The Ai Trading Tools Attempting To Beat The Market

Investec, the Anglo-South African banking group, is staking its claim on the future of trading with ZebrA-X, an electronic platform targeting institutional investors. Launched in February, the platform aims to help fund managers and large-scale traders execute orders more efficiently, accessing deeper liquidity while minimising price fluctuations caused by big trades.

For regulators, however, AI trading tools raise questions about oversight in an industry increasingly shaped by automation.

ZebrA-X centralises trading, streamlining how institutional clients access liquidity, select execution algorithms, and engage with Investec's trading desk. "ZebrA-X is designed to create a central hub for trading, allowing us to concentrate venue choice, algorithm selection, and a high level of client service all in one place," says Dominic Lowres, Investec's head of electronic trading and execution strategy.

The result, Investec says, is a more seamless approach to execution, ensuring trades are carried out with minimal disruption to market pricing.

One of the biggest claimed advantages is an ability to execute large trades without setting off market signals - sudden price swings triggered when big orders become visible to competitors. In traditional trading, a sizeable order hitting the market can prompt rival traders to react, pushing prices up or down before the trade is fully executed. ZebrA-X is designed to counteract this. By managing order flow and using algorithms, Investec says it can strategically place trades to avoid setting off market signals.