Stifel's John Spensieri Talks Disruption & Digital Transformation at Nasdaq’s Technology of the Future Conference
At this year’s virtual Technology of the Future (ToF) conference, Nasdaq gathered executives from top marketplace operators, clearinghouses, regulators, banks, brokers and CSDs to collaborate and address strategic business and technological challenges facing our industry and how to accelerate opportunities ahead.
John Spensieri, the Head of U.S. Equity Trading at Stifel, joined Nasdaq for a client panel to discuss disruption and digital transformation in the trading space. Stifel is disrupting the status quo as the first regional broker to launch an Alternative Trading System (ATS), which is being developed and powered by Nasdaq’s Market Technology. The Stifel Crossing Platform (STFX) is designed to offer unique liquidity to the firm’s 3,500+ institutional clients.
By launching a dark pool, Stifel aims to enhance its trading capabilities and capitalize on the firm’s rich retail order flow, thereby allowing Stifel to provide what it views as a unique, “clean” liquidity source to institutional clients, including hedge funds and long-only mutual funds. A history of strategic acquisitions and innovative investments has helped Stifel build its reputation as a disruptor amongst institutional players. Operating its own ATS is yet another differentiator for Stifel in the marketplace. During the session, Spensieri noted that this implementation has also streamlined Stifel into a “more efficient and fluid organization.” Stakeholders from business lines across the company have worked together to create an environment for this technology to thrive, which Spensieri said has ultimately increased firm synergy and improved workflows.
Spensieri also noted a few key takeaways that have resonated with him from the pre-, at- and post-launch process. Strong communication with key stakeholders, as well as the ability to effectively articulate goals and milestones throughout the organization is what drives transformation within a firm, according to Spensieri. Through a common vision of adapting to a rapidly evolving financial climate, stakeholders must be willing to shift priorities to best position their firm for long-term success.
Furthermore, Spensieri noted that Stifel is eager to see the results of this project going forward and he believes that the industry will be keenly watching what Stifel and Nasdaq are doing to transform the regional-broker space. With Nasdaq’s scalable infrastructure solution, Stifel now has access to sophisticated functionality that will support efforts to innovate, compete, and best serve clients, especially as conditions change and market structure evolves.
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