Opening Cross: The Technology Trickle-Down-and Up-Effect

For example, Thomson Reuters officials unveiling the vendor's new PropGen proposal generation tool for financial advisors last week were keen to emphasize how-like other products within its re-platformed lineup such as the Insider multimedia news portal-the product has been designed to appeal to the new generation of financial professionals "who have grown up using Google and Facebook."

This approach makes sense on a number of levels: it makes the interface more intuitive for advisors-and hence makes their job easier-and, should a firm choose to extend certain capabilities to investors, it will be easier to roll out a front end that retail users can immediately identify with, rather than building a new one.

Some have touted social networking applications as a mechanism for distributing-and potentially sourcing-financial content. Though regulators are scrutinizing the potential for abuse, and firms are weighing security issues and how to monetize these channels, hedge fund content and networking portal Hedgehogs.net is expanding, taking a majority stake in MoneyScience.com (see story, page 8).

Others may turn to Web services-like that being built by Xignite to distribute data from CME Group's ClearPort clearing platform-to deliver data not suited to feeds or unwieldy file downloads, but which has commercial value that cannot be fully leveraged via Web sites. In CME's case, the exchange aims to provide more flexible delivery and pricing for existing clients and for new clients that CME hopes will subscribe to its data as a result of a model more suited to their needs.

And every sign is that marketplaces and institutions are developing new models specifically to target new areas-with direct appeals to the retail market forming an important part of their strategies.

For example, mobile data apps for smartphones and tablet devices-such as those being rolled out by eSignal and Morningstar (see story, page 7)-may benefit the executive on the move, but they also appeal directly to anyone with a smartphone and an interest in their money.

Meanwhile, Russian stock exchange RTS is seeking to reach retail investors by making its real-time data available via third-party vendors at significant discounts, whereas retail investors often have to be content with free, delayed data, or-for real-time prices-pay the same price as professional traders. Major financial portals like Google and Yahoo can generally satisfy the requirements of the average investor, but with investors becoming more sophisticated and inclined-and empowered with tools-to take control of their investments, more are seeking in-depth content.

In turn, this creates a greater burden on service providers to manage increasing amounts of data-hence why online broker OptionsXpress is upgrading its data infrastructure, allowing it to handle volume growth with reduced hardware footprint, while also enabling it to add new datasets.

Just as developments made on tires used by racecars filter down to better tires on your road car, innovations designed for traders are becoming commonplace in the retail market, at the same time as technologies developed for individuals are filtering up into the professional space once dominated by proprietary technologies. But are trading floors prepared for social apps, and are the markets ready for an explosion of retail flow?

Max Bowie