The TRADE is excited to launch the digital edition of The TradeTechFX Daily, official magazine of TradeTechFX Europe, full to the brim with the latest industry news and exclusive interviews with buy-side speakers.Covering top stories from recent months, the important regulatory developments and key industry insights from buy-side speakers at the event, The TRADETechFX Daily can be accessed here.The TRADETechFX Daily is available in print format at the event and can be located across the event and at registration stands.The TRADE team is also on the ground at the event so make sure to come and say hello to Annabel, Claudia, and Patrick!View The TRADETechFX Daily 2024 here.The post The TRADETechFX Daily 2024 launches in Amsterdam as your official guide to the event! appeared first on The TRADE.

Kepler Cheuvreux has acquired a majority stake in ETF selection and analysis platform Trackinsight.Jean-Pierre AnéFollowing the completion of the transaction, the Trackinsight brand is set to be maintained and continue to operate independently as well as retaining its in-house teams. The move “reaffirms [Kepler’s] commitment to becoming the undisputed leader in the ETF sector”, said the firm.The deal will provide clients with ETF selection tools for manager and fund selection, as well as innovative portfolio construction tools. “Technology and innovation in the service of clients are at the heart of our daily concerns,” asserted Philippe Malaise, chief executive and chair of Trackinsight. Over the last two decades the evolution of ETFs have reshaped the asset management sphere irrevocably, with an annual growth rate of 15% since 2010 – around three times the velocity of traditional mutual funds. Read more: Innovation in ETFs will lead to increased opportunitiesJean-Pierre Ané, deputy chief executive at Kepler Cheuvreux, said: “We aim to go [even] further by supporting our clients across the entire value chain, from selection to transaction. This acquisition strengthens Kepler Cheuvreux’s position as a key player in financial services.”The post Kepler Cheuvreux picks up majority stake in ETF platform Trackinsight appeared first on The TRADE.

Euronext has acquired Substantive Research in its entirety as the group looks to enhance its investor services segment.London-headquartered Substantive Research provides research and market data benchmarking to more than 100 global clients across Europe and North America.Speaking about the deal, Mike Carrodus, founder and chief executive of Substantive Research, said: “Euronext’s acquisition of Substantive Research underlines our team’s hard work in creating a unique price benchmarking database in investment research and market data.  With the research market poised for yet more regulatory-driven changes, plus market data consumers grappling with increasing costs and pricing opacity, we are so excited to be able to accelerate our coverage and data depth with Commcise and Euronext’s insight and resources. “It feels great that we can now accelerate development into areas we know our clients need greater market transparency.”Read more: In conversation with… Substantive Research’s Mike CarrodusSubstantive Research will be particularly beneficial for clients of Euronext’s subsidiary Commcise, which offers cloud-based, fully integrated commission management, research valuation, consumption tracking and payment solutions. With the integration of Substantive Research, these clients will be able to gain access to unique market benchmarks, enabling asset managers to demonstrate compliance with evolving regulation in a single, integrated technology solution.Camille Beudin, head of diversified services, Euronext, said: “The acquisition of Substantive Research will accelerate the growth of our investor services business with leading research and market data benchmarking capabilities and cross-selling potential with Commcise, our commission management and research valuation solutions.” The post Euronext acquires Substantive Research appeared first on The TRADE.

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has moved to further expand its post-trade capabilities with the acquisition of Axoni’s post-trade technology.The transaction remains subject to closing conditions and is expected to complete in the fourth quarter.Amongst the new technology acquired by LSEG is Axoni’s Veris network, a post-trade lifecycle and reconciliation management platform for equity swaps that launched in 2020.Veris streamlines the post-trade data reconciliation process and prevents cash flow breaks by enabling counterparties to share data associated with equity swap deals, positions, trades, and related cash flows, Axoni said.Following the transaction, LSEG will own and operate the Veris network after a transition period.“This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our efforts to modernise OTC derivative post-trade infrastructure,” said Greg Schvey, chief executive at Axoni.“In recent years, we’ve partnered closely with LSEG to develop our trade processing applications and are confident they are the right party to help realise its growth potential.”The deal follows LSEG’s acquisition of Acadia in 2022 in a bid to build out its multi-asset post-trade capabilities. Acadia provides risk management, margining and collateral services for the uncleared derivatives markets. LSEG had held a minority stake in the firm since 2018.In the same year, the exchange group also received regulatory approval for its Quantile acquisition, also building out its post-trade division.The post LSEG acquires Axoni post-trade technology appeared first on The TRADE.

