October 14, 2025 — Sell-side electronic equity traders under pressure from understaffed desks, sub-par technology systems and growing compliance demands are looking forward to getting some relief from an expected uptick in hiring, the positive impact of artificial intelligence (AI), and a friendlier relationship between the industry and regulators.
A combination of declining commissions, rising costs and intense competition has made life difficult on sell-side electronic trading desks. The U.S. sell-side electronic equities professionals participating in a recent study from Crisil Coalition Greenwich say these conditions have led to a lack of staffing, complaints of inadequate customer service, and inefficient trading technology on their desks. At the same time, execution and connectivity costs, such as venue access fees and OEMS and analytics tolls, are consuming a large portion of trading commissions, leaving less budget for trading desks.
“Despite these challenges, sell-side electronic equity traders are optimistic about the future, believing that tailwinds such as increasing volatility and trading volumes, the emergence of new trading venues, and the adoption of AI and automation are positioning the industry for growth and expansion,” says Jesse Forster, Senior Analyst, Market Structure & Technology at Crisil Coalition Greenwich and author of U.S. Equity Electronic Trading: The Broker View 2025.
On the staffing front, almost half of study participants expect to add headcount to their frontline trading-desk coverage in the coming year. A similar share expects to add more juniors and trading assistants, which could help to alleviate some of the staffing pressures and provide a pipeline of talent for the future.
Traders also expect relief from what they see as an increasing compliance burden. Study participants believe that the SEC's renewed focus on market structure and trading issues will lead to more effective and efficient regulation, which will ultimately benefit investors and the broader market.
“Electronic brokers are optimistic about the potential for greater cooperation between the SEC and the industry, with many seeing the new leadership as an opportunity to work together to address common challenges,” says Jesse Forster.
AI’s Long-Term Impact
Only about 30% of electronic brokers are currently incorporating AI into their equity trading workflow, with most of those deployments taking the form of algo optimization and venue selection. But electronic equity traders believe AI will become a core requirement for effective customer service and are excited to leverage AI more proactively for tasks such as alerting on orders going limit away, prints going up, participation rates, auction sizing, and more—things that low-touch coverage already does. Finally, the introduction of AI is making algos more autonomous.
“In the not-so-distant future, it’s likely that brokers will no longer have to build different algos for different situations,” says Jesse Forster. “With AI, a single algo will be able to handle multiple scenarios.”
U.S. Equity Electronic Trading: The Broker View 2025 presents the complete results of the Q2/Q3 study. The report reveals traders’ 12-month outlook for the industry and their own desks, identifies top challenges and pain points facing desks in the year ahead, discusses what traders see as the top selling points or differentiators of their desks, and examines the current and expected impact of AI on sell-side electronic equity trading.