Best Execution
  • Home
  • Publication

    Best Execution

    • Current issue
    • Back issues
    • Profiles
    • Viewpoint
    • Market Opinion
    • Supplements
  • Topics

    Topics

    • Equities Trading
    • Fixed Income Trading
    • Derivatives Trading
    • FX – Foreign Exchange
    • Post-trade
  • Partners
  • Listings
  • Awards

    European Women in Finance Awards

    • European Women in Finance – The Programme
    • European Women in Finance – The Winners
  • Events
  • About us

    About us

    • Marketing
    • Media info
    • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Login
  • Home
  • Publication
    • Current issue
    • Back issues
    • Profiles
    • Viewpoint
    • Market Opinion
    • Supplements
  • Topics
    • Equities Trading
    • Fixed Income Trading
    • Derivatives Trading
    • FX – Foreign Exchange
    • Post-trade
  • Partners
  • Listings
  • Awards
    • European Women in Finance – The Programme
    • European Women in Finance – The Winners
  • Events
  • About us
    • Marketing
    • Media info
    • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Login
HomeEWiFAEuropean Women in Finance: Itiviti product team ge ...
Previous Next

European Women in Finance: Itiviti product team gets a redesign

Posted by: Lynn Strongin Dodds, June 11, 2020
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares

European Women in Finance: Itiviti product team gets a redesign

Shanny Basar talks to Linda Middleditch, chief product officer at Itiviti, about the changes she has made and her strategic vision going forward.

A careers quiz at school advised Linda Middleditch to become an accountant or a refuse collector but she followed a different path and is now chief product officer at Itiviti, a technology provider to the capital markets industry.

Middleditch joined Itiviti last year from Bloomberg, where she had been global head of Sell-Side Execution and Order Management Solutions (SSEOMS product management. Previously she had senior product development positions in banks including Citi and Morgan Stanley. Her responsibilities at Itiviti include defining the product department’s vision and overseeing every element of the product strategy and execution, including design, development and marketing. )

Since joining Itiviti last year Middleditch has restructured and rebuilt the product team. She said: “I inherited a strong team with deep vendor experience and we have added market expertise in areas such as Delta One, market structure and derivatives so we have the combination of these two strengths.”

Middleditch was also hired to execute Itiviti’s strategy of providing a migration path to the firm’s multi-asset order management system for clients using Bloomberg’s SSEOMS, which will be discontinued in April next year.

“We have had phenomenal demand for the migration from Bloomberg SSEOMS but also from Fidessa clients and Tier 1 firms moving away from in-house platforms,” she said. “Banks are questioning their technology strategy and looking for outsourcing opportunities to differentiate themselves.”

Itiviti sees a continued growth opportunity for its cross-asset trading and automation platform and is working on projects for foreign exchange and fixed income, as well as meeting the increase in institutional demand for digital assets.

“We see this space growing over the next few years and we want to be at the forefront of providing technology solutions to help our clients interact with digital assets,” added Middleditch.

She continued that Itiviti’s core strengths are innovation and automation in trading technology and a key part of the firm’s strategy is to continue to identify and grow strategic partnerships. Itiviti hired Bobby Rahman as the new head of strategic partnerships last year and Middleditch said the firm is making strong headway in attracting innovative fintech partners.

“The partnership with NYFIX Matching is a really good example of the strength of our partnerships as it is a high growth business providing a great alternative to Omgeo for trade matching,” she added. “Through our long-term partnership with Alpha Omega we bring together a combined deep knowledge for cross asset trade matching solutions.”

In 2018 Itiviti merged with Ullink, a provider of multi-asset trading technology and infrastructure for financial services which included NYFIX, a trading community based on FIX , the messaging standard for the financial industry.

The need to continue to automate workflows has been highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic forcing staff to work from home.

“Remote working has raised issues including how to meet surveillance requirements imposed by regulators for trading activities,” said Middleditch. “The importance of screen real estate has also been highlighted and the next challenge for trading platforms will be how to present their data in a more efficient manner more suited to less screen space.”

Early career 

After graduating from university, Middleditch joined the graduate program at UBS where she rotated through a number of roles.

