Retail Investors and Trading Execution

Technology continues to change how investors participate and access financial markets. The switch from human-centered to electronic-based trading has been a decades-long process, with costs dropping at each stage. In this article, we explore how technology has shaped the market for retail investment. While retail investors have enjoyed dramatic decreases in costs, hurdles remain in specific markets. Technology has also changed the markets in which retail investors participate, which raises questions not only about the best regulation of these markets but also about the specific agency in charge of the regulation.