Name: Tradeweb CEO Talks Trump, Fed Rates, and Acquisitions
Uploaded: 2025-05-16T01:14:00Z
Duration: 20 min 8 s
Description: Tradeweb CEO Billy Hult also spoke about why recent market volatility has been good for the company.

https://www.barrons.com/client

Topics

Memberships

Tools

Customer Service

Network

Newsstand

For Business

For Education

For Advertisers

Account

About Barron's

bolded

unBolded

Under CEO Cristiano Amon, semiconductor company Qualcomm is bringing its technology to multiple industries. This conversation was recorded on May 28, 2025.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250717/f95245f1-1b2d-453e-a058-30d6a835822a/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Qualcomm CEO Shares the Company's Disruption Strategy

That's according to Okta CEO Todd McKinnon, who also spoke about how the company's name is tied to pilots and why flexibility is a core aspect of Okta's business.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250710/d3fadd54-0fc6-4961-a2c0-0d858131e3c7/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Why Okta Wants 'Authentication to Disappear'

Dr. Robert Grossman, CEO of NYU Langone Health, which has consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the nation. talked about the Trump administration's plans to significantly cut the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250715/02e28b09-0b7e-4a48-8227-6dbbb42d9598/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

NYU Langone CEO on NIH Cuts: 'That Takes a Scalpel, Not a Sledgehammer'

Though quality of care is excellent in the U.S., access to care needs to be improved, said Dr. Robert Grossman, CEO of NYU Langone Health, which has consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the nation.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250715/fc3563ea-508b-4d6d-b32a-a77f939c6e5b/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

NYU Langone CEO Says This Can Help the U.S. Government Fix Healthcare

Dr. Robert Grossman, CEO of NYU Langone Health, spoke to At Barron's about how the health system has transformed and changes he made along the way.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250703/c25a5233-a5a6-48c9-bf10-ea3948ab7d7b/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

How This Massive NYC Health System Changed Its Business Model

"The economic implications for the U.S. are profound," said Greg Case, CEO of Aon.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250709/57231b7d-6d25-4c2e-ae5c-f0b6a6299196/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Why Aon's CEO Is Betting on GLP-1 and Other Weight-Loss Meds

"It creates opportunity, which is terrific, but it also creates volatility," said Greg Case, CEO of Aon, talking about the connectivity and complexity underpinning today's business environment.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250709/c5c85274-4515-484f-8cf4-2a6b3056b927/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Why Aon's CEO Thinks Volatility Isn't Going Anywhere

Greg Case, CEO of Aon, explains 4 causes of global volatility the risk manager helps clients navigate.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250626/65d52c3a-2940-4439-acfa-78e7f53dde15/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

4 Megatrends That Cause Volatility in the World: Aon CEO

Scott Bok, the former board chair of the University of Pennsylvania, breaks down the financial risks and implications that come with removing tax-exempt status from colleges and universities.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250709/c8469d5c-8f50-48fd-acb8-97f3b510ea21/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Taking Away Tax-Exempt Status: A “Nuclear Weapon Against Universities”

At Barron's

Saira Malik, chief investment officer of Nuveen, makes the case for more gains in 2023.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230925/4d8aa5ee-77aa-4400-884b-1fafeff893ec/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

S&P 4700?

David Bailin, chief investment officer of Citi Global Wealth, offers his take on the latest IPO activity and what it says about the strength of capital markets.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230925/5f4d4a28-d83a-40e3-ad94-28bc25b1c3bc/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

IPOs: Making a Comeback

Chris Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo Securities, explains what would make him more bullish on stocks and when he sees a Fed rate cut coming.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230918/1f534ddf-5da9-4d1d-9926-fda63e90468e/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Cuts on the Horizon?

Tom Kennedy, chief investment strategist for J.P. Morgan Global Wealth Management, explains why he thinks concerns around a slowdown in China are overblown.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230918/09304272-5f0c-49df-892a-3a3d4622c9c3/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Evaluating China Risk

Liz Young, head of investment strategy at SoFi, discusses how market moving the August inflation data could be.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230911/50b8c6b4-8fd3-4d6f-adff-dd0a024a57d7/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Inflation in the Spotlight

Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel, offers her take on the biggest risks to the economy right now.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230911/cac885e4-b322-40f8-876c-ebd443fe9d29/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Assessing Economic Headwinds 

Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, explains why he thinks Apple will continue to be a market leader.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230905/1a48f030-5a5a-401c-a571-ec9115a0155e/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Prove-me Moment

Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird, highlights bullish catalysts that could drive the market higher between now and year-end.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230905/729974df-4594-4fc6-a385-5457b1d87e32/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Gearing up for a Rally

Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, discusses what’s next for the Federal Reserve and the economy.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230501/7264fcc9-eea9-4d99-b839-4cd4c20500c9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Recession Ahead 

MarketBrief | Clips

MarketBrief Clips

David Bailin of Citi Global Wealth and Saira Malik of Nuveen debate the probability of a recession and discuss where they’re finding opportunities in equities and fixed income.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230925/a61dd831-40b8-4727-934f-077d2b880711/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Investing in a Slowing Economy 

Take stock of your investments in less than 10 minutes with new show from Barron’s and MarketWatch.

Chris Harvey of Wells Fargo Securities explains why he believes the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates while J.P. Morgan Global Wealth Management’s Tom Kennedy makes the case for multi-asset investing.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230918/84e9a4a4-4e50-4b7b-934c-9a532f9803fc/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Rate Hikes in the Rearview?

Lindsey Piegza of Stifel discusses the upside risks for inflation while SoFi’s Liz Young explains why she’s cautious on the market through year-end.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230911/395ecb74-e349-45b0-a6b8-f91b8874aaf8/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Pricing Pressure & Frothy Valuations

Baird’s Ross Mayfield makes the case for a better than expected September for stocks while Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities explains why big tech can rally another 15%.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230905/156bf778-e13d-41ef-b750-55e2ef1c0162/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

September to Remember? 

Kristen Bitterly of Citi Global Wealth Management explains why the strong start to the year is nothing more than a bear market rally while Eric Winograd of AllianceBernstein offers his outlook for the Fed, inflation, and the labor market.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230220/ae07e591-f017-4e82-babb-c80144e7d42f/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Time to be Skeptical?

Anastasia Amoroso of iCapital explains why she thinks the stock market rally is nearing a ceiling while U.S. Bank Wealth Management’s Lisa Erickson discusses where she’s finding investment opportunities in an uncertain environment.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230213/61be15a3-f5ac-4a25-b944-edd15e605e30/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Hitting a Wall

Jack Manley of J.P. Morgan Asset Management explains why now is the time to leg back into risk assets while BlackRock’s Rick Rieder offers his top fixed income opportunities.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230206/0be0daa9-d29a-4350-b277-a9ee6ed9a2ea/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Two Ways to Play

Amid impressive January gains, Cameron Dawson of New Edge Wealth discusses how she’s positioning her portfolio and Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics explains why he thinks the economy can still avoid a recession.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230130/a8c37d62-592b-4830-9466-65c3824205fe/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Gauging Upside Potential

Mike Schumacher of Wells Fargo Securities explains why he’s nervous about stagflation while Sylvia Jablonski of Defiance Investments offers her top portfolio picks.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230123/1e752a76-b7d4-4802-821a-837d6176f979/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Wall Street’s Biggest Risk

MarketBrief | Full Episodes

MarketBrief Full Episodes

After 10 straight hikes, the central bank switched gears and opted to keep rates steady. But that doesn't mean the Fed's inflation fight is over.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230616/9dce6e5c-4c62-4aa6-b432-d3407ac41aea/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The Fed's Rate Pause, Explained

A publicly traded company can increase it's number of shares available by splitting its stock. Here's why companies may do it and how it affects investors.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221115/f37dedad-4403-4f6d-bd22-067d0fb148df/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Stock Splits Are Big This Year. Here's What They Mean for Investors.

Here's why a publicly traded company may decide to go private and what it means for its shareholders.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221025/9fb3fa20-e2ac-485b-aa4d-8fcf3ebd3151/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What Happens When a Stock Goes Private?

What Happens When a Public Company Goes Private?

When saving for retirement, there are many different accounts and tax strategies to consider. Here's how to tell if a Roth IRA conversion could be right for you.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221021/624f992c-db58-4144-93cc-b888c6948059/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What to Know About Roth IRA Conversions

As recession fears loom, here are three ways investors can prepare and protect their portfolios.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20221020/5d94fa79-7b6d-4c51-8ac7-8c523c99d487/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Preparing Your Portfolio for a Recession

Retiring abroad could lower your cost of living, so you can make your savings go further in your golden years. But a permanent move to a new country could be more complicated than you think. Here's what you should know.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220823/7a028383-44a0-4957-a070-0018f046ec97/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Thinking Of Retiring Abroad? Here's What to Consider.