IEX Group has announced the launch of a US options exchange to partner with liquidity providers to tackle risk management challenges faced in the options markets, subject to regulatory approvals.The new exchange will bring IEX’s suite of order protection innovations to better meet the demands of market makers.“We are focused on understanding the challenges of our members and having discussions with market participants to guide our entry into the options market,” said Bryan Harkins, president at IEX.“IEX’s experience and expertise in understanding the needs of liquidity providers provides a great foundation as we begin to offer options market makers a set of tools designed to drive performance.”The proposed options exchange will be an electronic venue, offering access to the full multi-listed options market while relying on a pro-rata model.The development will be the first time that IEX’s proprietary solutions for risk management and markout optimisation will be available for US options trading, building on top of its equities offering.“IEX spent the last decade innovating to build technology that is designed to protect liquidity providers, and we have now added a team of leaders with deep multi-asset expertise that can help guide IEX through our next stage of growth,” said Brad Katsuyama, founder and chief executive at IEX. “We have been encouraged by the conversations this team has had with market makers about moving into the options market which underscores the opportunity for us to deepen our relationships with clients and to further improve execution quality in US markets by expanding into options.”The launch follows IEX’s announcement of several key leadership appointments earlier this year, including the addition of Harkins as president and John Palmer to lead the firm’s efforts in building out its offerings and technology to serve new markets.Palmer will serve as head of options and lead the new exchange. He will continue reporting to Harkins, who will oversee both IEX’s equities exchange and the new options exchange.IEX has also appointed Ivan Brown, who will play a key role in the firm’s plans to bring a highly differentiated trading venue to the options market. Brown will lead business development and product design for the new options exchange. He joins IEX after 15 years in financial markets leadership positions at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), most recently having served as head of options and business development.“Bryan, John, and Ivan are proven operators who have built successful trading platforms across asset classes,” asserted Ronan Ryan, co-founder and chief operating officer at IEX. “We are committed to bringing together the best people in the trading industry to disrupt the status quo in options trading with a unique market architecture, highly differentiated products, and deep commitment to client relationships.”IEX stated that it plans to work closely with options industry participants to address the unique risk management-related challenges that currently exist in the options market, adding that it will require minimal effort for current members of its equities exchange to be onboarded to this new venue.The post IEX Group to launch its first options exchange appeared first on The TRADE.

Adaptive Financial Consulting has collaborated with regulated digital asset exchange Bullish to increase trading capacity and boost throughput as it looks to scale and meet growing business demand.  Bullish has signed a multi-year deal with Adaptive to replace its incumbent messaging vendor technology with Adaptive’s Aeron Premium, and to receive support and professional services.Adaptive’s Aeron Premium is an enterprise-grade product which complements the Aeron open-source technology, providing additional software components for performance, security, and resilience.As a cloud-native exchange built on Google Cloud’s scalable infrastructure, Bullish was able to source Adaptive’s Aeron Premium services directly through Google Cloud Marketplace. “As a cloud-native exchange, we believe that the future of finance is firmly rooted in the cloud. Bullish was already using Adaptive’s FIX engine and we also have strong ties with Google Cloud,” said Alan Fraser, head of platform infrastructure at Bullish.“[…] Leveraging Adaptive’s support services provided us with invaluable expertise and assurance, significantly mitigating the risk associated with upgrading to a more scalable architecture.” According to a recent AWS whitepaper from January, key advantages of moving financial market infrastructure to the cloud include lower barriers to launching new markets globally, thanks to increased standardisation and harmonisation. Other benefits include the ability to operate 24/7, access to cutting-edge technology, cost savings, and improved operational efficiency.Despite these benefits, legacy systems were built in a different time, and operations are steeped in historical processes and data. This therefore requires large amounts of investment and attention to allow market players to execute their goals. Read more: As cloud adoption across the market continues to rise, is the shift of liquidity itself next to follow?Since implementing Aeron Premium, the Bullish exchange has achieved a number of business benefits including improved throughput and capacity, high availability of Bullish’s 24/7 exchange operations, and added security.“Aeron technology is specifically designed to handle very large data volumes with minimal latency, ensuring 24/7 high availability, not only in traditional on-premises environments but more importantly on the public cloud, providing a robust backbone for Bullish’s 24/7 trading operations,” said Matt Barrett, chief executive and co-founder of Adaptive.In the future, Bullish aims to utilise further Aeron Premium components for clustering and resilience to create a more flexible and maintainable infrastructure, enabling the exchange to perform hot upgrades in a 24/7 market, significantly reducing maintenance challenges. The post Digital asset exchange Bullish taps Adaptive and Google Cloud to enhance trading appeared first on The TRADE.

