Buy-Side Firms Warm Up to Outsourced Trading as Usage Tops 15%

After years of resistance, investment management firms are increasingly outsourcing the buying and selling of financial assets to the likes of Northern Trust Corp. in a bid to handle more trading with less staff.

At least 15% of equity buy-side traders are tapping outsourced-trading providers to supplement internal capabilities, according to a survey by Crisil Coalition Greenwich, a financial analytics firm. That’s up from 10% two years ago.

Initially considered a job killer and embraced only by start-ups, outsourced trading has now cemented its place as a core plank of buy-side execution strategy that allows investment firms not only ...