Ten Take Aways from Our Trading Summit

I just got back from Advanced Trading's fourth Buy Side Trading Summit. And although the event is off the record (no reporting using traders' or company names - a way to ensure the buy side feels free to open up -) I figured I'd share the top general takeouts from the event.1.HFT-Friend or Foe?: Traditional buy side traders are not concerned about high frequency traders gaming their orders. The overall sentiment, for the most part, was "the liquidity is good for us."

2.Regulatory Fear: Buy side traders are much more concerned with what Congress might force the regulators to do, rather than what the regulators would implement on their own. That said, there is a great deal of fear of the regulatory proposals on the horizon and what else might come.

3.Central Clearing: Many buy siders, those that trade options, are concerned about the options landscape and how centrally clearing OTC derivatives will affect their the market and their trading.

4.Milliseconds Don't matter:not to the traditional buy sider.

5.Customization is King: Buy siders are still looking for easier and more ways to customize algorithms. Some even want want algos they can customize on the fly---to change their parameters as an algo is in use.

6.Help Not Wanted: Most buy side shops are not hiring, but rather feel they are ready to take on more volume and could easily ramp up with the staff they have. And are eager to do it.

7.Dark Info: Buy siders want more info on their executions when using algo aggregators or dark algos provided by the sell side. They don't want to simply know the trade was done, they want to know in which venues.

8.Dinosaurs Perception: Everyone wants to find easier ways to keep up with technology. Many fear the dinosaur perception.

9.Order Routing Gains Clout: There's more interest in smart order routers on the buy side.

10.Transformational Times: Everyone believes this is a monumental time in history that will shape the future of the markets.I just got back from Advanced Trading's fourth Buy Side Trading Summit. And although the event is off the record (no reporting using trader's or company names - a way to ensure the buy side feels free to open up -) I figured I'd share the top general takeouts from the event.