Arline Sueng and Rudy Nakache joined the Amundi FICC trading desk as senior credit trader and rate trader, respectively. Both moved to Amundi on 1 September, The TRADE understands. The Paris-based traders previously worked under head of the trading desk at Groupama AM, Eric Heleine, and will now report to Christophe Marcilloux, head of fixed income dealing at Amundi Intermédiation. Elsewhere in her career, Sueng – one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars in 2019 – worked in fixed income sales at both Tullet Prebon and Newedge as well as previously serving in fixed income performance analyst roles at Amundi and Societe Generale Asset Management. Prior to joining Groupama AM in 2023 as a fixed income trader, Nakache worked in front-office roles at Agence France Trésor and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. He has also previously served at firms including Credit Agricole CIB, Beijaflore, and Societe Generale.Ashley Watson joined Panmure Liberum as an electronic equity trader following five years at Mirabaud Group. They announced their new role in a social media post. Most recently, Watson served as an equity trader at Mirabaud, responsible for executing equities and ETFs across both high and low touch. Prior to this, London-based Watson spent almost 13 years at Sanford C. Bernstein, also working as an equity trader.UBS appointed Rhianna Andrew as an execution trader. She announced her appointment in a social media post. Before joining UBS, Andrew spent four years at Citi. Most recently, she served as cash equity trader, assistant vice president – a role she held for two years. Prior to that, Andrew served as a cash equity trader, analyst.The post People Moves Monday: Amundi, Panmure Liberum and UBS appeared first on The TRADE.

Euronext has launched a new Euronext MTS European Government Bond (EGB) broad index family, developed in partnership with MTS.Anthony AttiaThe new index family consists of 26 indices that measure the total return of Euro-denominated government bonds from ten Eurozone countries, deriving from the mother index Euronext MTS EGB Broad GR.The new index family will use prices from MTS Cash trading platforms, ensuring a level of transparency and replicability that is unique in the bond market.Euronext added that all European government bonds available for trading on MTS’s dealer-to-dealer regulated markets are eligible for inclusion in this family of indices.Versions for all Eurozone countries, fixed coupon instruments, single-country indices, and other customised indices, are included in the index family.“We are proud to launch this family of 26 European government bond indices, further solidifying our position as a leading index provider,” said Anthony Attia, global head of derivatives and post-trade at Euronext.“By leveraging MTS’s high-quality trading data, we are broadening the range of investment solutions available to our clients, helping them deploy capital in European fixed income markets with greater efficiency.”Elsewhere, Euronext and MTS are launching the Euronext MTS EU Gross Return Index, supported by MTS’s role as a DMO-designated interdealer platform for EU primary dealers, offering improved price transparency to investors.The Euronext MTS EGB Index Family, reviewed monthly, is ideal for ETFs, investment funds, and as a reference for further customisation and sub-indices, added Euronext.The index family is designed to support both active managers and those with passive fixed income strategies.“Our position as Europe’s leading electronic fixed income trading platform ensures the highest level of price transparency and accuracy, providing investors with robust and reliable benchmarks,” said Angelo Proni, chief executive at MTS.“The launch of Euronext MTS EGB Broad Index Family demonstrates our commitment to the European fixed income market.”The post Euronext and MTS launch new European government bond index family appeared first on The TRADE.

