SEFs are official, now its time for a new trading system

Here at Greenwich we just wrapped up a study looking at how buy side trading desks are spending their technology dollars.  On September 26 I presented the findings on a webinar (which I did from a conference room in a hotel in Boston just before moderating a panel on swap futures, in case you care), and spent a good amount of trading-systemthe time talking about how the evolving fixed income market (e.g. regulations, inconsistent liquidity ,etc.) is causing buy side traders to explore their OMS/EMS options.

Ivy at Wall Street and Technology saved me some time and did a write up on what I spoke about and what our early analysis of the data has unearthed.  Some highlights:

“The market is in such upheaval that nearly half of fixed income desks are looking for a new trading option,” said McPartland during the webinar.

On trading the fixed income product spectrum:

In fixed income, buy-side traders will need to look across all verticals within fixed income, “so not only cash products, but futures, ETFs and swaps as those markets are going to be become more entwined,” he added. As for vendors, winners in the fixed income space will have to offer connectivity, pre-and post-trade credit checks, execution optimization technology and a host of other items.

On the need for TCA in a centrally cleared world:

The biggest shifts are happening in fixed income where TCA is not pre-trade or at-trade, but where advancements need to occur as trading is more electronic and spread across a host of venues and new feeds arise. “You can expect to see a host of new technologies designed to figure which SEF or CCP a trader should go to,” he said.

One of the questions we were asked during the webinar is how do the EMS and OMS platforms rank based on usage.  We did in fact ask a lot about individual platform usage, likes and dislikes, etc.  But no, I won’t post them on the web for free (hey, I need to make a living).  Shoot me an email if you want to discuss further (yes, blatant sales pitch).

Read the full story here, and keep an eye out for our report with the full research findings in the coming weeks.