ADVERTORIAL
Data is in the DNA of our EMS
TRADETech Daily talks to Chris Hollands , head of European sales and account management at TradingScreen ( TS ), about the increasingly pivotal role of the EMS in the capture , aggregation and accessibility of data across the order life cycle .
How does the EMS help the buy-side trader to manage the proliferation of data ? Chris Hollands : As electronic trading has proliferated across the asset classes , the data requirement to inform each step of the order life cycle has increased . The role of the EMS in aggregating and consolidating data is essential across multiple categories , starting with referential data , which often can be a massive challenge especially as it relates to integrating to downstream systems supporting different symbologies , such as PMSs or OMSs and execution counterparties and venues .
A key advantage that our SaaS ( Softwareas-a-Service ) infrastructure provides us with is an embedded multi-asset class product master , which means potential symbology issues , and the sourcing of the product data itself , disappear . The next category is real-time market data ranging from centrally provisioned , specialist vendor feeds , to local pricing APIs leveraging existing data sources down to IOIs , RFQs and streaming prices from liquidity providers and venues in the OTC world . Managing this complexity , and all of the associated connectivity in an efficient and cost-effective manner is a constantly evolving challenge but one where the right EMS can clearly provide the solution .
Best execution requirements under MiFID II have extended the focus from equities into the other asset classes , such as listed derivatives , fixed income and even FX , outside of spot . So inherently data has become a broader theme . There ’ s also the downstream implications , i . e . communicating all of this order and execution data into the OMS , where under MiFID II , the buy-side ’ s record-keeping and reporting obligations have multiplied .
What other significant changes have there been to the way data workflows are managed under MiFID II ? CH : The use of broker and specialist vendor pre- , in- and post-trade analytics and their close interaction with the buy-side trader ’ s book of orders is driving the active pursuit of best execution . MiFID II requires the buyside to maintain a seven-year audit trail of all relevant information regarding the placement , the handling and the execution of orders . This encompasses the feedback loop between the centralised dealing desk and the portfolio managers explaining exactly how and why the order is being worked . All of this data needs to be captured . The EMS is uniquely positioned to fulfil this function and to feed this information to other systems such as the OMS .
In that in-trade and post-trade sphere , how important a part does data visualisation play now ? CH : With the proliferation of data , the ability to visualise it and to derive meaning from it in a timely manner becomes more critical . For in-trade analytics , configurable exception-based alerting mechanisms are becoming the norm . For post-trade , we have embedded Tableau , a market leading reporting and data visualisation package , which syncs up with both our transaction database and our tick-by-tick database . Clients can then use these out-of-the-box tools to create their own customised TCA reports to fit their precise needs , rather than us providing standard , box-ticking type reports .
Are you seeing new applications of data to help drive decision-making ? CH : A current and growing trend in equities is the Algo Wheel , a best execution tool to make sure that order flow is allocated ‘ appropriately ’ across the selected counterparties and to provide a way to review that . Here the post trade execution data from Algo Wheel-generated order flow can be used to determine the selection of the future counterparties and the algo tactic ( s ) themselves .
Given these developments , how is TS approaching the development of its offering ? CH : That brings us to the whole open and broker neutral nature of our platform , our propensity to integrate to third parties and not try ourselves , to be all things to all people . We don ’ t profess to be specialists in some of the quantitative analytics , which are of interest to the buy-side , hence we partner .
TRADINGSCREEN
“ With the proliferation of data , the ability to visualise it and to derive meaning from it in a timely manner becomes more critical .”
We are partnering on the OMS side with a well-documented alliance with SimCorp and are a preferred EMS partner for Avaloq , the core private banking system . In the world of analytics , we have fully integrated with OTAS Technologies . Hot off the press , we are pleased to be the first EMS to integrate to BondCliQ , a central market system for US corporate bond trading ’ s posttrade data . These integrations equip our buy side clients with the ability to extract and use data precisely as they want to without restricting them .
The launch of our enterprise application programming interface ( API ) website gives buy sides a new way to extract data . We have recently launched a REST API , which is a very quick and flexible way of bringing order data into our platform and extracting execution data .
There are a myriad of ways we can help , but most prominently by being genuinely broker neutral and by being open , we offer the broadest range of options and the maximum flexibility .
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