BGC Group has set the date for the launch of its new futures exchange, FMX Futures Exchange.Backed by the likes of Bank of America, Barclays, Citadel Securities, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Jump Trading Group, Morgan Stanley, Tower Research Capital, and Wells Fargo the new venue is set to go live on 23 September.The new venue is intending to rival the behemoths that dominate the futures trading venue sphere, namely CME Group, ICE, and Cboe global Markets. It will initially only support SOFR futures trading with plans to add US Treasury futures in the first quarter of next year.The venue has confirmed a clearing partnership with LCH ahead of launch, offering an integrated clearing and trading offering. The exchange received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to operate as an exchange for US Treasury and SOFR futures in January.“LCH has $225 billion of interest rate swap collateral securing its interest rate swaps, against which LCH members expect to cross margin eligible US interest rate futures traded on FMX Futures Exchange,” said BGC in its release.FMX Futures Exchange is built off BGC Group’s marketplace Fenics Markets Xchange (FMX) which is launched in 2021 with the aim of allowing participants to trade US rates cash and futures electronically.The marketplace combined BGC’s low latency electronic trading platform for US treasuries, Fenics UST, and FMX US futures trading on one platform.The post BGC new futures exchange to launch later this month appeared first on The TRADE.

StoneX has moved to increase its remit and geographical reach through the acquisition of fixed income broker Octo Finances SA.The completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions. StoneX will acquire 100% of Octo Finances SA shares once complete.The move is designed to expand StoneX’s capabilities in fixed income and grow its presence in Europe, with a particular focus on France. “This acquisition further expands our growing distribution network by over 500 clients, including banks, insurance companies, private debt funds, mutual funds and private wealth managers,” said Anthony Di Ciollo, global head of fixed income at StoneX.“Octo Finances is a highly respected French brokerage firm known for its excellent client service. We are committed to fully supporting its growth and extending our products and capabilities to its high-quality client base.”Fixed income broker Octo Finances is in Paris. It specialises in bond and convertible sales, debt capital markets and credit research. “Joining StoneX is a natural fit for Octo Finances,” said Talabor Szabo, chief executive and co-founder of Octo Finances.“StoneX’s commitment to innovation and client service aligns perfectly with our values and vision for the future. We are thrilled about the new opportunities this acquisition will bring and are eager to work together to enhance our offerings and grow our presence in the market.”StoneX has been ramping up its fixed income offering with several new hires in recent months, most likely in preparation for its upcoming deal.Among the new hires is former head of trading at Incline Global Management, Evan Halpern, who was named managing director of fixed income outsourced trading in January.More recently, StoneX Group appointed Simon Pickworth – former MUFG – a s an institutional fixed income trader for the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region in April.The post StoneX to acquire fixed income broker Octo Finances appeared first on The TRADE.

Is the emerging markets fixed income sphere rebounding?The emerging markets fixed income sphere is recovering and we expect inflows back to the asset class after years of investor exodus. The combination of Fed tightening, China uncertainties and the war in Ukraine has been a perfect storm for emerging market debt and we anticipate a rebound across all sub-asset classes: FX; rates; EM sovereigns and corporates.We believe that dollar strength is largely behind us as the Fed embarks on a rate cutting cycle. Consequently, EM currencies should recover. EM credit remains relatively cheap compared to developed markets, while the rates outlook appears benign as many EM central banks have either started or will follow the Fed in their easing cycles. We also see plenty of opportunities in the special situations space after years of dislocation.What key factors are affecting flows into the area? Inflows to the asset class should be supported by the Fed easing cycle, resilient fundamentals in EM versus DM, and US election risks subsiding towards the end of the year. Given the sound technical factors and the structural under-allocation to EM debt by large investors, we believe that inflows could be significant. For a sizeable and diverse asset class, EM debt is extremely under-owned. Which regions are at the fore of the firm’s focus, why? Asia is increasingly dominating the investment landscape, with a vast and diversified credit space, and India benchmark inclusion on the local currency debt side. We are finding some very interesting opportunities in special situations within Asia. There could also be some intriguing alpha opportunities in less liquid and under-researched frontier markets, across both hard and local currency markets.How is your firm shifting strategies to maximise opportunities in the space?In a general sense, the asset class has the capacity to provide high returns alongside diversification benefits. We believe it is a particularly good fit for active investors with a contrarian slant. EM investment styles and processes are becoming increasingly bifurcated between large passive or quasi-passive investors and very nimble ones that can exploit a volatile environment and sudden changes in flows or investor asset allocations. Why are EM bonds set to be important for desks going forward?While EM debt is likely to enjoy strong tailwinds overall, volatility is here to stay and having the right skillsets for each area will be key to success. Indeed, EM is a mosaic of sub-asset classes rather than a unified universe. It requires very different skills to trade EM FX versus rates or credits as the liquidity and price discovery mechanisms vary markedly. Desks that are designed to be nimble and opportunistic should be able to provide alpha through skilful execution.The post Fireside Friday with… TT International’s Jean-Charles Sambor appeared first on The TRADE.

