Global trading speaks to KCx’s Chris McConville, Bobbie Port, Robert Miller and Serge Reydellet.
Breaking barriers: the innovation that’s reshaping execution
The execution landscape is evolving rapidly, and standing still is not an option. In an industry where technology is often outsourced or built for the market conditions of the past, we chose a different path – one focused on innovation. Bringing our execution technology in-house was not just a move toward greater efficiency or control; it was a strategic decision to shape our future with clarity and intent.
With full control of our technology, we are delivering more than just better performance: we are offering a tailored, responsive, and dynamic trading experience.
What inspired KCx to redefine its infrastructure with in-house technology?
Chris McConville, Head of KCx: Over the last 2 years, KCx has been embarking on an ambitious journey of reinvention. Through this journey, we began to reimagine what a modern trade execution platform could look like, incorporating open-source technologies and cloud computing into the very fabric of the platform. We did not want to upgrade just one aspect of our execution suite; we wanted to improve the entire suite.
The objective was to build a bespoke execution platform geared for agility and growth; with KCx Omni, we believe we have done just that. Supported by our partners, Adaptive, we have leveraged event stream sequencer systems to build a scalable, resilient, low latency next-generation trade execution platform.
How does owning your technology translate to delivering better solutions to clients?
Bobbie Port, Head of Electronic Distribution: KCx is leveraging technology not only to enhance performance but also to drive service delivery – an aspect that is often overlooked yet crucial for client success. Technology will empower us to deliver on client requests going from two to three deliveries a year to four to five every week. Our teams sit close to the code and the client, enabling fast, informed decision-making and support. This is a more direct model, leading to less friction, faster feedback loops, and ultimately better outcomes. In an environment where commoditisation is increasing, owning our technology stack allows us to remain flexible, client-led, and quality-focused. This is where we believe long-term value is created.
Owning our technology is a key differentiator in how we support clients and deliver solutions that matter. While much of the market is focused on internalisation and cost reduction, our priority remains on what clients genuinely value: customisation, agility, and service quality. By controlling our technology stack, we are able to move quickly. We are not dependent on external vendors or delayed by legacy infrastructure. This means we can adapt in real time, whether implementing a client-driven feature, tuning an algorithm, or adjusting to market dynamics.
Customisation is another core strength. Every client has different objectives, some are focused on alpha capture, others on execution quality, footprint, or workflow integration. Owning the technology allows us to tailor our offering precisely to those needs, rather than pushing a standardised solution.
How has client feedback shaped your decision to overhaul and internalise your technology stack?
Robert Miller, Head of Market Structure: Clients are instrumental in everything we do at KCx. We know that every trading desk operates with unique workflows and objectives – as the buyside and sellside become more objectively aligned, we need to provide more than out-the-box execution. Our clients’ insights made it clear that a one-size-fits-all solution wouldn’t suffice in today’s fast changing market. Clients depend on robust performance, not just execution performance, but resilience from a technology perspective too. They need a product that can be tailored to their specific operational objectives.
This understanding drove us to redesign our technology stack, ensuring that it is both high performing and highly customisable. Bringing our technology stack in house gives us complete control over the architecture, allowing us to swiftly integrate feedback and adapt to new challenges. This could be workflow changes from our clients or market evolution. It also gives KCx more flexibility to deploy different agents within the algo functionality as execution research continues to evolve.
Our continuous feedback loop ensures that as these conditions grow, our product remains resilient and forward-thinking. This strategic overhaul not only enhances our product’s execution and performance but also positions it to meet future market demands. Ultimately, the client is at the heart of our business, and by evolving our technology in line with their needs, we are building a platform that is flexible, scalable, and ready for the future whilst maximising execution performance.
How do these upgrades future proof KCx’s execution services?
Serge Reydellet, Head of Quant Execution: The changes discussed so far are just the beginning; every decision has been deliberate, ensuring that the solutions we provide will be scalable and grow with KCx. KCx Omni and KCx Spark will be the foundation on which we build.
The introduction of KCx Omni, an advanced event-driven equities trading system, marks a significant evolution in how trading components interact and scale. Powered by Adaptive’s event stream sequencer, KCx Omni acts as a central nervous system, seamlessly connecting components such as the Algo Centre, OMS/EMS, Vector TCA, IOI management, portfolio optimisation, AI agents, and the Quant Data Interface (QDI).
Most importantly, this will be a fully front-to-back solution controlling everything from pre-trade, post-trade, platform analytics, and trading interfaces, alongside robust risk layers. The technology is low latency, capable of managing high throughputs which can easily be deployed onto our user interfaces to be distributed to all our teams quickly and effectively.
KCx Spark, our next-generation Smart Order Router (SOR), has been purpose-built for low latency to improve liquidity capture. Spark optimises conditional and block venue performance through Level 3 order book insights and real-time execution inputs. With dark liquidity fully transitioned to Spark in the EU – and rollout across lit venues now underway – clients benefit from significantly improved outcomes in both dark and lit execution.
www.keplercheuvreux.com
