On the front end, dealers are increasingly offering their customers web-based research and analytic tools, trading and execution engines, and even apps that allow clients access to internal software for pricing and structuring transactions. The landscape for proprietary trading firms has changed considerably in recent years, too.
Since 2015, we have witnessed the first initial public offering by a proprietary trading firm, as well as a few high-profile mergers and acquisitions. 3 The industry is contending with declining revenue growth and diminished returns by expanding operations into new asset classes and geographies. Proprietary trading firms are also adapting in other ways.