# MarketAxess > MarketAxess operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, and provides market data and post-trade services to institutional investors and broker-dealers. # Homepage Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/ ## MarketAxess Is How Deeper liquidity. Better data. Smarter trading. On July 30, 2026, MarketAxess entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE). [Read the Press Release](https://ir.theice.com/press/news-details/2026/Intercontinental-Exchange-to-Acquire-MarketAxess-Creating-a-Premier-Fixed-Income-Marketplace/default.aspx) ### Explore the next generation of the MarketAxess interface Actionable pre-trade data. AI-powered insights. Real-time market depth analysis. A sleek, and customizable interface. Do more with your workflows on X-Pro. [EXPLORE X-PRO](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/x-pro) ### MarketAxess and DirectBooks announce integration to streamline access to primary issuance data We’re excited to announce that MarketAxess buy-side clients will soon be able to review DirectBooks deal announcements, submit indications of interest, and receive allocation messages from syndicate desks through a new primary interface. Together, we’re solving workflow and data challenges across the entire lifecycle of a corporate bond. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2026/MarketAxess-and-DirectBooks-Announce-Integration-to-Streamline-Access-to-Primary-Issuance-Data/default.aspx) ### Accurate, real-time pricing for global credit and rates markets CP+™ has access to daily pricing on 80% more bonds than public sources alone, providing significantly more high-quality transactional inputs. Read our new white paper to understand how CP+ transforms our proprietary trading data into a strategic advantage. Plus, learn how CP+ has expanded to cover the full MSRB-reportable tax-exempt, AMT-subject, and taxable Municipal Bond universe. [READ THE CP+ WHITE PAPER](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) [READ THE CP+ FOR MUNIS WHITE PAPER](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-plus-for-munis-whitepaper) ### The first ever Opening and Closing Auctions for fixed income In consultation with a group of leading buy- and sell-side firms — including AllianceBernstein, BlackRock, DWS and State Street Investment Management — we’re excited to launch the first standardized market-wide auction protocol for fixed income. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Unveils-Fixed-Incomes-First-Opening--Closing-Auctions-Designed-to-Improve-Pricing-and-Liquidity/default.aspx) [Watch the webinar](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/auctions-webinar-recording-2025) ### The latest insights #### AxessPoint: Playing the long game — the best solutions for long duration trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-playing-the-long-game-the-best-solutions-for-long-duration-trading) #### AI adoption accelerating in fixed income trading: MarketAxess Fixed Income AI Sentiment Index [Get the insights](https://www.marketaxess.com/the-state-of-ai-in-fixed-income-trading) #### Q2 Earnings report [Read More](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2026/MarketAxess-Reports-Second-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results/default.aspx) ### Introducing Adaptive Auto-X™ The MarketAxess algorithmic trade execution tool designed for fixed income traders that applies data-driven analytics to enhance workflows and execute across multiple protocols. Watch to see how Adaptive-Auto-X uses machine learning-based data signals to determine the most efficient, effective execution pathway for your orders. [Watch the video](https://www.vimeo.com/876479881) ### We have the bonds. We want the people. The people at MarketAxess are what make it special. Creators, innovators, change-makers—we share a vision to transform how bond markets work today. Want to know what passion feels like? [Join Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers) --- # About us Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/about-us ### Our purpose is to create an intelligent, global electronic fixed income marketplace that works better for everyone. We’re transforming the way fixed income is traded, making it easier for all institutions and professionals to invest in and trade bonds. ### We use our unique data and technology to make trading fixed income easier, smarter and more effective. [Since inception,](https://www.marketaxess.com/timeline_milestone) our mission has been to create a more data-rich, user-friendly trading ecosystem—from investment thesis and pre-trade analysis, through trade execution and reporting. #### Leadership [Meet our team](https://investor.marketaxess.com/governance/executive-management/default.aspx) #### Careers [Explore opportunities](https://www.marketaxess.com/sustainability/governance) #### Values [Discover who we are](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/who-we-are) ### Transforming global markets We’re at the cutting edge of tech and data and it’s this intersection that sets us apart. Our automated and algorithmic trading solutions, combined with our integrated and actionable data offerings, help our clients make faster, better-informed decisions on when and how to trade on our platform. We have blended startup innovation with industry expertise to make bond trading accessible, transparent, and efficient. [Explore our History](https://www.marketaxess.com/timeline_milestone) ### Driving change and creating impact #### ESG/Sustainability [How we're driving impact](https://www.marketaxess.com/sustainability/governance) #### Philanthropy [Our charitable mission](https://www.marketaxess.com/sustainability/governance) #### Media Relations [Contact us for press](https://www.marketaxess.com/about-us/media) ### We are a global company with offices in North America, South America, Europe, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. #### New York #### London #### Boston #### Amsterdam #### São Paulo #### Chicago #### Los Angeles #### Miami #### Switzerland #### Paris #### Frankfurt #### Singapore #### Hong Kong --- # About Us | Sustainability Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/about-us-sustainability ## Sustainability [View our 2025 Report](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/mktx-sustainability-report-2025) ### A Message from Chris Concannon Chief Executive Officer I am pleased to present our latest sustainability report, which highlights the progress we have made and the work ahead as we continue to advance our sustainability initiatives. At MarketAxess, sustainability is integral to how we fulfill our purpose: delivering innovation that makes global fixed-income markets work better for everyone who depends on them, from the largest institutions and governments to individual investors. In a year defined by evolving markets and rapid technological change, our focus on disciplined growth, strong governance and responsible innovation has positioned us to deliver long-term value. Our sustainability program continues to be guided by the non-financial sustainability prioritization assessment that was most recently updated in 2024. This assessment identified fifteen sustainability topics, including five priority topics, that we focus on to