In other news, SafeGuard taps Apex, State Street moves toward FIX, and Vicus Capital reveals its platform provider.
ETF Function Stretches Across 100 Liquidity Providers
Bloomberg has launched a list-trading service for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), dubbed the ETF Request for Quote (RFQe), that helps traders with pricing and liquidity searches across multiple-asset ETFs via “more than 100 liquidity providers,” Bloomberg says.
RFQe builds upon current functions to help clients trade multiple securities with a single click, officials say.
The new function helps clients “compare quotes from multiple sources to ensure they are trading at the best available price. Clients are also able to minimize information leakage by opting for a two-way quote,” officials say.
“The new RFQe list functionality is now part of our regular workflow as it enables us to trade many instruments at once,” said Maria Barreira, global head of execution at Indosuez Wealth Management, in a prepared statement.
“It increases the speed and efficiency of our execution and improves client experience. This is especially important during periods of increased market volatility, such as those we’ve experienced recently. At Indosuez Wealth Management, we are proud to be one of the first banks in Europe to use this new functionality,” Barreira says.
The new offering is integrated with the equities execution management system (EMSX) from Bloomberg, officials say. The new offering has been integrated with “existing client workflows with Bloomberg’s broader infrastructure and suite of trading solutions.”
The global RFQe offering is operated by Bloomberg affiliates across Europe, the US, and APAC, officials add.
SafeGuard Asset Management Taps Apex for Fund Services
SafeGuard Asset Management, a registered investment advisor (RIA), has selected Apex Group Ltd. to provide fund administration and accounting, transfer agency, and compliance services for the SafeGuard CORE ONE Fund, officials say.
SafeGuard was founded by Gary Kleinschmidt, now CEO, and Joe Gabor, now the chief investment officer.
The SafeGuard CORE ONE Fund (SGFIX, SGFAX) seeks to “outperform the S&P 500 Index with less volatility across a broad range of economic cycles, using a proprietary model that allocates the fund’s assets across three principal strategies: S&P 500 Index futures contracts for capital appreciation, a Futures Overlay Strategy for diversification, and put options on the S&P 500 Index for downside protection,” officials say.
“Prior to launching our fund, we spent time evaluating several providers in this space, and Apex Group was highly recommended by a financial advisor we know and trust.” Kleinschmidt says. “The more we learned about Apex Group, the more we came to appreciate its culture—especially the team’s dedication and commitment to understanding our complex strategy.”
Based in Bermuda, Apex Group Ltd., has more than 80 offices worldwide and 11,000 employees in 38 countries. The company offers services to asset managers, financial institutions, private clients and family offices.
State Street Embraces FIX-Based API for Fund Connect
State Street has launched an application programming interface (API) based on the industry standard Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol for electronic trading that is intended to streamline the sending of orders to the Fund Connect ETF platform, officials say.
The API will help end-users “send orders directly through their order management system to Fund Connect, streamlining the ETF creation and redemption process,” according to the State Street. “The launch of the FIX API follows the recent upgrade to Fund Connect allowing issuers or their agents to approve AP creations and redemptions — with both updates furthering State Street’s goal of delivering increased connectivity and straight through processing for the ETF market.”
The Fund Connect ETF platform “recently released the ability for issuers or their agents to approve AP creations and redemptions via RESTful API continuing to deliver increased connectivity and straight through processing for the ETF primary market,” officials say.
“Expanding from proprietary APIs to the FIX industry standard will bring us closer to our goal of 100 percent digital interactions. This is another example of innovations we’ve brought to our operating model as we celebrate 30 years of servicing ETFs since the launch of SPY,” says Frank Koudelka, global head of ETF Solutions at State Street, in a prepared statement.
Fund Connect ETF is a global online portal “for the creation and redemption of ETFs,” State Street says. “The new FIX connectivity method drives increased efficiency, reduced operational risk and enhanced communication between parties.
Vicus Capital Says Platform Helped Boost Its AUM
Vicus Capital, a State College, Pa.-based investment management firm, reports that it has been using the intelliflo redblack portfolio rebalancing and trading platform for three years, and it has helped the firm to surpass $2 billion in assets under management (AUM), officials say.
The intelliflo redblack platform offers portfolio monitoring, pre-trade and post-trade compliance, and order management, officials say. The platform has Vicus to create customization and structure, boosting efficiencies, accuracy, and oversight in trading and rebalancing.
Vicus Capital, which serves approximately 100 independent investment advisor representatives (IARs), supports them “in all facets of business from back-office functionality and compliance to portfolio management and marketing,” officials say. “The firm previously leveraged an in-house custodial tool but needed a more sophisticated solution to support its growth.”
The intelliflo redblack platform will help Vicus Capital with a surge in the number of investment models it manages, officials say. “Throughout the three-year relationship, Vicus Capital has increased its volume of managed models by ten-fold, reaching approximately 1,200 models,” officials add.
“With intelliflo redblack, we have been able to expand our investment model options and accelerate our AUM growth without adding dedicated traders, while simultaneously increasing the complexity of assets we manage,” says Eric Dare, president and CEO for Vicus Capital, in a prepared statement.
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