Tag Archives: greenwich associates

buy-side-set-it-forget-it
People Profiles, Tech Talk

Buy-Side Says: Don’t Just Set It and Forget It

Leave a comment

Cheryl Cargie, head trader at buy-side fund manager Ariel Investments in Chicago, said that while the buy side is looking for more from its sales trader coverage, it depends on whether a buy side trader is representing a passive or active strategy. For a veteran with over 20 years in trading and representing all of Ariel’s trading strategies, Cargie wants a sales trader who will partner with her and be proactive.

“For a traditional trader like me, I want my sales traders to pay attention to my order and not just ‘set it and forget it’,” Cargie said. “I need them to be an extension of me.”

Cheryl Cargie
Cheryl Cargie

High-Touch Sales Traders Go Electronic

(MarketsMedia) By , Senior Editor · —

Today’s high-touch or cash sales traders are looking to electronic trading tools and skill sets to stay relevant in today’s equity market structure.

Born out of a “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality, sales traders are increasingly learning about electronic trading tools to cater to the buy side’s increasing appetite for technology along with human interaction. If not, more traders could find themselves out of work in a persistently difficult job market.

According to a recent report from Greenwich Associates, the human touch in trading is still as important as ever, even in a largely electronic marketplace. As the buy side looks to their brokers for an increasing array of services, simply acting as an order taker is no longer enough to ensure return business. The sell-side sales desk must provide proactive suggestions, understand market structure and offer clients advice on how to best leverage trading technology. And that is something an algorithm or smart order router simply cannot do.

Re-enter the human sales trader.

Kevin McPartland, head of market structure and technology research at Greenwich Associates, told Markets Media that new buy-side demands are being handled by a smaller sales force than 10 years ago. So in order to provide a high level of service to the buy side and keep its business, the remaining top-notch sales desks are leveraging technology “not only to help clients trade, but to better understand their customers’ portfolios, trading habits and profitability.” He added that technology does not replace human intuition in this case, but instead enhances the abilities already present on the desk.

To continue reading John D’Antona’s column at MarketsMedia, please click here

Fixed Income, Tech Talk

LiquidNet: Make Corporate Bond Trading More Liquid [For Buyside Only]

Leave a comment

Many fixed income folks are lamenting about liquidity in the corporate bond market. LiquidNet, the institutional trading platform is determined to make corporate bond trading more liquid..for the buyside.

Just when you thought e-bond trading for corporate bonds was a never ending pipe dream…

Liquidnet Launches Fixed Income Dark Pool to Centralize Institutional Trading of Corporate Bonds

More than 120 asset managers across the US and Europe on-board for launch

Enrolled asset managers comprise two-thirds of top 50 holders of US corporate bond assets under management

September 29, 2015 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Liquidnet, the global institutional trading network, today announced the launch of their Fixed Income dark pool that facilitates direct, peer-to-peer trading of corporate bonds among asset managers in the US, Canada and Europe, creating a much-needed hub of institutional liquidity. Liquidnet has enrolled more than 120 asset managers, representing a critical mass of liquidity and a sizeable portion of assets under management for high yield and investment grade bonds in the US. At launch, the platform will enable trading for US and European corporate bonds (high yield and investment grade), emerging market corporate bonds, and European convertible bonds.

“Greenwich Associates research found that 80% of investors find it extremely difficult to execute large block trades; as such, a platform that can help ease that burden while not causing a shift in the trader’s workflow is a necessary part of the path forward.”

The Fixed Income dark pool has been designed to provide a seamless solution for corporate bond traders, providing them a protected venue in which to trade natural liquidity safely and efficiently. The platform has been built with input from Liquidnet’s network of leading asset managers and bolstered by the firm’s experience operating the leading dark pool for the institutional trading of equities. Similar to Liquidnet’s equities solution, the Fixed Income dark pool will provide the option for those corporate bond traders utilizing an order management system (OMS) to easily have their orders swept into the pool with minimal changes to existing workflow.

“The fixed income market has been woefully underserved by technology and, as concerns about a liquidity crunch continue to rise, it needs a transformation,” said Seth Merrin, founder and CEO of Liquidnet. “With close to 15 years of experience connecting asset managers around the world to solve the unique challenges of institutional equities trading, Liquidnet is uniquely positioned to provide a more efficient trading solution and experience that delivers a critical mass of natural liquidity that minimizes information leakage and maximizes best execution.”

Liquidnet has leveraged its relationships with partners and existing buy-side Member firms to ensure the platform’s success at launch. In June, the firm announced successful integrations with seven OMS operators that support direct connectivity, and a partnership with Interactive Data for continuous evaluated pricing to aid in pre-trade transparency and more efficient best execution analysis. In addition to new features, Liquidnet has also expanded its Fixed Income team and expertise with the recent high-profile appointment of Chris Dennis, formerly of BlackRock, as head of US Fixed Income Sales.