support both longterm business performance and societal impact. The topics identified remain the foundation of our strategy and are discussed in greater detail throughout this Report. We plan to continue to refresh this assessment every few years to ensure it remains aligned with our evolving business and stakeholder priorities. #### Our Board continues to provide strong oversight of our sustainability strategy and we have added new independent directors who bring fresh perspectives and deep expertise across global markets, fintech and investment management. Since 2023, we have added four new independent directors, representing 31% of our current Board. In early 2025, we welcomed Roberto Hoornweg, who brings extensive global financial markets expertise, deep fixed-income knowledge and leadership experience from senior roles at Standard Chartered, Brevan Howard and Morgan Stanley. More recently, we were pleased to add Douglas Cifu and Kenneth Schiciano as new Board members. Doug brings deep fintech and regulatory expertise from building a major global market maker, while Ken contributes more than three decades of financial technology and private equity experience from a leading global investment firm. This Board refreshment underscores our commitment to adding new perspectives and the expertise to support our longterm strategy. A commitment to sound corporate governance has been a defining feature of MarketAxess since our founding. We recognize the value of Board independence in overseeing our sustainability strategy, and our Board is currently 92% independent, with each Board committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our Board committees, including the Governance Committee, Compensation and Talent Committee and Risk Committee, continue to oversee the sustainability topics most relevant to our business, from talent strategy and cybersecurity to ethical conduct and systemic risk management. #### We continue to strengthen our risk management practices. Effective risk management remains a core priority for MarketAxess. Systemic Risk Management continues as a Tier 1 topic in our prioritization framework, and this Report describes how our Board and management team oversee risk across our global operations. We are confident that our risk management framework is well positioned to adapt to new developments, evolving regulations and emerging technologies. As part of that commitment, we continue to take a thoughtful and governancedriven approach to the use of artificial intelligence across the Company. We have established internal governance structures and guiding principles to help ensure that AI is used responsibly, transparently and in a manner that is aligned with the interests of our employees and clients. #### Investing in our people remains a strategic imperative. We are focused on attracting, developing, and retaining top talent across the organization, because our long-term success depends on the capabilities and commitment of our workforce. In 2025, we continued to offer a range of development programs, including a development program for new managers and programs to help enable leaders foster accountability and clear communication in the teams they lead, as well as live and on-demand technical, markets-related and professional skills programs for all employees globally. Earlier this year, we were recognized by Built-In's Best Places to Work for the fourth consecutive year. We remain dedicated to building a culture where employees can thrive, grow their careers and contribute to both individual and Company performance. #### We believe that sound financial management and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand, and 2025 offered a clear example of that alignment. In 2025, we maintained disciplined expense management, achieving 5% growth in expenses excluding notable items1 for the year, while strategically identifying and capturing cost efficiencies across our vendor relationships. That deliberate focus on vendor activity yielded a meaningful environmental benefit: our Scope 3, Category 1 (Purchased Goods and Services) and Category 2 (Capital Goods) emissions decreased by 14% and 25%, respectively, year over year. This outcome reinforces our view that operational discipline and sustainability progress can be complementary. I am proud of our continued commitment to sustainability and look forward to a bright future ahead at MarketAxess. Sincerely, Chris Concannon Chief Executive Officer, MarketAxess ### Access our Sustainability documents and policies [Sustainability resources](https://www.marketaxess.com/sustainability/resources) --- # About Us | Media Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/about-us/media ## Media Center ### Connect with the innovators driving the electronic fixed income market revolution. Our trading, market data and regulatory reporting solutions are reshaping the way the institutional fixed income markets operate. We're driving greater efficiency and improving transparency by creating unparalleled global connections. Discover how we’re creating value for all market participants, our investors and the broader financial services community. ### Press Contacts #### Marisha Mistry +1 917 267 1232 55 Hudson Yards New York, NY 10001 [mmistry@marketaxess.com](mailto:mmistry@marketaxess.com) #### Toby West +44 (0)20 7709 3270 5 Aldermanbury Sqaure London EC2V 7HR [twest@marketaxess.com](mailto:twest@marketaxess.com) --- # About Us | Philanthropy Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/about/philanthropy ## Philanthropy ### MarketAxess Charitable Foundation ##### The Foundation’s mission is to work with organizations that support underserved communities, with an emphasis on youth education. Our aim is to use the Foundation to help shape the future of financial technology by creating opportunities for today’s youth in the fields of software development and finance. Our goal is to develop long-lasting relationships that provide opportunities for growth, both in terms of corporate involvement and employee participation. The Charitable Foundation is recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal Revenue Service. ### 2025 Foundation partners include #### American Red Cross [redcross.org](https://www.redcross.org/) #### IntoUniversity [intouniversity.org](https://intouniversity.org/) #### City Harvest [cityharvest.org](https://www.cityharvest.org/) #### Robin Hood Foundation [robinhood.org](https://www.robinhood.org/) #### City Harvest London [cityharvest.org.uk](https://www.cityharvest.org.uk/) #### Girls Who Code [girlswhocode.com](https://girlswhocode.com/) ### Other philanthropic work #### EMpower MarketAxess has been a corporate sponsor of EMpower since 2017 and as of October 2023 we are proud to be the foundation’s first and only Global Leadership Council Partner! This elevated partnership will help to strengthen and support the organization’s innovative global model that supports young people in emerging market countries. [Read the Press Release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2023/EMpower-Welcomes-MarketAxess-as-First-Global-Leadership-Council-Partner---2023-e2Duo6pl3h/default.aspx) [Read More About Empower](https://empowerweb.org/) --- # Academic Partnerships Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/academic-partnerships ### Proprietary MarketAxess data. Academic research. Real-world insights. ​ MarketAxess partners with leading academic institutions to advance research in fixed income market structure. Using anonymized datasets — including RFQ, CP+™, and enhanced TRACE data — these studies examine a range of critical topics around the evolving structure of global fixed income markets. These are true two-way partnerships, combining our proprietary data with independent analysis to generate deeper market insights. We provide researchers access to our data, and in return, gain independent perspectives that help validate our products. Our collaborations reinforce the real-world relevance, quality, and analytical power of our proprietary datasets. --- # 2024 Outlook Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/2024-predictions #### On Research and Data "In 2024, AI will continue to be front and center in conversations with our clients. When combined with our unique data, it will allow us to further elevate our suite of top-tier data products for pricing and liquidity. From Adaptive Auto-X to our cutting-edge trading interface, MarketAxess X-Pro, our data products will augment credit algorithms for superior execution and provide our clients with refined tools for protocol selection and portfolio construction." #### On Munis "A Presidential election coupled with a potential shift in domestic monetary policy could lead to periods of increased volatility in the muni market. New issue supply estimates are mostly predicting a year similar to 2023. Given some interest rate and economic growth forecasts, however, Issuers’ desire for funding through the muni market may increase, potentially causing actual supply to exceed estimates." #### On Automation “I believe more clients will be able to achieve desired outcomes simultaneously across multiple trading protocols as routing and pricing technologies continue to advance. In addition, I believe that real-time pricing, trading alerts and risk controls will become more effective in helping customers trade in different environments. It has never been easier for market participants to start systematic credit trading and I expect this to continue in 2024.” #### On Emerging Markets “There’s renewed optimism in Emerging Markets with increased liquidity, expansive data and new protocols that will help investors in LATAM and globally. High-rate volatility periods and an increase in local currency trading ADV contributed to an overall positive year for EM on our platform, and we expect this momentum to continue into 2024 as more market participants turn to e-trading venues.” #### On APAC Market Structure “We’re keeping an eye on China’s LGFV market as it receives growing interest as investors evaluate the varying credit quality in that market. For Japan, Australia, Korea – the story is one of diversification with investor portfolios needing to rebalance a bit away from China. We’ve already seen that in motion in 2023 and this will continue into 2024.” #### On Market Structure “As the industry prepares for a combination of new bank capital rules and T+1 settlement in the US, there will be an even more significant focus on trading solutions that allow rapid recycling of risk as well as trade lifecycle automation. 2024 will be a year where data, automation technologies and matching solutions begin to coalesce, with the aim of enabling more efficient workflows and optimized execution/capital management.” ### Related content #### UBS-AM case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # 2025 Outlook | Data & Technology Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/2025-outlook-data-and-technology This past year was one for the record books and has me questioning if investors are prepared for the potential for volatility in 2025. I predict that 2025 will see more investors leveraging Credit Futures and ETFs to allow them to remain invested in the market with the flexibility to hedge or raise cash during times of volatility. Credit Futures are a relatively new investment product that are gaining traction across market participants. Futures are used in other asset classes, offering investors the ability to allocate or hedge the broad market with one product. In October of 2023, MarketAxess and MSCI partnered to launch four indices on [US and European Investment Grade and High Yield Corporate bonds](https://www.msci.com/www/research-report/msci-marketaxess-tradable/04209793145). These indices track the broad market using a liquid subset of bonds to ensure that the index is “tradable.” In December 2024, the [MSCI MarketAxess Corporate Bond Futures listed for trading on ICE](https://www.msci.com/www/research-report/msci-marketaxess-tradable/04209793145) giving investors and dealers an efficient tool to manage through periods of volatility. 2024 was a pivotal year for automated trading, with the majority of trades from our largest clients now automated for the first time. We expect to maintain this momentum into the new year, driven by advancements in technology and shifting market dynamics. With many political and economic uncertainties looming in 2025, market conditions will play a big role when it comes to client appetite for automation. Dramatic levels of volatility and price dislocation tend to see traders adopt a more hands-on, conservative approach. However, in today’s competitive and cost-sensitive capital markets, efficiency is paramount, and automation typically returns quickly as markets stabilize. The trend is clear: the shift to automation is wholesale and ultimately will only become more prevalent in fixed income trading in 2025. In 2025, AI-driven data solutions will become the focal points in new markets like Munis and EM. Clients will leverage data solutions to drive how they trade, what they trade and whom they trade with across all fixed income markets, and they will closely evaluate when to use Portfolio Trading versus RFQ List. As trading execution becomes increasingly efficient and data-driven for both the sell and buy sides, the speed of trading will emerge as a critical theme. The Municipal market had a renaissance of sorts in 2024. Buoyed by strong client inflows and attractive yields, Dealers, Investors and Issuers were all very active throughout the year. Given some of the gains made in the market in 2024, 2025 should be one for the record books. - Policy - potential for tax reform – There will likely be lively debate over the value of the tax exemption on municipal bonds and whether the tax exemption of munis could be at risk if the upcoming administration looks for ways to pay for ongoing tax cuts. - Volume - record issuance of new issue municipal bonds. Most market experts are calling for around $520bn in new issuance, which would represent a nearly 7% increase in 2025. - Technology – new entrants continue to pour into the Muni market like Muni CP+™, which was introduced to the market in Q4. ### Related content #### 2025 Outlook | International markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/2025-outlook-international-markets) #### AxessPoint: Intraday Liquidity Trends [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends) #### 2024 Outlook [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/2024-predictions) --- # 2025 Outlook | International markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/2025-outlook-international-markets Our thought leaders in international markets share their 2025 outlooks in their respective product areas. From the role of AI to the proliferation of e-trading, our experts expect 2025 to be a pivotal year for the fixed income market. See what our leaders featured here are forecasting for 2025. In 2025, questions around inflation, geopolitical uncertainties and monetary policies will weigh on markets. Market participants can expect to see heightened volatility and more complex market dynamics in a poly-crisis-defined society. I expect the quality and availability of fixed income data to increase in 2025, and its application into investment strategies will be enhanced as we couple it with AI-based products and solutions. We will be able to electronify a larger percentage of the market—making it more transparent, more liquid, and easier to trade—even when volatility is high and traditional liquidity is scarce. Against this volatile backdrop, the allocation of risk and capital and the resulting impact on the velocity of liquidity will create trading opportunities. Emerging markets economies, a core strength of our trading business, will continue to see investor interest-deflationary trends and stronger economic fundamentals underpin possible GDP growth beyond that of developed markets. Investors will need to focus on selecting the right markets and sectors including index inclusion, effectively managing risks, and allowing for best execution within that market. Looking ahead, tight valuations, geopolitical tensions, and macro policy shifts signal a potential tug of war for investors between high-quality assets and higher yields. The easy trade is over and 2025 will likely separate winners from losers. For example, within EM, LATAM may attract active investors seeking higher yields, while Asia might remain the “boring” yet stable choice—offering stronger fundamentals and lower volatility. These dynamics could drive structural changes in how global asset managers are setup as well. Portfolio Managers (PM) with largest AUM are still mostly based in the West but now, with Asia’s growing index weightings, it may become increasingly logical for more PMs to relocate eastward. As an important piece of the puzzle, our trading platform remains a key enabler for global portfolios—delivering the tools, technological innovations, and data-driven transparency investors need to succeed in any market environment. The LATAM region is poised for continued growth in 2025, though this trajectory remains contingent on Fed rate decisions and potential policies from the upcoming administration. Despite regional challenges, bright spots in high-yield markets like Argentina and Ecuador, combined with surprising inflows into Mexican assets, suggest more opportunities on the horizon. LATAM’s technological evolution is notably accelerating, with investors increasingly embracing electronic block trading, AI-driven tools, and advanced data analytics, potentially leapfrogging traditional technology adoption phases. While the LATAM region has historically been slower to adopt technological advancements, the region is showing strong adoption of sophisticated trading technologies like automated trading and order book systems, suggesting a transformative year ahead for market infrastructure and trading capabilities. I’m personally very excited for what’s to come for our EM franchise in 2025. In 2024, we saw a 20% increase in daily trading volumes across hard and local currency bonds compared to the previous year. We made a lot of improvements and expanded capabilities recently, including adding Portfolio Trading, which will help guide us in the new year as we can offer our clients more efficiency tools than ever before. Our client communities in both APAC and LATAM are more active than ever before, and we believe the proliferation of e-trading in these regions will continue this momentum and growth throughout the year. ### Related content #### 2024 Outlook [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/2024-predictions) #### AxessPoint: Intraday Liquidity Trends [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends) #### Blockbusting Part 4 | Block execution in USHG [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-4-block-execution-in-ushg) --- # We helped plant over 391,000 trees with One Tree Planted Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/391000-trees-planted-with-one-tree-planted In 2019 we launched our “Trading for Trees” program, under which five trees are planted by One Tree Planted, our partner charitable organization, for every $1 million of green bond trades executed on our platforms. In 2021, $51.1 billion in corporate and municipal green bond trading volume was executed globally on MarketAxess, an increase of 89.3% from 2020. In the US, where public data is available, MarketAxess ranks as the largest electronic corporate and municipal green bond marketplace with an estimated market share of 20.9% in TRACE-reported corporate and municipal green bond volume. The third year of our “Trading for Trees” initiative proved successful. Our clients’ green bond trading on the MarketAxess platform resulted in over 255,000 trees being planted across six countries, including India, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, and Canada. The impact of our projects was focused on wildfire restoration and enhanced biodiversity, and provided local communities with resources to fight hunger and climate change. ##### Green Bond Trading on MarketAxess “These initiatives underscore our commitment to support our institutional investor and broker-dealer clients in meeting their ESG goals and strategies.” — Chris Concannon, President and Chief Operating Officer at MarketAxess #### Since inception $77bn green bonds traded 385,000 This growth reflects our clients’ focus on sustainable investing strategies and our commitment to help provide them with the best functionality to support those strategies. We continue to incorporate new data and functionality into our trading technology that makes it easier for clients to identify and access liquidity in green bonds. ### Related Content #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # Investors search for yield spurs Asian local currency bond trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/Investors-search-for-yield-spurs-asian-local-currency-bond-trading After a brief hiatus in 2020, investors have been returning to Emerging Local markets, and more specifically - Asian fixed income markets in a significant way, as the region gradually recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is partly due to the yield premium Asian bonds offer over their peers in the U.S. and the Euro zone, and also because of the volatilities and uncertainties clouding other emerging markets. Data gathered from the MarketAxess platform shows the extent of investors’ appetite for Asia. For the first quarter of 2021, it recorded a 57% increase in total trading volume for APAC clients, extending the rebound that began in the fourth quarter. Yet the real breakthrough comes from the growth of Asian local markets. Trading activity in the six Asian local currencies offered on our platform grew 