Arline Sueng and Rudy Nakache have joined the Amundi FICC trading desk as senior credit trader and rate trader respectively, The TRADE can reveal.The move follows Groupama Asset Management and Amundi Intermediation’s strategic partnership, announced in May, which saw the firms merge their trading capacities to enhance trading efficiencies.Both moved to Amundi on 1 September, The TRADE understands.The Paris-based traders previously worked under head of the trading desk at Groupama AM, Eric Heleine, and will now report to Christophe Marcilloux, head of fixed income dealing at Amundi Intermédiation. Read more: Fireside Friday with… Groupama Asset Management’s Eric HeleineElsewhere in her career, Sueng – one of The TRADE’s Rising Stars in 2019 – worked in fixed income sales at both Tullet Prebon and Newedge as well as previously serving in fixed income performance analyst roles at Amundi and Societe Generale Asset Management.Prior to joining Groupama AM in 2023 as a fixed income trader, Nakache worked in front-office roles at Agence France Trésor and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. He has also previously served at firms including Credit Agricole CIB, Beijaflore, and Societe Generale.The TRADE has also learnt that the transfer of other traders is also planned to take place before the end of this year.More to follow…The post Groupama AM fixed income traders join Amundi appeared first on The TRADE.

Investment manager TT international has adopted FINBOURNE Technology’s LUSID platform and EDM+ product to connect, manage and master its data ecosystem.Chris StoateFINBOURNE’s dashboards and an open API environment will help TT International professionals to unlock data held within existing systems, and quickly surface and centralise reconciled data for application across operations, according to the firm.“With over 30 years’ experience in high alpha specialist investing, we recognise that transformation, driven by clean, high-quality data, is vital to our continued success and future growth,” said Chris Stoate, head of risk, operations and technology at TT International.“Implementing FINBOURNE’s technology underscores our commitment to delivering exceptional client service, streamlined integration and access to real-time and quality data to support our goals.”Through the development and the corresponding data integration, enhanced real-time insights, and improved processes, TT International will be able to make better investment decisions alongside transforming its operating model.Read more: FINBOURNE Technology increases funding total to over £100 million“Asset managers are increasingly seeking technology that enhances efficiency, transparency and decision-making capabilities,” said Thomas McHugh, chief executive and co-founder at FINBOURNE Technology.“We are delighted to support TT International to deliver unparalleled client service by providing the flexibility to innovate and scale to their strategic plan.”The post TT International taps FINBOURNE Technology to bolster data ecosystem appeared first on The TRADE.

