[ S U R V E Y | E X E C U T I O N M A N A G E M E N T S Y S T E M S ]
Table 1 : Top scoring categories |
|
2019 |
2020 |
Reliability and availability |
6.18 |
6.27 |
FIX capabilities |
6.12 |
6.06 |
Latency |
5.93 |
5.97 |
Breadth of broker algorithms |
5.96 |
5.96 |
Breadth of direct connections to venues |
5.85 |
5.89 |
overall survey average score rose in this year ’ s edition to 5.82 , up 0.04 from last year ’ s survey average of 5.78 . This year ’ s survey average marks the highest overall average in the survey ’ s history , dating back to 2013 . While it would be disingenuous to write up the 2020 results as some kind of spectacular gamechanger , they do underline the sense that improvements are being made gradually , rather than suddenly in the EMS space .
The results from this year ’ s survey show that traders are recognising the work done by vendors to get the ‘ basics ’ right , hence the high scores for ‘ reliability and availability ’ and ‘ latency ’. The high scores associated with both the breadth of broker algorithms and breadth of direct connections to venues categories show the success that EMS providers are having at ensuring their products can integrate with the wider trading landscape . At the same time , product development counts as the lowest scoring category , indicating that vendors seem to be having more trouble innovating new solutions than improving their existing product .
The area of product development has consistently ranked as the lowest scoring category since
“ The consolidation of EMS providers among the buy-side is one trend that shows little sign of abating .”
2015 , and 2020 is no exception . Despite having made year-on-year improvements from 2017 – 2019 , in this year ’ s edition the score for product development fell marginally by 0.03 to a score of 5.36 . While above the ‘ Good ’ threshold of 5.0 , this is still significantly below the survey average of 5.82 . The buyside expects more from their EMS providers when it comes to product development and those providers that are able to offer innovation , will likely find themselves with a competitive advantage .
The highest scoring categories in this year ’ s survey , as in 2019 , were reliability and availability and FIX capabilities , recording a score of 6.27 and 6.06 respectively . Other high scoring categories in this year ’ s survey include latency ( 5.97 ), breadth of broker algorithms ( 5.96 ) and breadth of direct connections to venues ( 5.89 ).
Table 1 highlights the top five scoring categories for 2020 , along with their 2019 results for comparison . A rating of 5.00 to 5.99 is considered ‘ Good ’, meaning service areas consistently meet expectations . A rating of 6.00 to 6.99 is considered ‘ Very Good ’, indicating vendors are exceeding expectations .
Respondents were asked to select their four most important features of EMS functionality and the results are shown in figure 2 . In terms of what the buy-side look for most in EMS , ease-of-use ( 68.1 %) and post-implementation client service ( 45.5 %) rank as the most important among respondents in this year ’ s survey . Whereas connectivity with internal systems ( 41.2 %) and number of connections to different brokers ( 37.6 %) rank third and fourth . In this respect , preferences among survey respondents has remained particularly consistent over the past 12 months .
One area that recorded a significant yearly increase in importance among survey respondents was low
68 // TheTRADE // Fall 2020