The audience at FILS USA got an in-depth insight into optimising front office technology on Thursday, with a detailed analysis of how desktop interoperability tools can be used to support traders, including their role…
Fixed income trading is well beyond the request for quote (RFQ)-only era, i.e. when the only way for a trader to find the other side of a transaction was by canvassing brokers. But while…
Treasury launches new effort to improve resilience of its market
The US Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Inter-Agency Working Group on Treasury Market Surveillance (IAWG), has taken the next step in its…
As fixed income market participants eye the threat of a further back-up in yields, liquidity sourcing is being reassessed.
While technology has greatly advanced the capabilities of the trading desk, when bond prices swoon, the…
Getting the next generation of traders to have the right skills and capabilities, without losing the existing market knowledge, requires traders to be multi-faceted, the audience at FILS USA 2022 heard on Thursday.
“It's completely…
The turbulence in fixed income markets over the past six months likely will continue through the second half of 2022, according to Seth Bernstein, President and CEO of AllianceBernstein.
“The Fed has never engineered a…
European including of government bonds within its consolidated tape, and a new joint venture amongst platform giants Bloomberg, MarketAxess and Tradeweb, could allow Europe to leapfrog the US in terms of market transparency. The…
The rollout of FDC3 as a standard to support desktop interoperability between different applications has generated considerable interest in the trading community.
Dwayne Middleton, global head of fixed income trading at T Rowe Price says,…
Every trader attending FILS will be keeping an eye on the markets, as bid-ask spreads continue to tick upwards and volumes remain choppy.
Looking at corporate bond trading volumes over the past two weeks, data…
The buzz at FILS this year reflects the three-year hiatus from in-person events – and the amount of change that has occurred since then.
Discussion between buy-side traders on the Buy-Side Only Innovation Day…
Reaching out into the market to find the other side of a trade is contingent upon the right approach, be that a particular trading protocol or the best pre-trade selection of a specific counterparty.
The…
The Fixed Income Leaders’ Summit (FILS) USA will this year begin after a period of difficult liquidity in bond markets.
MarketAxess data showed trading volumes halve in May for both US and European investment grade…
Bloomberg, MarketAxess and Tradeweb Markets today jointly issued the following statement:
“We are pleased to announce an initiative to jointly explore the delivery of a consolidated tape for fixed income instruments in the European Union,…
This page is dedicated to reports from The Fixed Income Leaders Summit, Nashville, 22-24 June, 2022. More content will follow from Wednesday 29th June onwards. Sessions on the 22nd June, the Buyside Evaluation day, will not be reported.
While every attempt is made to record delegates accurately and obtain quote approval prior to publishing if there are any inaccuracies please contact Dan Barnes.
Technology & The Future of Fixed Income: How embracing new technology is critical to staying relevant in fixed income investment management
Russell Feldman, Chief Operating Officer, IMTC.
By Russell Feldman, Chief Operating Officer, IMTC.
Fact: Traditional platforms for managing fixed income portfolios are not meeting the needs of today’s fixed income managers. These platforms rely on outdated technology that is cumbersome and inflexible, so processes that should be simple and automated require too much manual intervention and take far too long.
The result: At a minimum, fixed income asset managers are missing out on opportunities. In the worst case, they are making costly mistakes.
Given the fierce competitive pressures on fixed income management firms today, offering strategies and solutions that are cost-effective yet personalized for each client is essential. We believe the key to increasing capacity to manage more assets with greater efficiency is technology – without it, firms simply cannot compete.
In this article, I first describe how technology is changing the status quo. Then, I offer some insider’s advice on evaluating technology vendors. Lastly, I point out some non-negotiables when investing in new technology that ensures firms are setting themselves up for the future.
You can read our full report on The Future of Fixed Income Technology, delving into all of these concepts in more detail here.
Technology is changing the status quo
Competition from low-cost, passive investment vehicles is driving fees down across the industry. The drive to maintain profitability with lower fees is leading to consolidation as firms seek economies of scale and to offer new solutions for clients. Given that the status quo is changing, firms need technology that enables the right kind of change.