The TRADE is delighted to announce the first batch of shortlists for the upcoming Leaders in Trading New York Awards ceremony set to take place in November.“Our inaugural New York-based event is set to take place on 19 November at Chelsea Piers and we couldn’t be more excited to be bringing the magic of Leaders in Trading over to the US for the first time in The TRADE’s 20-year history,” said The TRADE’s editor Annabel Smith.Today we are announcing our survey awards, bestowed on the back of a record number of responses to the TRADE’s Algorithmic Trading, Execution Management and Outsourced Trading Surveys for 2024.Alongside these, The TRADE is excited to reveal the Editors’ Choice Awards for 2024, recognising excellence from all corners of the capital markets industry, including exchanges, trading venues, technology and data vendor services and more.So, without further a due, it gives The TRADE great pleasure to announce the following awards shortlists for Leaders in Trading New York 2024!Algorithmic Trading Awards shortlists:Best Trading PerformanceBerenbergJefferiesRBC Capital MarketsUBSBest Price Improvement CapabilitiesBofA SecuritiesLiquidnetRBC Capital MarketsVirtu FinancialBest Customer Support & ConsultingBofA SecuritiesInstinetRBC Capital MarketsVirtu FinancialBest Dark Pool CapabilitiesGoldman SachsLiquidnetRBC Capital MarketsVirtu FinancialBest Provider – Large ClientsJefferiesJP MorganLiquidnetUBSBest Provider – Multi-User ClientsJefferiesJP MorganMorgan StanleyUBSBest ProviderBofA SecuritiesGoldman SachsRBC Capital MarketsVirtu FinancialExecution Management Systems Awards shortlists:Best Market AccessFlexTradeInstinet NewportNeovestVirtu TritonBest Platform ReliabilityFlexTradeInstinet NewportNeovestVirtu TritonBest User ExperienceFlexTradeInstinet NewportNeovestVirtu TritonBest Product AdaptabilityFlexTradeInstinet NewportNeovestVirtu TritonBest Multi-Asset CapabilitiesBloombergFlexTradeNeovestVirtu TritonBest Provider – Large ClientsBloombergCharles RiverInstinet NewportVirtu TritonOutsourced Trading Awards shortlists:Outsourced Trading Provider of the YearCAPISJonesTradingMerakiStoneXCoverageCAPISJonesTradingMerakiStoneXExecutionCAPISMarexMerakiStoneXOperations and Post-TradeCAPISJonesTradingMarexState StreetClient Service and Relationship ManagementCAPISMarexMerakiStoneXEditors’ Choice Awards shortlists:Outstanding Exchange GroupCboe Global MarketsInvestors Exchange (IEX)Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)NasdaqOutstanding Fixed Income Trading VenueBloombergBrokerTec, CME GroupMarketAxessTradeweb MarketsOutstanding Futures and Options Trading VenueCboe Global MarketsCME Group Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)Miami International Securities Exchange (MIAX)Crossing Network of the YearIntelligentCrossLeveL ATSOneChronosPureStreamOutstanding Post-Trade Services ProviderBaton SystemsBroadridgeS&P GlobalThe Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC)TCA Provider of the YearAbel Noser SolutionsFactSetOneTickVirtu FinancialOutstanding Market Data Services Provider – EquitiesBMLLExegyFactSetQUODD FinancialOutstanding Market Data Services Provider – Fixed IncomeBloombergICE Data ServicesMarketAxessS&P Global Market IntelligenceOutstanding Innovation in Fixed IncomeBondway.aiInvestortoolsOpenYieldTrumidOutstanding Trading Technology ProviderAladdin by BlackRockBloombergCharles RiverSS&C MoxySell-side Market Structure ExcellenceCiti – Michael Masone, director and head of North America market structureJefferies – Anthony Pallone, managing directorMorgan Stanley – Sapna Patel, head of Americas market structure and liquidity strategyRosenblatt Securities – Justin Schack, managing director and partnerAgency Broker of the Year BTIGCantor FitzgeraldInstinetRedburn AtlanticCongratulations to all of our shortlisted nominees. Winners will be announced on 19 November at Leaders in Trading New York. Please contact Patrick Wright at patrick.wright@thetradenews.com for sponsorship opportunities or to book a table for Leaders in Trading New York.The post The TRADE announces Leaders in Trading New York awards shortlists appeared first on The TRADE.

