Derivatives trading gains ground in Poland
With the crumbling financial market, derivatives trading has risen to new heights as the culture of trading has changed and telecom infrastructure has allowed businesses to grow in areas where previously it seemed impossible.
Derivatives trading has not only seen a shift from floor to screen trading but also a shift in the number of market participants with a growing interest in the Central and Eastern Europe and Poland being one of the attractive markets, according to panelists at this years Derivatives World CEE conference.
According to Mark Phelps, head of the UK sales at NYSE/Euronext Liffe, as telecoms became affordable, it allowed customers to connect from various markets. "Speed telecoms have been the tool that created a level playing field," he said. Mark Slade, director at OSTC agreed adding stating that traders in London have the same tools as in Warsaw. "If we relied on speed, the technology only makes a millisecond difference."
Experts agreed that today's potential in Poland is huge, as Poland is an open democratic and where there's no difference to pricing and connectivity speed, however, due to regulations there are limits.
However, this hasn't deterred companies to tap into Poland as the market and the pool of talent is attractive to employers. Michael Peters, global head of sales at Eurex, said that as there's a move from floor to screen trading, he found that Poles are "a receptive audience with an appetite to learn and an appetite to grow."
The industry does come with a reputation: make fast money and quickly, however, the panelists agreed that this notion needs to be quashed as a trader needs to spend hours in front of a screen studying market trends. In Poland, Phelps said that traders are living, breathing and studying derivatives, the type of focus that is lacking from more established locations. Also, when compared to CEE regions, there doesn't seem to be a tendency where a trader makes fast money and runs.
Sure, traders are aggressive, but Poland is not just a risk taker, there's also personality and that goes a long way in the business, according to Slade.
