Goldman Sachs was late to upgrading its high-speed trading tech, but that might be an advantage now

Goldman Sachs might be late to the competition of pleasing needy quant funds with speedy trading technology, but it's better late than never, according to one of the most senior Goldman technologist R. Martin "Marty" Chavez.

In a recent episode of The Scoop, Chavez admitted the Wall Street giant has fallen behind its rivals Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan in meeting the technological needs of quant trading clients. However, opportunities in this market still loom as quant traders demand more than speed. 

“I would say that we were late,” said Chavez. “I don’t know about too late, the world is always changing and there’s a continuous dynamic in any technology.”

The bank is spending $100 million to overhaul its trading platform to deliver faster trading. Meanwhile, seeing that asset management funds are looking for a more integrated trading experience with limited to no human intervention, Goldman is developing software that encompasses everything from trade execution to post-trade processing. 

“There’s an opportunity right now in 2019 to do this and in a completely modern way. And so we’re excited about it and we made it a priority,” said Chavez.