Cboe Global Markets announced that its new Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures are expected to begin trading on Monday 23 September on the Cboe Futures Exchange.Rob HockingThe new futures aim to provide market participants with an additional tool to calculate implied volatility of the US equity market as measured by the S&P 500 Index, and to manage volatility risks and express directional views.The futures are designed to offer an improved approach to trading the spread between implied and realised volatility, allowing users to take advantage of discrepancies between market expectations and actual outcomes.“The launch of Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures comes at a crucial time when risk management is top of mind for many market participants, amid the backdrop of the upcoming US election, shifting monetary policy and ongoing geopolitical tensions,” said Rob Hocking, head of product innovation at Cboe.“As demand for hedging and income generation rises, our goal is to broaden access to the derivatives markets by simplifying complex, capital-intensive strategies and making them more easily tradable in an exchange-listed, centrally cleared environment.”Cboe Global Markets expects the new futures to appeal to a wide range of market participants with a wide range of investment objectives, including volatility traders and hedge funds seeking capital efficiency and transparency; institutional investors managing equity volatility risk and expressing directional views; portfolio managers aiming for enhanced diversification and risk premia capture; and dealers and market makers transitioning from OTC variance swaps to standardised products.“Having traded variance since 2002, being able to trade a simple cleared variance product will be a very welcome addition to our portfolio,” said Keith DeCarlucci, chief investment officer at Melqart Asset Management.Read more: Cboe to launch options on Cboe Volatility Index futuresThe Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures contracts will settle based on a calculation of the annualized realized variance of the S&P 500 Index.The realised variance will be calculated once daily from a series of values of the S&P 500 Index beginning with the closing index value on the first day a VA futures contract is listed for trading and ending with the special opening quotation (SOQ) of the S&P 500 Index on the final settlement date of that contract.Cboe Global Markets added that the contracts will quote and trade directly in variance units, offering a simplified approach to managing and trading variance exposure.The post Cboe set to launch new Cboe S&P 500 Variance Futures appeared first on The TRADE.

Ashley Watson has joined Panmure Liberum as an electronic equity trader following five years at Mirabaud Group.They announced their new role in a social media post. Most recently, Watson served as an equity trader at Mirabaud, responsible for executing equities and ETFs across both high and low touch.Read more: James Perry to continue leading trading for Panmure Liberum following mergerPrior to this, London-based Watson spent almost 13 years at Sanford C. Bernstein, also working as an equity trader.Panmure Gordon and Liberum announced that they were set to merge in January, with plans to create the UK’s largest independent investment bank.The new firm – Panmure Liberum – is now a market maker in more than 750 stocks with all-cap execution capabilities and the trading platform has relationships with more than 900 counterparties across the UK, US, Europe and Asia.The post Mirabaud Group equity trader joins Panmure Liberum appeared first on The TRADE.

Financial services firm Velocity Clearing has opened a new office in Chicago as part of the expansion of its execution, clearing and custody operations including the options markets.Brian Schaeffer, president at Velocity ClearingTo commemorate the milestone, Velocity Clearing representatives will ring the closing bell at the Cboe Global Markets trading floor in Chicago on Monday, 23 September at 15:15 CT.“Options trading is a core area of growth for Velocity and our trajectory in this business is increasing rapidly,” said Brian Schaeffer, president at Velocity Clearing.“Our new Chicago office and on-the-ground presence in the city is needed to effectively service growing customer demand in options trading along with other asset classes.”Options trading is among the multiple asset classes traded by Velocity Clearing. Alongside providing a full range of execution, clearing, settlement, custody and technology services, the financial services firm also has a securities lending business.Velocity Clearing has already established a growing network of offices in New York City, Hazlet, New Jersey, Boca Raton, Florida, and Dallas, Texas.Velocity Clearing is a member of several equity and options exchanges including Cboe and is also a full member of the Depository Trust Corporation and the Options Clearing Corporation.The post Velocity Clearing expands options trading operations with new Chicago office appeared first on The TRADE.

