Hungry for retail flow, market makers and venues are keen to offer all-hours trading to smartphone-addicted consumers. But seasoned buy-side traders warn that 24/7 could be more hindrance than help.
“I think it’s a terrible idea.”
So said Ben Ashby, chief investment officer at Henderson Rowe, when asked about the prospect of 24/7 trading at the Bloomberg Investment Management Summit.
“24/7 trading is not long-term, patient investing. Apart from maybe for a handful of global mega accounts, I think it’s a spectacularly stupid idea,” he continued.
The idea of continuous trading has grown in popularity as of late, particularly with the rise of retail investment and engagement with inherently 24/7 crypto markets. Last year, NYSE announced that it was moving to a 22-hour structure. In February, Cboe upped the ante with a 24/5 model for its US EDGX Equities Exchange.
READ MORE: Cboe rivals NYSE with 24/5 trading plans
“Talk about not learning our lessons,” Ashby added. “In the 1920s James Keynes said that if the activities of your long-term investment become indistinguishable from a casino, don’t be surprised when there are casino-like outcomes.”
Ines de Tremiolles, global head of trading at BNP Paribas Asset Management, agreed, arguing that while many are keen to be able to trade Amazon in the middle of the night, they wouldn’t be getting a good deal.
“The way financial markets operate, you have to have buyers and sellers. At 2 AM, you’ll just have someone on one side, so you’ll end up paying a very high price for executing something that you could have just programmed for market open. It’s just like how you don’t have fish markets operating 24/7 – it’s a particular dynamic.”
While not enthusiastic about the prospect of continuous trading, Dermot Dunphy, head of EMEA equity dealing at M&G Investments noted that “there’s a certain inevitability to it.”
“There’s a newer generation who are able to invest on their phones, and they want the option to invest at any time.”
However, he emphasised the need for careful preparations to be made.
“We need set open and close times. We all have benchmarks, we all have NAVs to strike. We need to look at the situation, see what’s happening, if there’s liquidity that we need to be involved in. And, if so, how do we put the right processes in place? We have to adapt.”
READ MORE: 24-hour trading day ends at 8pm, SIPs say—Citadel issues warnings
Market infrastructure players are already trying to get ahead of the trend. The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) plans to offer 24/5 clearing hours for the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) from Q2 2026, and the transaction securities information processors (SIPs) Operating Committees have been preparing for 24-hour operations.
