US electronic credit activity accelerated again in March: combined US investment grade (IG) and high yield (HY) average daily volume (ADV) on TRACE reached US$70.2 billion, up 7.5% month on month (MoM) from February’s US$65.3 billion and 14.7% higher than in March 2025.
Across our The Desk panel, HY and IG electronic panel, aggregate ADV for MarketAxess, Tradeweb and Trumid rose to US$32 billion, up 9.4% MoM and 14.8% YoY. MarketAxess reported US$11 billion of US HY and IG ADV, up 18.8% MoM and 6.1% YoY; Tradeweb reported US$10.7 billion, up 9.2% MoM and 12.5% YoY; and Trumid said March ADV reached a record US$10.3 billion, up 1% MoM and 30% YoY.
MarketAxess regains electronic credit platform crown, ADV gaining 18.8% MoM
MarketAxess’s US IG ADV, excluding single-dealer portfolio trading (PT), rose to US$9.2 billion in March, up 18% MoM and 6% YoY. US HY ADV excluding single-dealer PT rose to US$1.8 billion, up 24% MoM and 8% YoY, taking combined HY and IG to US$11 billion. The firm said that across its broader credit franchise, total credit ADV excluding single-dealer PT reached a record US$19.9 billion, up 15% MoM and 12% YoY. The firm also reported all-in estimated market share of 18.7% in US IG and 15.4% in US HY, up 200 and 290 basis points respectively from February.
The company said its strategic channels stayed strong. Block trading ADV rose 23% YoY to US$7 billion, including record US credit block ADV of US$4.1 billion, while total PT ADV increased 48% YoY to a record US$2.3 billion. It added that its estimated US credit PT share rose to 21.9% from 20.1% a year earlier. Preliminary total-credit variable transaction fees per million slipped further down to US$131, down 3% both MoM and YoY.
Tradeweb’s electronic volumes beat TRACE
Tradeweb reported fully electronic US credit ADV of US$10.7 billion in March, up 12.3% YoY and 9.2% MoM. The firm attributed US credit volume growth to record ADV in fully electronic US IG credit and increased client adoption of Tradeweb’s protocols. Tradeweb said it captured a 17.6% share of fully electronic US IG TRACE and an 8.3% share of US HY TRACE. It stated that its wider franchise traded a 24.4% total share of US IG TRACE and a 10.3% total share of US HY TRACE on its broader market-reporting basis.
Tradeweb also reported that outside US credit, European credit ADV rose 3.2% YoY to US$3.2 billion, which the firm said reflected growth in PT and increased adoption of its automated Intelligent execution tool. Global cash-credit PT ADV increased 18.1% YoY, with non-comp PT up 17.5% YoY; Tradeweb reiterated that PT carries a lower fee per million than broader cash credit. The company also reported credit derivatives ADV up 57.2% YoY to US$96.2 billion, which it attributed to stronger hedge fund and systematic account activity amid heightened credit volatility.
Trumid’s volume underperforms TRACE
Trumid reported that March was its strongest month yet, with record monthly ADV of US$10.3 billion (up 30% YoY) and ahead of the 22% growth it cited for TRACE market-wide volumes over the same period. Its monthly ADV was up 1% MoM, lagging the wider TRACE by 6.7%.
The firm said combined RFQ and PT ADV rose 95% year on year, while RFQ ADV alone climbed to a record US$1.7 billion, up 136% YoY, including a record US$3 billion day at month-end. It also stated that PT delivered its strongest total volume month to date, with ADV up 51% YoY versus 28% growth in TRACE PT.
Our market-assessed, fully-electronic ADV number for Trumid came in at US$6.2 billion.
Trumid framed its March volume report in the context of a record first quarter, stating that Q1 ADV reached US$10.1 billion, up 37% YoY, with overall platform market share up 10% year on year across IG, HY and emerging markets.
According to our calculations, MarketAxess accounted for about 15.7% of TRACE HY and IG in March versus 14.2% in February. Tradeweb represented 15.3% versus 15%, and Trumid 14.7% versus 15.6% on a reported basis, but8.8% versus 9.4% on a market-assessed basis.
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