Societe Generale and Tradefeedr have entered into a new partnership to expand FX transaction cost analysis (TCA) capabilities for mutual clients. The integration will see Societe Generale’s algos featured in Tradefeedr’s Pre-trade Algo Forecasting offering. The service gives colour on expected algo behaviours and recommends the optimal strategy based on the conditions and characteristics of an order. “We are confident that we can leverage Tradefeedr’s service to improve client outcomes across our algo and principal FX business lines”, said John Estrada, global head of FX trading at Societe Generale. “As the FX market continues to become more data driven, we expect additional client interest in metrics to improve their trading.”Societe Generale will also be able to offer its clients access to Tradefeedr trading analysis via an API. “We are thrilled to welcome Societe Generale as our latest Liquidity Provider,” said Balraj Bassi, co-founder and CEO of Tradefeedr.“This collaboration furthers our goal of standardising data metrics and analysis for FX trading teams globally. Furthermore, Societe Generale inclusion into our FX Pre-trade Algo Forecasting service will offer all clients enhanced insights and data, helping them make better and more informed decisions.”The post Societe Generale and Tradefeedr partner on FX TCA appeared first on The TRADE.

While Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) remains most widely used in equities due to the availability of necessary data and standardisation being most mature in this asset class, asset managers are now increasingly utilising the strategy outside this sphere.Ross LancasterAccording to a recent Acuiti report, fixed income and equity derivatives specifically are asset classes where surveyed asset managers confirmed they commonly apply TCA. In addition, buy-side respondents also affirmed that TCA is increasingly being applied to commodities and listed and OTC fixed income derivatives. Ross Lancaster, head of research at Acuiti, said: “Over the past decade, TCA has gone from a retrospective, compliance-focused process to one in which valuable insights can be driven across the trade workflow. “As firms find more use cases for TCA, the need for high quality, real-time data also increases, which is causing challenges for some firms. However, for the firms that can achieve data quality across asset classes, there is significant value to be gained both in terms of trade optimisation as well as in alpha generation.” While 76% of the surveyed asset managers confirm that they use TCA for regulatory and compliance purposes, use cases for TCA continue to evolve with ever-more advanced and sophisticated applications gaining traction. Specifically, the whitepaper highlighted that in the last five years, 65% of respondents had increased the sophistication of their analysis of TCA data. While broker selection remained a key TCA focus, half of the asset managers responded that the technology is also being used for trade optimisation, while alpha creation was cited by around a third of firms. Looking ahead to future applications, increasingly embedded TCA within firms’ workflows appears to be within sight. As an example, Acuiti’s report highlighted that 87% of respondents recognised the importance of integrating TCA into OMS/EMS processes, despite less than half currently possessing that functionality.Read more – Conscious usage of TCA: Making trade analytics more actionableThe whitepaper, ‘The growing sophistication of Transaction Cost Analysis’ was carried out by Acuiti in partnership with Abel Noser Solutions, a Trading Technologies company, surveying senior executives across 64 asset management firms globally.Peter Weiler, executive vice president and managing director, data and analytics at Trading Technologies, said: “The findings in the study correlate with our own experience at Abel Noser and TT in which asset managers and other clients are looking to increase the applications of TCA across both asset classes and the trade lifecycle.”The post Buy-side increasingly utilising TCA outside equities appeared first on The TRADE.

Spectrum Markets and German high-end brokerage sino AG have announced a new partnership to enhance their respective trading offerings.Nicky MaanThrough the collaboration, Spectrum Markets is expanding its client reach across Europe to include high-end retail traders while sino clients will benefit from increased trading hours – 24/5 capabilities – for the first time.In addition, sino will now offer after-hours trading in US stocks and other global markets. “By joining forces with sino AG, we are expanding our end client reach, offering sino’s book of high-end retail traders a superior hours offering and maximising opportunity in the market,” said Nicky Maan, chief executive of Spectrum Markets.Baader Bank is acting as an intermediary through a strategic collaboration.Read more: Baader Bank becomes latest trading member to join Spectrum Marketssino’s offering is “tailored to meet the diverse needs of heavy traders in Germany”. Neal Feist, chief trader of sino, explained: “Our partnership with Spectrum represents a significant stride toward enhancing our existing offering. “As our clients take advantage of Spectrum’s extended trading hours and liquidity, we remain responsive to their evolving needs, ensuring our product offerings continue to meet these demands.”The post Spectrum Markets enhances offering through sino partnership appeared first on The TRADE.