Billionaire-backed space companies have made space tourism a reality. How to participate in a potential private-sector space boom.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220818/99bac587-9be5-48e6-9376-48f3bb8d55cf/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

How To Invest In Space Tourism

When you hear the words 'electric vehicle', you might immediately think 'Tesla'. But as more automakers enter the EV competition, Tesla might have trouble holding its lead. Here's what investors need to know.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220722/111776c7-d9d2-4cd2-8194-4c58b0cb7e57/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Tesla Miles Ahead of Others in the Electric Vehicle Race?

Chinese tech company DiDi Global, which runs a ride-sharing app, has announced it plans to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. Investors are watching and waiting to see what other Chinese giants with U.S. listings, like Alibaba and JD.com, will do. Here's what delisting entails.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20220722/eacf026e-7303-4eb7-80ab-3e2344e2b120/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What Happens When a Stock Delists?

Barron's Explains

CEO Cristiano Amon has a plan to shrink Qualcomm’s reliance on phones and grow its role in AI, cars, and beyond. Investors are skeptical—should they be?

https://m.wsj.net/video/20241127/99579ccd-a5c1-4acc-ac31-32469f7d8b1c/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

What's Next for Qualcomm?

On the Barron's Streetwise Podcast, Barron’s senior writer Al Root sits down with Jack Hough to discuss Toyota’s recent success with hybrids, the coolest cars at the New York Auto Show, and what’s ahead for Tesla stock.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240329/f163bbd7-0cb6-4c6f-b7f9-a85ae5cd2553/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Electric Vehicle Demand Cooling Off? 

On the Barron’s Streetwise podcast, Rystad Energy’s Alexandre Ramos Peon discusses how U.S. oil producers have boosted profitability and production despite fewer wells.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240326/0a4b30c7-379c-460f-abc3-838a7f1eb1a9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The Outlook for Oil

On the Barron’s Streetwise Podcast, Jack Hough pushes back against one of Bitcoin’s most popular valuation models.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240318/b38cc34a-5064-4a6a-a47c-4c855de11973/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Bitcoin as 'Digital Gold' 

On the Barron’s Streetwise podcast, Raphael Zagury of Swan Bitcoin shares his bitcoin price model with Associate Editor Jack Hough.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240312/c0acb0bf-e4e3-46ca-8fd5-13af6fa401e5/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

The $600,000 Case for Bitcoin

Kathy Jones, Chief Fixed Income Strategist at Schwab, says it might not matter. Plus, the outlook for yields and the national debt.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240305/0505813c-e38b-47cb-ade2-e7c3aff68dbd/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Bond Funds or Individual Bonds?

Brian Niccol on developing new customer favorites, taking menu tips from TikTok, and the outlook for growing the business.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230725/dec91556-4dbe-49e6-85d9-ed0e8233ac02/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Chipotle's CEO on How He Plans to Double the Business. Again.

Jim Farley on competing with Tesla, and why Ford is favoring Level 3 autonomy over full self-driving capability.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230519/9aa4288a-39a1-4fb8-8b9d-3be0c58adc18/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Ford CEO On the Outlook for EVs and Robo Cars

J.P. Morgan Asset Management's David Kelly says inflation is like a rollercoaster: It will come down again.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20230505/5d8d3d70-598d-4ee4-a76e-21381c911e40/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Inflation, Attractive Bonds, and Value Abroad

Barron's Streetwise

Stocks are expensive, risks abound, and AI is about to change the world. Other than that, building a calamity-proof retirement portfolio should be a cinch. Tune in as two veteran money managers size up the markets and share their investment ideas.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250211/17a5e7d6-7c36-44b0-a35e-bf5ac3a24194/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Saving for a Sunny Day

Research shows that people greatly underestimate the healthcare costs they’ll face in retirement. Learn from experts how to estimate those costs, prepare for potential long-term care needs, and manage healthcare expenses in retirement.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250211/e7c022d9-badf-4e95-8e7c-0b6fce9f7823/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Are You Fiscally Fit?

