paul is established as one of the industry’s leading authorities on the subject of market microstructure in global foreign exchange and transaction cost analysis (TCA), having published a myriad of widely read papers on these subjects as well as being the named inventor of two important patented solutions for FX TCA. Paul holds Master degrees in Mathematical Economics and Business Administration from Boston University and a Bachelors degree in Music Composition from Boston University and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Paul.

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Summit Day 1

Friday, February 6th, 2015

11:50 Regulation Roundtables: Get to grips with the most pressing regulatory hurdles impacting your trading strategy

The regulatory bandwagon rolls on, and there are a number of different policies which have been put on the table which have been designed to increase transparency, improve trading protocols and ensure best execution. These roundtables are open to a maximum of 10 delegates each, to entice an open, interactive discussion and will be hosted by one subject matter expert. Network with your peers to establish best practice processes to overcome your biggest regulatory hurdle:

Roundtable 1: TRACE- How can TRACE be improved to increase transparency without hindering liquidity?
Chris White, CEO, ViableMKTS

Roundtable 2: MiFID II - What needs to be put in place now for US firms to prepare for MiFID II implementation?
Stephen Humenik, Of Counsel, Covington and Burling, formerly SEC

Roundtable 3: Unbundling - How will research and commission costs be broken down under the new reform and what will this mean for US markets?
Paul Aston, CEO and Director, Tixall Global Advisors

Roundtable 4: Dodd Frank and the Volcker Rule- What impact will this have on the buy side?
Mayra Rodriguez Valladares, Managing Principal, MRV Associate

14:00 Oxford Style Debate: Do capital constraints mean an agency based market model is set to become the more dominant form of trading?

Audience Participation

The intense pressure from regulators is pushing sell side firms to their limits. Saddled with capital constraints, the sell side are now committing less capital, warehousing less inventory and taking on less risk, meaning the traditional ways in which they transact with the buy side is changing. As the regulatory screw tightens further, the traditional principal based structure is under threat, and the way buy side and sell side firms interact is changing. During this session, our panelists will debate:

Do increased costs and reduced balance sheets mean that a more dominant agency model is inevitable?
Agency vs. Principal - Are the sell side now there just to facilitate execution between buyers and sellers?
Are agency models reliable enough to offer an effective service in fixed income markets?
Can a principal model still offer a successful business model for the sell side?
Could a ‘Riskless Principal Model’ be the way forward in the long term to offer maximum value to the buy side?