38% year-on-year and now accounts for 30% of total local markets volume. That is significantly up from 20% a year earlier and the historical range of 10% to 15%. Our data also shows a massive skewness to the buying of Asian products – for example the ratio of buy/sell of Korean Treasury Bonds (KTB) was 84/16 in the first quarter, compared with the average of 55/45 for our other local markets. Among our six Asian local markets Singapore Dollar (SGD) posted the largest gain (144%), moving up to the third most actively traded Asia Local Market, while Korean Won (KRW) also took major strides. Trading in Malaysia Ringgit (MYR) has been steady and is now within the top-five most actively traded currencies of the 26 local markets offered on the MarketAxess platform. As a technology innovator, we are also excited about the increased acceptance by both onshore and offshore investors to use electronic platforms to trade Asian local currencies. Traditionally, these bonds are more likely to be transacted via voice compared to hard currency bonds – those denominated in USD or EUR – given their accompanying FX component. Another reason is that local markets tend to be more rates-focused, which means generally larger deal sizes and hence investors have been more reluctant to switch to electronic trading. However, the increasing client adoption spurred on by the COVID-19 pandemic, means that our work in the past few years to build trading tools and protocols to facilitate electronic trading in Asian local currencies has finally come to fruition. There are plenty of examples on how our innovation has helped investors transact discretely and in size, ultimately changing their execution preferences to electronic solutions. Over the past few months we have seen uptakes in the adoption of products that have been instrumental in our Asian local markets growth: Request-for-Market (RFM), our block-trading tool that allows investors to inquire and receive two-way pricing with no direction disclosure other than to the winning dealer; and Switch Trading, which allows the buying and selling of two securities in one package where one dealer takes it all. Even within each local market we are constantly improving our products and technology to provide solutions for our clients, for example: the IRC workflow we built in Korea to simplify investors’ KTB trading is the first of its kind and a major factor behind our growth in that market; in Singapore, we are adding corporate bonds to the list of products we offer; and we are closely monitoring the developments for Indian government bond inclusion in the main EM indexes. We are building up an all-encompassing product offering to cement our market-leading position. Our goal remains the same: to drive the transformation of Asian fixed income markets by providing better transparency, liquidity and efficiency for our clients. ### Learn more about Asia Local Markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia-local-markets) --- # MarketAxess Looks To Transform Credit Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/MarketAxess-Looks-to-Transform-Credit-Trading.pdf Christopher Roupie speaks about the game-changing role technology plays in transforming the credit market. --- # A conversation with Maria Calderon and RiskMathics Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/a-conversation-with-maria-calderon-and-riskmathics The electronification of Mexico's fixed income market is in its early stages, yet progressing at an impressive pace. As the "last frontier" in Latin American markets, Mexico presents exciting opportunities for growth in electronic trading. As we continue to modernize the industry, MarketAxess remains committed to driving innovation and growth in this promising market. --- # A new era of efficiency and speed for Private Banking Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/a-new-era-of-efficiency-and-speed-for-private-banking Private banks today face an increasingly complex trading landscape; navigating tight regulations, cost constraints, and the need to generate alpha in a complex market environment for an increasingly demanding client base has become a challenge that many private banks face. [Axess IQ](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/private-banking)®, a groundbreaking solution from MarketAxess, was designed to revolutionize how private banks approach trading. By bringing together liquidity, data, and efficiency features into an intuitive tailormade Execution Management Solution (EMS), Axess IQ has become a one-stop shop for many Private Banks. For trading US High Grade products, Axess IQ supports our US HG ASAP protocol, which makes spread-to-price conversions or spotting redundant and allows traders to handle their clients’ cash price limits with unseen precision, while simultaneously enabling execution at a much faster pace. #### Axess IQ: Smarter execution Axess IQ is an intelligent, data-driven platform that serves as a comprehensive trading solution for wealth managers and Private Banks. This isn't just another trading tool—it's a complete trading ecosystem that addresses the most pressing challenges like working with a large number of individual, time-critical client orders across a diverse mix of products and sizes. Some of the key Features of Axess IQ include Intelligent Order Management which allows users to seamlessly monitor, aggregate and prioritize incoming orders; Data aggregation so you can consolidate pricing and liquidity data into a single, intuitive view; Intelligent Automation to seamlessly combine high-touch, low-touch and zero-touch workflows; and it leverages the CP+™ Pricing Engine for predictive pricing technology. Axess IQ empowers traders to focus on high-value, critical transactions while automating routine processes. It's designed to make complex trading workflows simple, efficient, and data-driven. #### US HG ASAP Protocol: Revolutionizing the velocity of Bond Trading for Private Banks Axess IQ has taken bond trading to a new level of speed and efficiency with its ASAP protocol, creating what closely emulates the "click-to-trade" experience that’s commonplace across equity trading. ASAP is a different way of trading credit. In the traditional Bin model, clients set a timer for an RFQ, ranging from 1 to 5 minutes, allowing dealers to provide prices. Once the timer expires, the trader is presented with the prices from their dealers. With ASAP, prices come as soon as the dealer responds. ASAP is the default way that Eurobonds are traded and we’re bringing it to the US HG market. Additionally, ASAP trades on cash price negating the need for spotting and further speeding up the protocol. This protocol addresses several market challenges, including liquidity access and pricing efficiency. The ASAP protocol revolutionizes retail trading by unlocking institutional liquidity, enabling more competitive pricing without the traditional constraints of retail market limitations. By providing direct access to deeper liquidity pools, the protocol offers traders more attractive rates and enhanced market opportunities. In our recently published [AxessPoint](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-new-era-of-corporate-bond-trading-for-retail-investors) on bond trading for corporate investors, we see 49% of responses arrive