Surging power demand, new energy sources, and growing competition have spurred the utility industry to become more innovative than ever before. Our panelists will unpack the changes afoot and explore what lies ahead for companies, customers, and investors.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240917/001ea098-1fcc-4da5-9f0e-a3b149bbb2fb/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Not Your Father's Utility

Modernizing America's grid will take creativity and money -- lots of money. Learn how players across the power sector can achieve their electrification goals and serve new customers without breaking the bank for consumers.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240917/bd6bd43a-bb07-4b7f-9d1c-6ae04220bea9/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Ready for a Revamp?

The launch this year of Bitcoin ETFs has made it easier for investors to buy and trade the cryptocurrency. But is that a wise move, and if so, how much crypto should you own?

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240529/cbb77f15-ef70-445d-85ae-5f02c24ea1ef/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Investing in Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin and other digital currencies reside on software networks that aim to revolutionize everything from finance to art. Barron's talks to industry experts about the outlook for blockchain technology and its potential uses.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240529/8f60a5ea-6de4-4c3c-b7c2-12b11aaa99f3/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Is Crypto Really a Game-Changer?

Persistent inflation means retirement savings don't go as far as they once did. We discuss the best inflation hedges, and how retirees can benefit from higher-for-longer interest rates.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240429/69577ad6-cbaf-4d34-96f1-c42136e26aa2/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Protecting Your Nest Egg from Rising Prices

The impact of inflation is felt unevenly across the economy and markets. Learn which industries, and companies do best in a “sticky” inflation era, and how fixed income, alternative assets, and gold can help investors hedge against further price growth.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240429/bfee3cb8-715f-4323-929f-43a73fd58877/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Don’t Trim Your Inflation Hedges

Science, tech, and better healthcare delivery are helping people live longer and improving quality of life. Two healthcare investment experts tell us about some of the most promising developments in medicine, and the companies behind them.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20240305/33bed2b1-bdef-401f-bb72-18f7a43f2548/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Longevity: An Investor's Playbook

Barron's Roundtable

Barron's Advisor The Way Forward

Investing in Tech

Barron's Investing in Tech Clips

A Better Economy & Wealth Gap Events

Wealth Gap

Level Up

Barron's Events

Back to Business

Great Investors

MarketWatch

Video Center - Barron's home

Tradeweb CEO Billy Hult also spoke about why recent market volatility has been good for the company.

https://m.wsj.net/video/20250516/341b9bfd-ec60-464d-86a6-7e4c48310417/1/hls/manifest-hd-wifi.m3u8

Tradeweb CEO Talks Trump, Fed Rates, and Acquisitions

Hello everyone and welcome to "At Barron's." I'm Andy Serwer. And welcome to our guest, Billy Hult, CEO of Tradeweb. Billy, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.

Andy, thanks so much for having me on.

Alright, so what does Tradeweb do?

Good question.

Okay.

Most people think about sort of the stock markets when they think about the overall global markets. The stock market's pretty interesting. It's a very electronified market. Anyone can kind of open up a brokerage account, look and see what price a stock is priced at, and then either buy that stock at the price or better. The bond market has always been more opaque, more complex, less electronic, more relationship oriented, and more voice driven, more paper oriented. And Tradeweb has been really the kind of leader at the forefront of electronifying, sort of modernizing the bond market. And we started off on the institutional side connecting firms like BlackRock to JP Morgan, PIMCO to Citigroup, and started off, not surprisingly, in the most liquid part of the bond market, the government bond market. And we've been on this, you know, pretty big expansion tour since going from government bonds to mortgages to credit to global swaps, and having fun doing it all the way. It's sort of the sort of movement from "Liar's Poker" back in the kind of eighties and nineties to a more modern efficient algorithmic market today.

It's funny you mentioned "Liar's Poker." I was thinking of another book, Billy, which is "Bonfire of the Vanities," where the protagonist was a bond salesman.

That's right.

Does this mean the end of the great Wall Street bond salesman?

He was the sort of the master, Sherman McCoy was sort of the master-

Of the universe.

Of the universe. And you know, essentially what kind of Tradeweb does is automates the flow. It's not the end of the salesperson, but it's the end of the salesperson doing basic kind of activities standing in between his account and the trading desk. And really putting that salesperson in a more value add position where they're doing more complex type of activity. But it's been an interesting run because, you know, in a lot of ways, you know, technology continues to drive these markets in a way where they're more linked, you know, than ever. And Tradeweb has operated under the assumption of sort of more leverage is better and we are kind of the one-stop shop for a lot of firms to access these more sophisticated areas of the marketplace.