When investing in new technology, firms should consider the amount of growth it enables in areas such as:
Asset growth with improved profitability: Cost-cutting can only go so far – you need to increase AUM without increasing costs at the same clip. Does your technology allow you to handle more accounts (i.e., lowering account minimums) with the same headcount?
New products and strategies: The right technology platform helps active fixed income managers develop and manage new strategies. Since active management can cost up to 8x more than its passive counterpart, it’s important to be able to scale processes.
Customization at scale: Tailoring solutions for each client is a value-added alternative to low-cost beta investing. The right platform should allow you to customize individual portfolios easily.
Winning more business: A strong fixed income technology platform helps a firm to differentiate its capabilities from the competition. Are you able to demonstrate your professionalism and the extent of your portfolio management capabilities better than your competitors?
Evaluating how fixed income technology enables growth
Many firms only consider how technology improves portfolio performance without considering if it enables firm growth. A vendor with both strong fixed income knowledge and technology know-how can help you scale by addressing the most time-consuming workflows and providing a faster way to:
Identify portfolios for start-of-day workflows: Portfolio managers should be able to easily find which accounts require attention, without waiting for physical reports (PDFs, spreadsheets, etc.) to be emailed or posted after the trading day commences.
Optimize portfolios: A platform should provide ideal investment recommendations based on virtually any criteria, drawing from active inventories and live offerings so recommendations are executable and aligned with compliance and IPSs.
Equitably allocate trades: Lowering account minimums can increase AUM but risks neglecting smaller accounts while managers focus their limited time on larger portfolios. Technology should enable you to allocate a bond across accounts such that each account receives the optimal allocation to increase yields and reduce non-compliance.
Assess pre-trade compliance: Discovering compliance violations post-trade can be costly. PMs need the visibility into whether a trade adheres to IPSs with automatic pre-trade compliance checks to prevent mistakes.
Integrate portfolio and order management processes: Portfolio managers need to move from idea generation to execution as fast as possible, which requires integration of portfolio and order management functions. Not to mention, mistakes are more likely when workflows are siloed across various systems.
A common thread connecting all these features is automation. Technology platforms should automate time-consuming tasks so portfolio managers can focus on where they add the most value – making investment decisions.
Non-negotiables in a new technology platform
If you’re investing in new technology, you need to future-proof your business. Ensure your new vendors have a strong handle on the aspects that can make technology simple instead of adding a bigger strain on your organization. You should consider if your vendors have:
Cloud technology: A cloud-based platform reduces infrastructure costs and IT resource needs, is easy to scale, and when implemented properly, offers superior cybersecurity. In addition, a vendor that maintains cutting-edge technology is more likely to innovate.
Data and platform integration: Fixed income data requirements are complex – modern technology greatly reduces the challenge of sharing information across systems. A vendor with expertise in fixed income and enterprise technology knows how to integrate disparate data sources into one platform.
Seamless, effective implementation: You need a vendor whose approach to implementation encompasses more than the technical work connecting you to the platform. A consultative approach ensures you can use your technology in a way that fits with your existing workflows and systems.
Ease-of-use and strong client support: A modern, intuitive user interface makes using technology so much simpler – you won’t need to constantly call a help desk. Also, any vendor should provide you with dedicated representatives for custom training and consultation on more efficient investment workflows and new releases.
No strain from supporting multiple versions: Legacy platform providers typically support many iterations of their software, which dilutes resources. Hosting one cloud-based version means new functionality can be released to end users more quickly.
In conclusion, given the consolidation, competition, and fee compression in the fixed income investment management arena, firms must embrace technology to become more efficient and stay relevant. At IMTC, our clients’ growth is the source of our growth. With our expertise, we rely on the game-changing technology we know so well to build capabilities curated for our clients.
Want to read more on this topic? You can download the full, 28-page report from IMTC or see how IMTC helps fixed income managers to streamline and automate fixed income workflows.
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