Built to fit: the DNA of a buy-side outsourced trading desk

This article was originally published by The TRADE

Not all outsourced trading desks are built the same – and for buy-side firms, that difference matters. There’s no shortage of providers but cutting through the noise to figure out those that are truly built to support your business isn’t always easy.

On the surface, many providers look similar. Execution? Check. Global reach? Check. Integration, partnership, scale? All there.

But you need to dig deeper for the whole story. What matters is how the desk is set up to deliver on its promises, and who it was designed to serve from the beginning. Because not all outsourced trading desks are wired the same way. And when you hand over your trading, that wiring matters.

Built for the buy-side

Some desks were created specifically for the buy-side – designed to act as an extension of the investment team, with broker agnostic routing, no internal conflicts and a flexible operating model built around the client.

Others were carved out of institutional execution teams or broader infrastructure platforms, extending existing capabilities to external clients. These models often bring scale but carry the muscle memory and operating frameworks of their institutional roots. Many fall somewhere in between.

These differences aren’t always visible upfront, but they influence everything: how the desk fits into a client’s workflow, how decisions are made and how the relationship holds up once the pitch deck is in the drawer.

“What matters is how the desk is set up to represent you,” says Bobby Croswell, co-head of Americas outsourced trading at Marex. “And whether they’ve built the business around your needs or through a wider institutional lens.”

Structure sets the tone

Outsourced trading is, at its core, an extension of a firm’s trading function. And structure determines how well that extension actually works.

You see it in the details. How trades are handled, how fast issues get resolved and what happens when the client needs something outside the box. Is the team aligned to the client’s goals, or navigating internal ones? Can it flex around different systems and styles? Can it scale as the business grows, or do things start to creak once it gets complex?

Marex’s outsourced trading desk was built with those considerations in mind – established over 25 years ago as a standalone buy-side desk, designed to operate like an internal trading team.

“Our desk was purpose built for the buy-side from day one,” adds Croswell. “That mindset still shapes how we hire, how we operate, how we support clients. But we’ve also built the depth to mirror the institutional scale our clients expect – across the trade lifecycle, asset classes, time zones and operational complexity.”

Today, it sits within Marex’s capital markets division, running independently from the firm’s commodities and clearing operations.

It’s a structure that offers the best of both worlds: the alignment and flexibility of a buy-side built, pure agency model, paired with the scale and support of a global financial services firm. No competing internal sales desk. No routing pressure. Just a desk that can flex with the client, and scale with them too.

“The structure lets us focus entirely on the client,” adds Massimo Labella, head of international outsourced trading at Marex. “When that’s right, everything else falls into place and the experience becomes something entirely different.”

Built for how you work

Flexibility isn’t a nice to have; it’s the reason many firms outsource in the first place. But flexibility only matters if the desk is set up to deliver it.

“We can face the street as the client or as Marex. Trade in their name or ours. Use their brokers or ours. That kind of flexibility sounds obvious, but very few desks are actually structured to offer it,” adds Croswell. “It also means firms don’t have to outsource everything. Some use us to add capacity, capability or reach to their internal desks.”

Marex integrates into client systems where needed – plugging into OMS platforms, managing FIX connectivity and aligning post-trade files. And where clients don’t yet have that infrastructure, Marex offers institutional-grade frameworks for clients to build around.

“It’s not just about getting the trade done,” says Labella. “It’s about helping the client run their desk more efficiently and extending their capabilities in a way that would be hard to replicate internally.”

More than execution

Execution is just the start. What defines a strong outsourced trading relationship is everything around it. That’s also where outsourced trading is often misunderstood. It’s not the same as execution only desks. The models, and what they’re built to deliver, are very different.

Execution desks provide access to markets. That can work for firms with large internal teams, but it leaves everything else – broker management, operations, compliance, post-trade – in the client’s hands.

Outsourced trading, when done properly, goes further. It’s about acting as an extension of the client’s team – creating opportunities, managing complexity, reducing friction and supporting growth.

“Clients aren’t just looking for access to markets,” says Labella. “They need support across the trade lifecycle, from compliance to reporting, broker management to capital raising. That’s what allows them to scale without building it all themselves.”

Marex’s support spans 24/6 global coverage, multi-asset execution and post-trade across time zones. Clients also access a global capital introduction team connected to more than 1,900 investors, along with research and corporate access via Marex’s partnership with Stifel.

“Some firms just want help routing orders, that’s a valid need,” says Croswell. “But others want a partner who can take on the operational lift, that’s something else entirely. And that’s what we’re built to do.”

Built to fit: the DNA of a buy-side outsourced trading desk

One theme that comes up time and again: fit. Not just the operational aspects, but the people and the service clients experience day-to-day.

“You can feel it,” says Croswell. “You know when someone’s really in the trenches with you versus when they’re just covering an account. It shows up in how quickly things move, how responsive the team is and how problems get solved.”

A desk built with buy-side clients in mind tends to onboard faster, adjust more easily and work more collaboratively with the client’s firm. And the difference is noticeable.

That level of fit is supported by strong trader-to-client ratios and direct access to the team actually managing the flow. No ticketing systems. No bouncing between departments. Just people who know how you operate and can act quickly when needed.

“Good outsourced trading feels like an extension of your desk,” adds Labella. “Not a bolt-on service. Clients want service that fits them, not the other way around.”

Reputation, resources and reach

As the model matures, firms are asking smarter questions. Who’s actually running the trades? What’s the trader-to-client ratio? What happens when something goes wrong? Can the desk scale with us, or will it become a bottleneck?

“Experience counts,” says Croswell. “If a desk has three junior traders covering 40 clients, it doesn’t matter how slick the front end is, that’s not a sustainable setup.”

But it’s not just about numbers. Clients want to know that the team representing them in the market has the judgment, depth and resources to support them through all market conditions.

“Clients are asking the right questions,” says Labella. “Not just ‘Can you do it?’ but ‘What happens when it’s hard?’”

And that’s where structure proves its value.

“If a desk wasn’t built for the buy-side,” Labella adds. “You’ll feel it – in the service, in the communication, in the way challenges are handled. Long after the ink dries on the agreement.”

Final word

Outsourced trading has become a strategic choice for many firms, but strategy only works when the structure behind it is sound. The best desks aren’t just capable. They’re aligned. Built to represent the client, adapt around them and support growth without compromise.

In a market where many desks look the same on paper, the difference shows in how they work in practice. The ones built for the buy-side from the ground up continue to prove why structure – and service – still matters most.