Now you're publicly traded, but you have a controlling shareholder, LSEG.

Yes.

London Stock Exchange Group. Interesting history of the company, why don't you take us through that a little bit?

We were a private company from way back when. There aren't a ton of examples of, you know, companies that were private for, you know, most of the history, you know, of us. We're now a public company, believe it or not. I have to amaze myself at how fast time goes. We've been a public company now for six years. In those six years, we've doubled our revenue as a company with more than 50% of our growth really coming from areas that we were not as most known for. So Tradeweb was a rates platform, kind of mostly focused on government bonds and interest rate swaps and markets like that. And over the last bunch of years, we've really distinguished ourselves really as a company heavily involved in credit, expanding into emerging markets and also playing a very kind of significant role in ETFs. Aren't a lot of examples of public companies that have controlling shareholders. Amazing for me as CEO to have the kind of relationship, the constructive relationship we have with LSEG. They obviously have a great Refinitiv business. We've done very good market data deals with them. The market data piece of the market is very, very important both as sort of the key to transparency around the businesses that we're in plus it's becoming a larger role in terms of almost the energy or the fuel around the transactions. The market has become so much more sophisticated in the last few years. Maybe some of that is on the kind of heels of, obviously time goes by fast, it was five years ago with COVID but the market really changed a lot, went a lot more electronic, you know, during the work from home period of time.

Yeah, it's interesting when you talk about LSEG, which is a diversified company. I mean, the London stock Exchange is just a tiny piece of the business now. Why, Billy hasn't the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ gotten into this? Why didn't they do this? Why did you do it?

Probably a couple chances to do it. A lot of it can be just opportunistic moments. I think LSEG, you know, did a really nice kind of strategic pivot getting into the data and analytics business and then ultimately, you know, through us, you know, really strong access, you know, into the fixed income markets. I'll make you laugh. I know Jeff Sprecher, you know, a bit. I am not sure why he never got into kind of our world. I would imagine as well as he's done, he probably thinks to himself that was an opportunity missed at some point in time but they obviously have a great business there too.

Yeah, yeah. Interesting. You've done a lot of acquisitions. You mentioned growing into areas that are beyond fixed income. Is that been the strategy to diversify outside of fixed income? Are you looking to continue to do acquisitions? What's the strategy going forward?

Yeah, that's a good question. You know, we've largely kind of gotten here through organic growth. So we have great technologists, a great scalable business. When I say that we've gotten into the ETF business is essentially, you know, the same technology that we used in a lot of ways from way back when. So there's a nice scale to our business. That being said, over the last couple of years, I wanted to make a point to say we can do like real acquisitions. We've done three acquisitions over the last two years. All of them haven't gone very well. From my perspective, it's always about is there a piece of technology that we could acquire that's more difficult to build or is there access to a network that we can get from an acquisition where we can deliver technology into that network? It's always about the concept of kind of driving behavior change and really the evolution of kind of paper markets to electronic markets.

Interesting you mentioned that we're so accretive or something like that.

Yeah.

It's gotta be additive those ways.

It's gotta be additive. I mean I feel very strongly in the kind of the fuel behind our organic businesses. Phone trade business still occurs in our marketplaces all the time. And so we have a lot to do and we're a focused company and so we're very selective when we think about M&A, but it's a part of our playbook for sure.

You talked about the growth that you've experienced and market cap about 35.

Not quite 35, getting there. We're working on it

Aspirationally 35.

Aspirationally 35.

And the stock, you talked about the IPO, but it's done particularly well over the past two years when coincidentally or not you've been the CEO. Why has the stock been going up besides just your great leadership?

You know, I've been at the company a long time, so it's actually my 25th.

Right, but you're the CEO though, only for a number of...

It's true. A long history of being the president of the company. It's an interesting transition to go from president to CEO. Lucky to have a great board, a great controlling shareholder with David. You know, we've caught-

David Schwimmer's CEO of LSEG.

David Schwimmer. We've caught, you know, a great environment for our business in a lot of ways. So I kind of describe it this way, like debt markets have obviously been growing the past bunch of years. In general, the central banks are not buyers in our market. When the central banks play very active roles, it tends to kind of muzzle volatility, which is not perfect for our business. And the speed limit around transactions has kind of risen over the last few years. And obviously a combination of the geopolitical headlines, the cadence of volatility in the market has been good for our business in general.

