Rie Masui, Co-head of the Americas Equity Trading desk, BlackRock, won Excellence in Trading – Equities at  Markets Media Group’s 2024 Women in Finance (U.S.) Awards. She oversees the traders and trading strategy for equity and equity derivatives in the Americas, and her team of traders executes on behalf of all of BlackRock’s investment strategies, which includes fundamental, multi-asset, index, and systematic. 

Trading is not just the implementation arm, she said, but the team is integral to the investment process itself: “We are always focused on three objectives, which are maximizing performance, building for scale, and driving innovation of new products.”  

Traders have a unique seat and viewpoint of market moves, according to Masui, so they strive to provide color on market dynamics, liquidity conditions, and positioning that are driving price action back to their portfolio managers to help them understand why a certain asset is moving.  

The trading team is also focused on enhancing their technology and continuing to solve for scale as the firm’s volumes continue to grow more and more, and as the buy-side grows faster than their liquidity providers, Masui said: “We are building more automated workflows and finding new solutions to help make traders more efficient, not just in executing trades but also in tasks such as reports and risk checks.”  

“In the last year or two, we have a new function where we play a significant role in influencing and advising on the construction of our newer complex ETF products as we continue to grow in that space,” Masui said. 

“We bring to the table our understanding of liquidity and risk transfer to ensure the resilience and success of these new launches, and we integrate strategic insight with practical execution,” she added. 

Masui told Markets Media that one factor has been identifying her unique edge and having confidence in it – and that for her is that she is a “synthesizer”.  

“I have an ability to take all sorts of information, compact that, and make it meaningful. I can see the bigger picture. This synthesizer quality is how I lead and am able to execute a vision to ensure our business is staying ahead. It’s also how I view markets as well and how I operate as a trader – I tend to not focus on just one thing, but I have an eye out on dynamics or moves happening across specific stocks to options dynamics that I marry all together to create a holistic view of equity markets,” she explained. 

Masui said that she is grateful for the different experiences she has had throughout her career – she started her career on the sell-side in Asia and has traded a wide range of products and regions since then. She has taken lessons from and have built off of each role, and she believes that her diverse experiences have shaped her to be more aware of global markets, to have a firm understanding of risk transfer, to be more open-minded to other viewpoints, and to be more sympathetic towards others in other regions and roles. 

“Most importantly, I have been fortunate to have had great managers who have been more confident in me at times than I was in myself; a strong, unified team who want to pursue excellence alongside me; and mentors and sponsors who have all challenged, guided, and shaped me,” she said.  

“I also recognize the role of luck as well, and being at the right place at the right time – but what I do is strive to make the most of those opportunities by continuously learning and adopting,” she added. 

According to Masui, her greatest professional achievement is that she has the opportunity to do what she really is passionate about – “that as a trader, we are stewards of our clients’ capital”.   

She said that the finance industry is one that helps people – the flow of money touches all other industries and it impacts nations to corporations to individuals: “Markets allow the expansion and dispersion of creativity, new businesses, and new concepts, and the deployment of capital, put to its very best use, is necessary for a functioning society in which people can live and work and flourish.” 

As a trader, the fiduciary aspect of this role is something she deeply enjoys, and what continues to keep her excited is being at the heart of this transfer of capital.  

Moreover, she is incredibly proud of leading a team who share the same sense of purpose and values as well: “We ensure the price we trade is the best and appropriate execution for that client and their needs.”  

“Each day, I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a dedicated team, making a meaningful impact on our clients,” she said. 

Equity trading trends 

When asked about equity trading trends, Masui said that liquidity dynamics are changing more frequently now. This has come from a variety of reasons, including: the increase in general volatility and regimes due to the macro landscape and sensitivity to headlines and data; the change in market participants – from the rise of Retail trading to more ETFs and options strategies where now there are more differences in investment timelines and motivations to trade; and the diminishing number of stocks so more money is crowding into the same fewer names, she explained.  

Because of this, as a trading desk, they have had to be more nimble in our execution strategies and adapt to the regime they are in.  

It means, she said that they need to continue to evolve and not be complacent with status quo by finding new ways to source liquidity, partnering with key counterparties and utilizing balance sheet judiciously, and be versed and knowledgeable of the wide variety of new tools that are now available – from ETFs to models to private strategies – that their investors are using to implement their holistic views and to build portfolios at scale. 

Masui believes that innovative technologies are significantly reshaping equity markets and enhancing market resilience. “The migration to a T+1 settlement cycle is one example from this year, which was feasible due to the technology we now have, and the usage of data, automation, and AI helps in removing behavior biases and allows for tighter pricing,” she said. 

At the same time, the influx of data can also present challenges, according to Masui.  

The proliferation of commoditized information makes it increasingly difficult to distinguish meaningful signals from noise so the ability to apply data judiciously becomes crucial, she said. 

According to Masui, BlackRock continues to strive to be in the forefront of innovative solutions to deliver the best outcomes for their clients. For example, they have recently been applying machine learning into their workflows and their decision making in electronic trading.  

“We are utilizing a dynamic framework that allocates trades to the top performing algos while still having a sandbox where we can continue to monitor and explore other tactics and strategies,” she commented.  

“We have realized notable cost savings through this, while also creating more scale and bandwidth to traders to focus on some of the more complex trades,” she said. 

“We are also expanding our focus to other instruments beyond equities, such as options, and taking a similar approach with equities to further our electronic trading, post-trade analytics, and automation efforts to derivative products,” she added. 

Women in finance 

When asked about the topic of diversity, Masui said that there has been a lot of notable progress in recent years – the industry seems to be focusing on hiring, creating professional networks and communities, and providing mentorship for women traders.  

And as we move forward, there is more to do.  

“It’s also important to recognize that diversity is nuanced and efforts to support all should continue to evolve so that we can cultivate an inclusive environment where everyone has fair access to opportunities,” she added.  

 ”To me, diversity includes a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives around the table that represent the communities in which we operate, and inclusion are the micro-actions that help everyone feel like they belong. Inclusion is much harder as it is the unseen, it is how people feel” Masui said. 

“It takes continuous effort from all of us, and this is something our industry can continue to commit to,” she said. 

“In my career, I’ve worked at different firms, different trading desks, even different regions – and I believe BlackRock is unique in how the firm is intentional about supporting inclusivity – I feel that it’s crucial for women to support and sponsor each other, Masui argued. 

Masui is on the Steering Committee of their Women in Investments group, which is a community of women investors from portfolio managers, traders, researchers, to risk managers. The group organizes events like market round tables, teach-ins or sessions where they hear perspectives from senior women.  

“Further, the group has committed to the idea of ‘micro sponsoring’, which is simply highlighting and bringing a woman’s work and name into a room. It is a way to ‘shout out’ a colleague’s work where she may not be or where women may be underrepresented”, she said.  

“This group is so special because it provides forums and opportunities for employees to connect with one another and shape the firm’s culture. It combines the passion of women leaders in markets with the passion of investing. And it is a collective that together helps lift each other, advocates for one another, and supports each other as we all rise. This is what I find the most inspiring.” she concluded.