Tora, the software trading platform, says hedge funds want integrated trading solutions that incorporate risk and compliance amid a backdrop of new investment products and regulatory change.

Robert Dykes, Tora’s chief executive, says changes in market structures in Asia means that many asset managers are recognising the need to have their personnel based in the different markets they wish to trade.

“There is a need to have local expertise,” says Dykes. “I expect assets under management to grow in Asia at the expense of Europe and to some extent the US.”

Tora, founded in 2004, took its trading platform to the markets in 2005. The Hong Kong-based company’s focus are Asian funds and as much as 95 per-cent of its clients are based in the region.

About 175 people work at Tora with 125 of them focused on technology and its development. About 10 per-cent of daily volumes of the Osaka Securities Exchange, 5 per-cent of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and 1 per-cent of Australian share turnover come through the Tora platform.

Dykes, a Princeton University economics graduate, expects high-frequency trading to grow in Asia.