Small investors are better off in US markets today: Citadel

[NEW YORK] Michael Lewis produced a top-selling book by arguing that the US stock market is rigged. To one of hedge-fund operator Citadel's top executives, small investors have never been more fortunate.

"It's one of the few markets in the world where the little guy gets a better deal than the big guy," Jamil Nazarali, the head of Citadel Execution Services, said on Monday during a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. "Things are much better today than they were 10 to 15 years ago."

The publication of Lewis's Flash Boys has sparked a month of debate over whether, following more than a decade of regulatory and technological changes, the US$22 trillion American equity market is fairly structured. Citadel's role in that discussion stems from Mr Nazarali's unit, which pays brokerages including TD Ameritrade Holding for the right to execute orders placed by their customers, who tend to be individuals.