within two seconds, and orders below 150K achieve favourable TCA outcomes, higher hit rates, and receive more responses. The ASAP Protocol breaks away from traditional bin trading models and enables rapid trade execution that dramatically reduces waiting times from minutes to mere seconds, allowing clients to interact in near real-time. This is an efficiency game changer for Private Banks, which can supercharge every desk that is looking for something like a “click-to-trade" experience. #### The best of both worlds: Institutional and retail seamlessly combined Recently added connectivity to specialized retail liquidity networks like ICE Bonds, operator of a client limit order book (CLOB), is further strengthening our efforts to offer a best-in-class solution for FI trading in odd-lot and retail order sizes—augmenting our own institutional liquidity pool and RFQ protocols with such retail pools creates a growing liquidity ecosystem that allows Private Banks to seamlessly access the best of both worlds, combining institutional and retail liquidity through MarketAxess’ RFQ trading protocols and Axess IQ as specialized EMS interface for Private Banks. As noted in the AxessPoint, we observe strong liquidity and favorable execution outcomes for odd-lot and retail-sized orders within the US HG ASAP Price protocol. This has been a longstanding request from Private Banks and now we’re seeing its success. This innovative method allows traders to tap directly into institutional liquidity pools, opening a new world of retail trading executed via RFQ and without being constrained to retail liquidity. ### Related content #### AxessPoint: The new era of corporate bond trading for retail investors [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-new-era-of-corporate-bond-trading-for-retail-investors) #### Blockbusting Part 4 | Block execution in USHG [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-4-block-execution-in-ushg) #### Hubbis: MarketAxess re-imagines Private Banking [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/re-imagining-private-banking-with-marketaxess-fixed-income-trading-solutions) --- # A tale of two markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-markets Last year, the markets were a one-way trade. Aggressive rate increases leading to horrible returns. Sell everything! And ask questions later... In the first quarter this year, it was the exact opposite. Now, everyone is chasing bonds. Especially New Issues. After a dismal 2022, at 6% yields, fixed income is suddenly sexy again. There are huge inflows into the market. Of course, it’s pointless to try to predict the future. (Did you see SVB and other banks’ issues coming?) But it helps to be prepared. At MarketAxess, we see everything that goes on in the platform—both sides of the trade, including what doesn’t trade. And after a dip in liquidity due to the crisis, we’re seeing a strong rebound. Our platform is a unique point of view, a global one that stretches back past an entire generation of traders. In other words, even after a decade of positive returns, when things went badly last year, we’d seen the worst of it all before. But something that struck me recently was the appetite for US IG corporates in Asia, including Japan. To quote one trader I spoke with, “I can’t sell them enough Walmart bonds. They love Walmart at 5%!” This trend is happening in Europe, too. In response to conversations with clients, we’ve built technology to meet demand like this by making it easy to trade IG on dollar price. What I’ve also discovered when talking with clients is a tale of two markets. On the one hand, at MarketAxess we’re experiencing strong trading volumes and tremendous liquidity—with new highs coming from dealers on Open Trading and also dealers proactively taking liquidity. Our execution rates are at record levels., HY dealer RFQs & Hybrid trading have also reached new peaks. Ticket sizes are increasing, to where blocks average sizes are now ranging around $10.1M for trades above $5M, but more importantly, trades above $10mm are now averaging $16.3mm —in comparison with the average block size on TRACE of $11.4M. But for many clients, that’s simply not the case. They complain of a lack of liquidity. A continuation of last year’s liquidity horror story. So, why is that? In my mind, it comes down to how you approach the market. When there is huge change in the marketplace, you need the right tools to take advantage of it, whether it’s inflows or outflows. From RFQ to Portfolio Trading to Live Markets, there’s an array of protocols to suit every condition. But before you pick up those tools, you must have confidence they’re going to work. It’s a chicken and egg situation: Only by using the tools do you get comfortable with them. One thing I tell traders and is, “I’m going to give you a salesperson. But that ‘person’ isn’t going to call you.” Instead, I set up their portfolio ‘watchlists’ based on trade sizes of $3M or greater. Their new ‘salesperson’ is a thing called the MarketAxess Popup. And it alerts them: “You own this. Do you want to bid for the $5M?” Or, “There's $10M in for the offer.” “Do you want to sell?” All real-time information affecting their portfolio and potentially returns. It means they can make a decision instantly. They’re no longer chasing the market. They’re in it. Nobody wants another call. And it literally costs you nothing to listen to the market. If you decide to act, with Open Trading it’s anonymous. Nobody even knows what you're doing. You can buy or sell 500 million bonds, and nobody would know the difference. When there’s so much going on in the marketplace, not fully participating is the greatest risk. With the right technology at hand, there isn’t anything that should be holding traders and PMs back. --- # AxessPoint: A tale of two metrics | US IG corporate bond market liquidity in 2022 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/a-tale-of-two-metrics_us-ig-corporate-bond-market-liquidity-in-2022 ## AxessPoint: A tale of two metrics | US IG corporate bond market liquidity in 2022 #### Corporate Bond Market Distress Index The NY Fed recently launched the Corporate Bond Market Distress Index and backfilled it all the way to 2005. Their goal is very clear: determine whether the market is in distress or not and compare current market conditions to two well-known times of market distress: the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid crisis. With this index, the NY Fed tackled the challenge of measuring how well markets are functioning by consolidating liquidity and stress metrics from both the primary and secondary markets into one number. Indeed, measuring liquidity or lack thereof in Fixed Income markets remains a challenge. Traditional measures of liquidity like bid-ask spreads or volumes are helpful but imperfect, so this new index is a welcome addition. #### Return of volatility and liquidity With this year’s return of volatility, is the market currently in distress? The NY Fed’s index indicates that June 2022 was the most distressed month for US IG Corporates since the Index debut in 2005, with September 2022 right behind at the exception of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009, Q1 2016 and the Covid-driven Crisis of Q1-Q2 2020. While it is true that with Composite+ bid-ask