Yeah, but what about higher rates? What about the rate environment and how does that impact your bottom line, up or down?

Yeah, higher rates are good for us. Really what it is, is a cadence of volatility in the marketplace that tends to be quite good for us. And obviously, you know, when you think about, you know, the last couple of months it's been about volatility, but it's been about, you know, the market functioning quite well inside of a volatile world. And you know, we're well positioned around that and have done quite well. I kind of describe it this way a little bit. You know, Tradeweb's had a great business for a while, a leadership position. We have no monopolies in anything that we do. And my instinct is, and when I say that, what I say is our clients always have the ability to do business away from us. And I think as a company, most likely that's made us better. And this is a point in time, you know, from my perspective, given kinda what we do, that concept of the one-stop shop, the market's becoming more linked, you know, we're at a position where we're really kind of flourishing.

Well, what about competitors? I mean, who else can you go to?

So there's this company which I know you know of called Bloomberg and they've been kind of side by side with us from the very beginning. You know, in a way that you would understand very well, their primary focus and they're an amazing company, has always been really, you know, the terminal side. And we found kind of avenues to not just compete with them, but in some ways, you know, really flourish. We have a leading market share position in all the markets that we're in so we've done pretty well. There's another private company that focuses mostly on credit, a public company called MarketAxess. They're a little bit more siloed, so we felt like we can compete well with them because again, the markets are linked. And so the concept of our clients doing a credit trade, but as you know, those trades are based on spread and linked to treasuries, we're able to be pretty thoughtful and hopefully innovative and do things that add a lot of value to our clients.

You talked about volatility over the past couple months, Billy, obviously that is connected to Donald Trump being president.

Yes.

And I'm wondering if there's anything coming out of Washington, either positive or negative, tariffs, for instance, that affect your business.

There's a lot coming out. We all have to kind of follow the headlines all the time. And so if we're used to looking at, you know, data and things like CPI, we have to understand that some of the stuff that's happening, you know, we're not gonna really see the impact on that for the next kind of few months. You know, that being said, the headlines in and of themselves is keeping the markets a little bit off guard. And so we've seen, you know, a lot of volatility, for example in something as straightforward as the 10-year note. And my instinct is when you think about just the concept of sort of geopolitical risk, the nature of our president and his willingness to make headlines, we're gonna be in a little bit of that volatile environment and the cadence of volatility for a while.

Right. Can you give us a real life example of someone on Wall Street, a professional using Tradeweb? And by the way, is this only for institutions or could .

We have a really great kind of well-known institutional business. We also have a wholesale business where banks trade with each other and almost offset the risk that they are taking on by making markets for their clients. And we also do have a retail business that focuses mostly on the RIA world and the wealth advisor world.

Right. So what would be the biggest piece?

So the biggest piece is the institution.

Okay. So how would that work? What would be kind of an example of a customer using it and exactly how?

So a really kind of, you know, probably big personality portfolio manager at PIMCO will come into the office most likely at PIMCO, probably about 3:30 in the morning, New York time. He'll look at screens from Tradeweb that show two-sided markets, for example, in a marketplace that's very important for example, like the TBA mortgage market. And he'll, you know, take his mouse, he'll click on a price and he'll send a electronic inquiry to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan and then within milliseconds, those banks will compete to do the trade with that nice gentleman at PIMCO. And then the person from PIMCO will do the trade and then all of that transaction in hopefully a very seamless way, will flow into that person's risk management system.

Right.

And we've created that like very interesting efficiency. So maybe way back when, that person at PIMCO wouldn't have been able to see where the market was. He might've called, you know, our friend Sherman McCoy to try to get a price from the trading desk. They would've gotten a sort of relayed price back and then he may or may not have done the trade. And we're talking about big bid asks and a lack of transparency in the market and a lot of that has changed over the past few years.

I think Sherman's hung up his spurs too, by the way, Billy.

Yeah, I think there's a good chance of that.

Yeah, I want to ask you about, there's a big move lately of privates and retail investors, putting those two together. What is your take on that?

It's interesting. I mean, like the credit market is really like the kind of frontier in a lot of ways around that. And I think the thought process is the sort of the blend around kind of how we think about public credit and private credit is changing by the minute. You know, from my perspective, there are a lot of kind of thoughtful firms around the evolution of the private market. Maybe at the top of the list, in a lot of ways, Apollo has been very, very strong about ultimately wanting a more transparent sort of secondary market in private credit that feels more like the secondary market that currently exists in some of, you know, the public credit marketplace. So it's an interesting evolution. My instinct is that the private credit market is gonna continue to evolve into a much more, you know, efficient place.