“This was a phenomenal grounding for my career as I had experience in many asset classes and saw things from all perspectives,” she added.

Middleditch joined Bloomberg in 2015 after working for several banks as she could see that banks would increasingly need to outsource their technology. “In addition, I could see from vendor pitches that they lacked market expertise which I felt I could add,” she said.

Middleditch said she did not see gender bias early in her career, but noticed that she was often the only woman in the room as she became more senior.

“I do remember a bias on my return to work after a career break to look after the children where one firm described my break as ‘time on the beach’ and offered a reduction in my salary level,” she added. “Needless to say I didn’t take the job.”

She said that returners can have a lack of confidence but a career break can teach many skills and the industry needs more women.

“I have noticed that women are less willing to back themselves,” Middleditch added. “I have been lucky to have good mentors who pushed me out of my comfort zone and into applying for roles. In addition, women have not always helped each other as much as they should.”

Increasing diversity 

Middleditch continued that diversity at work also needs to include cognitive diversity.

“Teams benefit when members think differently,” she said. “This can lead to conflict due to different styles but it is healthy conflict that should lead to a well-rounded solution.”

In order to attract more women into fintech, Middleditch believes girls need to captured much earlier so that the industry looks interesting.

“I have two daughters and the eldest had computer science homework that is really uninspiring,” she said. More should be done to make technology more interesting and provide role models to girls in school.

Her advice to women entering finance or technology is that they should believe in themselves and force themselves out of their comfort zone. Middleditch said: “Women have a tendency to be conservative even though they are more than capable and so don’t always put themselves forward for opportunities.”

©BestExecution 2020

IF YOU’D LIKE TO NOMINATE LINDA (OR ANYONE ELSE) FOR ONE OF THE EUROPEAN WOMEN IN FINANCE AWARDS PLEASE CLICK HERE

Back to Top
0

Tags: Bloomberg, Citi, COVID-19, Fidessa, Itiviti, Linda Middleditch, Morgan Stanley, NYFIX, Omgeo, UBS

Share!
Tweet

Lynn Strongin Dodds

About the author
mm

Related Posts

ISDA paper shows OTC derivatives weathered pandemic storm

ISDA paper shows OTC derivatives weathered pandemic storm

The stream of regulatory reforms such as Dodd Frank and European Market Infrastructure Regulati ...
DTCC paper on the repercussions of Covid for FMIs

DTCC paper on the repercussions of Covid for FMIs

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), published a new White Paper, Covid-19: ...
People: Chris McConville new sellside chair at Plato

People: Chris McConville new sellside chair at Plato

Plato Appoints UBS’ Chris McConville as New Sellside Chair. Plato Partnership, the not-for-prof ...
Global investment banks not expected to hit the high revenue levels of 2021

Global investment banks not expected to hit the high revenue levels of 2021

Covid induced volatility and trading levels fuelled record breaking revenues for the world̵ ...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe for Email Updates

Best Execution
Recent
  • European Women in Finance – Winners – Stephanie Suriyanon

    European Women in Finance – Winners – ...

    January 27, 2021
    Slow adoption of AI and machine holding back quants and data analysts

    Slow adoption of AI and machine holding back quant ...

    January 26, 2021
    European Women in Finance – Winners – Pegah Esmaeili

    European Women in Finance – Winners – ...

    January 26, 2021
    Capco paper outlines EMIR REFIT challenges

    Capco paper outlines EMIR REFIT challenges

    January 25, 2021
    The role of ESG derivatives in hedging and pricing

    The role of ESG derivatives in hedging and pricing

    January 22, 2021

Menu

  • Home
  • Publication
  • Topics
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Listings
  • Privacy notice
  • About us

Best Execution

In these uncertain times and as the tide of regulation rises ever higher and wider, Best Execution offers an in-depth analysis into the major trends that are shaping the financial services industry as well as providing a more detailed insight into the technology driving new products and services being developed to meet these challenges.

Where the buyside and sellside meet.

Wikipedia: Best Execution

Social

linkedin
Newsletter Sign Up
Copyright © 2020 Best Execution | Site by Refractiv.
  • Home
  • Publication
  • Events
  • Privacy notice
  • Login