THE TECH TRADER TRIBE

A FEW YEARS FROM NOW, INVESTORS COULD USE VOICE COMMANDS TO TRADE IN THE STOCK MARKET. OR, ALL INVESTMENT ADVISORY COULD BE POWERED BY AI/ML WITH ZERO OR MINIMAL HUMAN ELEMENT. TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCT INNOVATION WILL BE THE CONSTANTS, BUT WHAT WOULD THESE MEAN FOR INVESTORS AND THE MARKETS AT LARGE?

- ASHISH RUKHAIYAR

THE TECH MACROS

1 More complex asset agnostic algorithmic trading tools

2 Robo-advisory completely eliminating human touch

3 Voice commands and smart gadgets to execute trades

4 AI/ML powered personalised nudges to influence trading behaviour

5 Natural language processing; gamification features within trading apps

A FEW DECADES AGO, buying and selling shares in the Indian stock market was all about hand signals and strong lungs. Surprised, eh? Indeed, it was. A thumbs-up signal meant the person had 50 shares to trade, the palm facing outward meant he was a seller, and palm inward was the sign of a buyer. Flashing a victory sign in a particular manner in the trading ring meant he had 20 or 200 shares to trade. The trader had to shout throughout the trading session to attract the attention of other traders and, of course, had to be physically present in the trading ring of BSE, Asia’s oldest stock exchange.

Those days have become the subject of coffee table books. Today, Indian capital markets are counted among the most advanced and secure in terms of technology. Let’s take an example. The Indian stock market is fast moving towards a T+1 settlement cycle—if you buy shares today, the securities will be credited in your demat account the next day. And if you have sold shares then the money would be credited in just a day’s time. So what? Well, digest this: this is a technological achievement that the more advanced markets are yet to achieve—the US currently follows the T+2 settlement cycle.