And your service, Tradeweb works for both public and private credit?

Right now, it's public credit, 'cause that's really where all the transparency is.

So is the next frontier for you?

We're working on that big time.

Getting into private credit?

Yeah, it's right partners. You know, we've been a company that has really sort of partnered with the community to build out a marketplace that works. And I think it's figuring out the right partners in this next evolution of private credit. It won't be, you know, necessarily easy. You know, we have a lot of history with, again, these kind of paper markets that can be pretty gradual and pretty slow moving into transparency. The history around Tradeweb in a really interesting way is that there was always a little bit of resistance, you know, around what we do. You know, transparency and efficiencies like, you know, no thanks. You know, we make money in a little bit of the shadows of the market and the back alleys of the market. So there's always been a very kind of interesting push-pull around how these markets ultimately evolve. I think in a really interesting way, a firm like Citadel has been very loud about their presence as a market maker on the security side in fixed income. And they're playing a pretty large role in credit and also the interest rate products in terms of being a more aggressive participant in the evolution of electronification, particularly since they bring in so much experience because they're such a strong player as you know, on the equity side and the equity derivative side. So there's a lot happening.

Yeah, as a public company CEO, you talk to analysts, people on the buy side, and I'm just curious, what do they want to hear from you? What are the questions they're asking you both sort of longer term, maybe now specifically?

Where's the growth gonna come from? And they're always trying to understand sort of what's the evolution from a marketplace beginning to go electronic. And sometimes that can be, you know, the smaller size trades, the more kind of simple type of transactions into what I would describe to you as risk trades or more complex trades. And what I've found myself over the past few years is really like the investor base has become much more astute about what Tradeweb does. And I remember very early on, kind of on the road show before we went public, really having to describe like, this is how a transaction occurs, this is what a mortgage bond is. You know, it was a pretty sort of interesting moment where we were really almost teaching the investor world kind of what we do. And now we're getting extremely astute, educated questions, not surprisingly because the investor base has gotten, you know, so much smarter about our business and what we do.

Do you have a take on rates and federal reserve policy and what Jay Powell should be doing?

No, my only instinct is I have a very strong, you know, view that Scott Bessent is quite good and it feels like he's, you know, pretty fixated on the 10-year note and, you know, wants rates lower. And obviously they're gonna have to manage through that process and we'll see what happens in terms of how the tariff story unfolds. But my instinct is he's a real strong sort of almost market practitioner and he's been pretty clear that he wants a sort of a free rate that moves lower. And, you know, I think he's got a lot of clout.

How do you keep up with technology in your field?

You have to be extremely oriented all of the time to both spending the money the right way on technology, and at the same time really spending the type of time and the quality with your clients to understand that what you're building for them will work. And I say this all the time, you know, we have some good ideas that come kind of into the Tradeweb halls and then come into my office. We have a ton of, you know, really smart people that work at the company. A lot of times, our best ideas come from our clients and that's an important principle because when it comes from your clients, a lot of times your hit rate in terms of how you build technology for your clients tends to be, you know, much higher. So we're an external company. We really try to understand our clients really well. And then I think when you go with that premise, you tend to build technology in a more efficient way.

And final question, Billy, why should investors stick with your stock if they already own it or buy your stock right now?

We're in the early ages of, early innings I should say, of a one-way train towards increased the transparency and the electronification of these markets. We're not going back in time. We're only going forward from here. And my instinct is, you know, this is the right time given a lot of events to really get behind the continued efficiency and transparency of these markets.

Andy: Billy Hult, CEO of Tradeweb, thank you so much for joining us.

Thanks very much for having me. Appreciate it very much.

This is "At Barron's." I'm Andy Serwer. We'll catch you next time.

Tradeweb CEO Talks Trump, Fed Rates, and Acquisitions

Up Next

At Barron's

View All

MarketBrief Clips

View All

MarketBrief Full Episodes

View All

Barron's Explains

View All

Barron's Streetwise

View All

Barron's Roundtable

View All

Barron's Investing in Tech Clips

View All

Wealth Gap

View All

Level Up

View All

Barron's Events

View All

Back to Business

View All

Great Investors

View All

MarketWatch

View All