“The corporate bond market is desperate for innovation and improved efficiencies, and we’re starting to see several new trading platforms emerge,” said Kevin McPartland, Head of Research for Market Structure and Technology at Greenwich Associates. “Greenwich Associates research found that 80% of investors find it extremely difficult to execute large block trades; as such, a platform that can help ease that burden while not causing a shift in the trader’s workflow is a necessary part of the path forward.”

“Liquidnet Fixed Income was designed with significant input from the buy side to create the first true dark pool for corporate bonds,” said Constantinos Antoniades, Liquidnet’s Head of Fixed Income. “By facilitating a high-quality critical mass of participants, including two-thirds of the top 50 holders of US corporate bonds, Liquidnet will provide the most convenient, secure trading venue for institutional fixed income trading going forward.”

A recent survey of buy-side firms—comprising $12.15 trillion in assets under management—conducted by fixed income magazine, The Desk, stated that 58 percent of buy-side respondents indicated that they were planning to move to Liquidnet for their fixed income trading.1

ETF News, Fixed Income, Tech Talk

Corporate Bond ETFs: Trading Underlying Issues Is Not So Easy For Many Pros

Leave a comment

Greenwich Associates study reveals difficulty in executing corporate bond trades; Transparency and Liquidity are Lacking

MarketsMuse update courtesy of extract from Jan 23 Wall Street Letter, followed by our own comments (thanks to our Exec Editor’s providing more than average knowledge of corporate bond trading and the assortment of electronic exchange initiatives intended to increase transparency and liquidity in the corporate bond marketplace, one that is notorious for being a less-than-transparent over-the-counter market place)

wall-street-letter-logoBuy-side firms are experiencing difficulties executing corporate bond trades of more than $15m, a study by Greenwich Associates has revealed.

According to the findings, 80% of the institutional investors report troubles when executing larger trades, which reflect a decline in market liquidity caused in large part by the pullback of fixed-income dealers in the wake of new and more stringent capital reserve requirements.

With dealer inventories shrinking, investors’ search for new liquidity providers is proving a boon to the fast-developing ranks of electronic trading platforms.

All-to-all trading, previously unheard of in corporate bond markets, accounted for an estimated 6% of electronically executed US trades in 2014 as a sign that market dynamics are evolving, the report said.

The report entitled US Corporate Bond Trading: A Multitude of Platforms Give Investors Options, identified 18 emerging electronic platforms competing for the corporate bond trading in the US. Continue reading →

ETF News, Global Macro Strategy

Fixed-Income ETFs Poised For Bigger Use By Big Insitutional Fund Managers

Leave a comment

etf-strategy-header-940-92

Excerpt courtesy of Mar 1 ETF STRATEGY columnist Simon Smith, CFA

Fixed income ETFs are poised to take on a bigger role in institutional portfolios, according to a new report from Greenwich Associates.

Institutional investors are making sweeping changes to their fixed income portfolios in response to the post-crisis regulatory changes in the bond markets, current interest-rate environment and expectations of future rate increases.

The results of this new research, conducted at the end of 2013 by Greenwich Associates and sponsored by iShares, the ETF business of BlackRock, suggest that these responses could provide a significant boost to ETF use by institutions.

“As institutions move to shorten duration and find new sources of yield, current users of fixed income ETFs expect to increase their use of the product and some non-users will elect to employ ETFs in implementing their portfolio strategies,” said Greenwich Associates consultant Andrew McCollum.

The research demonstrates clearly that institutional investors experimenting with fixed income ETFs quickly begin increasing their use of and allocations to these products. About 60% of the institutional ETF users participating in the study allocate more than 10% of fixed income assets to ETFs, including almost one-third allocating between 10% and 30%.

For the entire story from ETF STRATEGY, please click here.

ETF News, Strike Price

Institutional Investors Increase Use of ETFs, says Greenwich Associates

Leave a comment

At first used by Institutional Investors for manager transitions, rebalancing and other tactics, fund managers strategic use of ETFs are on the rise, in particular to gain long-term exposure to desired asset classes, according to a freshly-published study by Greenwich Associates.

In the hot-off-the press study, “57% of institutional ETF users employ these products to achieve strategic allocation ranges, while 20% of institutional funds use ETFs for tactical purposes to achieve alpha, as do 38% of asset managers using these products.”

The study also concluded that “once institutions integrate ETFs into their manager transition or cash equitization processes, they relatively quickly begin seeing additional applications for the products.”  Of equal note, holding periods of ETFs by institutional fund and other asset managers is on the rise, according to the study.

Noted Chris Hempstead, head of ETF Execution for WallachBeth Capital, “The Greenwich study does a good job of confirming what we’re seeing and hearing from clients; more tactical applications, and those that have longer-hold horizons are adding an options overlay element to their strategies so as to cushion volatility and enhance overall alpha.”

For the full report, greenwich associates – strategic uses for etfs