spreads 66% higher in June 2022 vs June 2021, the market has seen better, the situation is not as gloomy as one would think. First, June 2021 was an all-time low in terms of median bid-ask spreads and when we compare June 2022 to June 2019, the increase in round trip trading costs is limited to 24%. Second in 2022, the number of firm prices back sent to client RFQs on MarketAxess, a good proxy for market depth, remained constant. This liquidity metric is powerful because it shows that 2022 is in stark contrast with the Covid-driven crisis when liquidity dried up substantially. Another important fact that we see in Figure 2 is the increasing number of Firm Anonymous Responses. All-to-all trading and the diversity of market participants that it brings help make the market more robust, including in times of volatility. #### Median Composite+ bid/ask spread for US IG corporates ($) #### Avg # of firm prices back per client inquiry #### Takeaway - On the one hand, this year’s return of volatility led to a 30% increase in bid/ask spreads compared to 2021. - On the other hand, market depth, as expressed by the number of firm prices back that takers have received on MarketAxess, remains at the same elevated levels as last year. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). ### Related Content #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets In a rapidly changing and interconnected world, transparency in financial markets is more crucial than ever. We recently hosted a discussion titled “Transparency in APAC fixed income markets” in collaboration with the Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) that focused on this very issue. While the Americas and Europe have mandated data contribution from market participants, through regulatory bodies like FINRA, FCA, and ESMA, Asia-Pacific (APAC), in contrast, lacks the mechanisms needed to address the opaqueness of its fixed income markets. Given the vast size, diversity and fragmentation of APAC, there’s a growing consensus that a market-driven approach to transparency is the only way forward. Our dialogue zeroed in on the APAC market's unique challenges and discussed how a collaborative new data ecosystem in APAC could meet the data needs of fixed income market participants. But before we navigate this journey to data democracy, let's discuss why accurate, timely, and easily digestible data is pivotal to both market makers and investors. #### Why data matters? The importance of data in today's financial markets cannot be overstated, serving as the lifeblood of trading activities, risk management, and long-term strategies. Here's how: - Compliance: Regulatory norms such as MiFID II have made detailed reporting indispensable. Data ensures firms maintain best execution practices. - Risk management: For financial institutions, data helps assess and set aside capital buffers to mitigate risks. - Trading: Real-time and historical data fuels price discovery, the launch of systematic and algorithmic strategies which boosts liquidity and increased electronification & indexation of fixed income markets. - Research: Asset managers and quantitative analysts rely on data for in-depth market analysis. - Liquidity: Identifying liquidity pools and deciding when to trade is streamlined with accurate data. To put it succinctly, data isn't just a 'nice-to-have'; it is essential for the proper functioning and regulation of markets – enriching decision-making processes across various verticals in financial services, from the trading floor to the compliance office. #### The West: TRACE and MiFID II The U.S. pioneered fixed income transparency through the launch of TRACE by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2002. By providing real-time price reporting and dissemination of fixed income transactions, TRACE brought transparency to the U.S. fixed income market by making accurate, reliable, and timely data available to the public. In Europe, MiFID II was launched also with intent to bolster transparency across the European fixed income markets. #### How much can the APAC markets leverage these systems? Well, not much. TRACE limits its publication to U.S. denominated bonds with operational limitations outside of U.S. trading hours. MiFID II, on the other hand, covers a broader range of currencies but faces challenges due to the fragmentation of approved publication arrangements (APAs) across the UK and EU as well as the lag in data availability (e.g., 4–6-week deferrals). To address the need for transparency of U.S. denominated bonds outside of U.S. trading hours, MarketAxess TraX® has emerged as a comprehensive and timely source of transactional data across global trading hours and markets. Complementing regulatory datasets like TRACE & MiFID II (APA) whilst filling the transparency void in APAC. #### TraX vs. TRACE coverage: Asia credit (USD) With its roots in the European fixed income markets, TraX delivers timely, clean, OTC (voice) and electronic (platform-agnostic) trade data. TraX combines post-trade regulatory data with a rich and diverse set of trading data from its community of buy-side (investor) and sell-side (market-maker) contributors across the European and APAC fixed income markets. The resulting synergy generates an average daily trading volume (ADV) of $270 billion reported by both European institutions and a growing (and diverse) pool of contributors throughout APAC. #### TraX coverage: Asia corporate and sovereign bonds (USD) #### How does TraX accomplish this? The key to the success of TraX lies in its 'Give to Get' principle, which encourages contribution from firms who in turn gain access to valuable market data. Not only that; contributors also become part of a community of consultants that work in close collaboration with us to enhance and develop new data offerings. The success of the 'Give to Get' principle in European markets can and is serving as a viable blueprint for data sharing in APAC. Data solutions [Axess All® and Axess All Prints](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) have also added to these transparency efforts. Axess All provides an intra-day trade tape of aggregated volume and traded prices on a T+15-min delay for the most actively traded fixed income instruments across the European and APAC markets. Axess All Prints goes a step further by offering real-time transacted prices on over 45,000 executed trades across approximately 9,000 unique instruments, covering global markets across European, U.S. and APAC trading hours (23 hours a day). This level of granularity addresses the need for greater market color around pockets of liquidity to manage portfolio/balance sheet risk; and the accessibility of real-time executed prices ensures that portfolio managers and execution desks can make more informed decisions when executing data-driven trading strategies. Just as TraX serves as a template for what could be achievable in APAC, the combined functionalities of Axess All and Axess All Prints demonstrate how technological solutions can fill the gaps left by regulatory efforts and contribute to a more transparent – and ultimately more liquid – bond market. #### China property case study: a data perspective It’s widely believed that increased transparency is a benefit for the most liquid markets and securities. The