Suggestions
Thomas Dadmun
Founder & CEO Point Focal
Thomas Dadmun is the Founder and CEO of Point Focal, a company he started in January 2020.1 Point Focal focused on portfolio analytics using AI, NLP, and NLG technologies for active risk management and trade signaling.1 However, the company has recently been wound up.3
Prior to founding Point Focal, Dadmun had an extensive career in finance and technology:
-
He worked at State Street from 2006 to 2017, holding positions such as Vice President of FX Sales, Trading & Business Management, Vice President of Portfolio Solutions, and Managing Director of Data Strategy.1
-
Dadmun was a University Lecturer at Northeastern University College of Professional Studies from January 2018 to December 2020, teaching courses in the Masters of Analytics program.1
-
Earlier in his career, he served as Director of Electronic Trading at Firefly Capital (2003-2005) and Vice President of NASDAQ Trading at Leerink Partners (1998-2002).1
Thomas Dadmun holds a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from the University of Maine.2 He is known for his expertise in data analytics, data strategy, portfolio solutions, electronic trading, and NASDAQ trading.2
Highlights
The BSTA: Wait, What?* Volume Two: Liquidity Waterfalls, Synthetic Blocks, and Trading Edge IntelligentCross at a Steakhouse with Shrimp in the Dining Room
Panel: Scott Graczyk, IntelligentCross; John Bright, Fidelity Investments; Jatin Suryawanshi, Jefferies
2024 is a reflection of 1986. Trade strategists are focused on finding and sourcing liquidity without market impact. The game changes, but the issues remain. Client service revolves around 3 categories: 1) systematic implementation and measurement calibrations, 2) finding liquidity across SDPs, ATSs, and Exchanges, and 3) the culture of surrounding teams with capabilities that encourage exploration and innovation.
Teasing out edge in the trading world is art and science, discretion and systematic automation. With 70% of volume being highly competitive, trading edge factors include midpoint executions, mark-outs (price improvements beyond prevailing quoted market prices), IEX D-Peg implications (non-displayed order type designed to minimize adverse selection), the tradeoff between execution speed and quality (slower speeds can avoid HFT), venue differentiation, queue management, and latency arbitrage.
Finding natural liquidity means solving micro market structure challenges to identify like-minded flow, true liquidity where passive and aggressive participants can match, and pockets of accessibility that include retail.
Every ATS has different tiering logic that must be understood: accessing internal liquidity, prioritizing retail, avoiding predatory behavior, interacting with block venues, managing lit-market imbalances, and the space between trades when nothing is happening.
While interacting with natural flow is important, the behavior of order flow is moving in the other direction. SIZE can come in small prints. Synthetic blocks.
A counter view: mark-outs are meaningless for long duration where there is low correlation between liquidity and price. Fills away (outside internal systems) can be stable and in your favor. Thus, liquidity randomization is desirable because 50% of your market share can come from a venue group with 10% market share.
Quotes and trades are not the same. Venues have many more orders than trades and the market is not evenly balanced for everyone. Popular-unpopular opinion: lit volume is most toxic. Off-exchange efficient price formation is a fallacy driving auction growth - note the PureStream Trading Technologies model of matching outside the market. 30% of Jefferies volume can be off-market. Fragmentation benefits have limits and eventually lead to stronger signals for market makers.
Trade strategy optimization: with experimental freedom, criteria for validating strategy A is better than strategy B must be defined BEFORE testing. Then identify your benchmark, collect data, measure, and make decisions.
- This is the second of a two-part non-exclusive Boston Securities Traders Association non-investigative series of LinkedIn posts.
Image by Point Focal
The BSTA: Wait, What?* A two part exclusive Boston Securities Traders Association investigative series.
Volume One: T+1 Implications DTCC at the Langham Hotel with Croissants in the Ballroom
The T+1 Panel: Bob Stewart and David Kirby, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Taryn Siglain, State Street, Eddie Doyle Amundi US, Stephen Miley, CFA, CAIA, CIPM, Eventide Asset Management
Seven years after shortening the U.S. equities settlement cycle from three days (T+3) to two days (T+2) we are approaching a further reduction to a single day (T+1) on May 28th. Industry views range from “shock and horror, why so fast” (Trad-Fi) to “pathetic, why so slow” (De-Fi).
Initial level setting clarified three key T+1 requirements: 1) brokers will be required to ensure allocation confirmation occurs on trade date, 2) registered investment managers will be required to keep records of allocations, confirms, and affirms, each with a date / time stamp and 3) DTCC will be required to anonymously report affirmation behavior of Investment Managers to the SEC.
A key workflow change will make affirmations mandatory by 21:00 EST. Current affirmation rates are 90% by T+1 in full and 70% by 21:00 EST. A new ratings regime will begin with brokers rating investment managers on affirmation quality. Initially there will not be consequences for failing to comply. Custodians are expecting higher failure rates due to market disequilibrium.
What does all this settlement jargon mean?
Disequilibrium has an impact. Here, the shorter cycle, or even the uncertainty it creates, may cause lenders to hold back supply. In turn, less liquidity could increase the scope of hard-to-borrow inventory, which drives lender profits. The first-order economic impact may be more profit opportunity for agent lenders. This will come at the expense of hedge funds, the largest borrowers, who will have to pay more for hard-to-borrow inventory.
Concerns were raised about second-order effects, particularly in foreign exchange where critical activity needs to be consummated immediately after the U.S. equities close. Further, inconsistent global settlement cycles may exacerbate the impact of U.S. securities failing to deliver.
The consensus view is there will be an increase in fail-to-deliver securities. But as equity traders know, the consensus is not always right. Maybe FTD doomers have overlooked industry preparation. Or maybe T+1 necessity will be the mother of delivery invention.
A concluding question. If the consensus is right we know who will benefit and who will suffer. The extent of which will be a function of how great the fail rate increases. What solutions will surface to help the sufferers?
Many thanks to the BSTA, DTCC, and the panelists. Stay tuned for Volume Two: Systematic Trading Performance. IntelligentCross at a Steakhouse with Shrimp in the Dining Room.
- This is not exclusive, or investigative, or a volume. It’s a LinkedIn post of my thoughts on BSTA events.
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.