challenges in China's property market offer a compelling case study for the role of data in an increasingly distressed market. On August 7, 2023, Country Garden, a major player in the Chinese real estate sector, missed its bond payments and warned of multi-billion-dollar losses. TraX captured this fallout – seeing a 4.5x increase in trade flows in the second week of August; compared to the first two weeks of July. TraX also captured $752 million across 539 trades between August 7–11, across 16 Country Garden bonds. #### TraX Coverage of 18 Country Garden bonds from Jan 3, 2023 – Aug 13, 2023 This data also noted a dramatic widening in Country Garden’s bid and offer spreads, indicative of increased risk and volatility in the sector. Such detailed data analytics underscore the importance of robust data solutions for price discovery, risk assessment, and investment decisions, especially in fast-moving and less transparent markets like those in the APAC region. #### TraX Coverage of 18 Country Garden bonds from Jan 3, 2023 – Aug 13, 2023 #### A market-led solution for Asia-Pacific To achieve transparency in the current market environment with its complex and fragmented landscape, the APAC region requires a market-led approach to ensure that transparency is nurtured in a measured and controlled manner. While regulation has its place, the unique characteristics of this region call for innovative and collaborative solutions. Just as TraX, Axess All and Axess All Prints have revolutionized transparency in the European fixed income markets ahead of any regulatory tape, a similar market-led initiative could hold the key to democratizing data and boosting liquidity across the APAC fixed income markets. ### Learn more about our data solutions for the APAC fixed income markets. [Speak to our team](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/124) ### Related content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) [Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # AI in fixed income: from fragmentation to intelligent execution Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/ai-in-fixed-income-from-fragmentation-to-intelligent-execution MarketAxess is integrating artificial intelligence across pricing, liquidity discovery and execution workflows to help clients navigate fragmented fixed income markets. Combining proprietary trading data, advanced analytics and electronic trading infrastructure, the firm is helping shape the next generation of intelligent fixed income trading. For decades, fixed income markets have been defined by fragmentation, opacity, and human intermediation. Unlike equities, where centralized order books provide continuous price discovery and relatively standardized execution, credit and emerging markets remain largely over-the-counter (OTC) ecosystems in which liquidity is dispersed, and pricing must be inferred rather than observed. Artificial intelligence is beginning to change that structure, not by removing complexity, but by making it legible. The irony is that fixed income’s historical inefficiencies are precisely what makes it such fertile ground for machine learning. Where prices are not directly observable, liquidity is fragmented across dealers, and the same instrument may trade at different levels depending on size or counterparty, AI has a structural advantage: it can synthesize partial signals into coherent estimates of market reality. This article explores how: - AI is moving from experimentation to infrastructure in fixed income: adoption is broad and increasingly embedded across workflows, not confined to isolated pilots. - The most valuable current applications are pre‑trade pricing intelligence, liquidity sourcing and targeting, and execution—areas where fixed income’s fragmentation makes human-only interpretation difficult at scale. - The differentiator is in high-quality, permissioned data and workflow integration, plus clear human control and governance. Outputs are explainable, controllable, and operational in real trading decisions. #### From inference to algorithmic pricing intelligence Nearly a decade ago, machine learning began to play a foundational role in early pricing models. These models demonstrated that fragmented OTC data could be transformed into usable signals, enabling better price discovery, more efficient execution, and more sophisticated liquidity provision strategies. Over time, this capability has evolved into more advanced infrastructure, including AI-driven pricing engines like [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus) that combine public trade prints, proprietary transaction data, dealer responses to inquiries, and even non-executed “intent” signals from across the trading network. A critical insight underpinning these systems is that information does not only reside in trades that happen, but also in trades that do not. Dealer responses, quoted levels, and patterns of engagement all contribute to a richer representation of market conditions. Machine learning models, when properly calibrated, can extract meaning from this broader informational layer, improving both transaction cost analysis and forward-looking price formation. #### AI at the core of the trading workflow At the same time, AI is increasingly being embedded not only in pricing but also directly into the trading workflow itself. One of the most significant shifts is occurring at the point of counterparty selection. Rather than relying solely on intuition, relationships, or static analytics, tools such as [AI Select](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ai-select) can evaluate dozens of dynamic variables to recommend the liquidity providers most likely to deliver a strong outcome. These include historical win rates, execution quality, responsiveness, and time-varying behavioral patterns. Models like [Tradability](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-tradability-deep-dive-insights-powered-by-an-enhanced-liquidity-metric) use machine learning to estimate likely market depth at the bond, side, and size level, helping traders better anticipate liquidity conditions before initiating a request-for-quote. Used alongside [dealer axes](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axe-quality-in-electronic-credit-markets-what-the-data-tells-us), these systems help traders identify where liquidity is both most credible and most actionable, particularly in situations where a counterparty is simultaneously signaling interest and algorithmically surfaced as a strong execution partner. This evolution is accompanied by new protocols designed to improve pre-trade information flow while reducing signaling risk. Time-limited “live axe” mechanisms, for example, allow dealers to publish actionable liquidity indications with greater precision and control, enhancing transparency while helping manage signaling risk. The next stage will likely be defined by natural language interfaces that are deeply grounded in permissioned market data and embedded directly into trading workflows. Their value would move beyond simple conversational access to the ability to ask domain-specific questions—about recent prints, liquidity conditions, counterparty behavior, or execution strategies—and receive answers that are traceable, contextual, and actionable. #### Collapsing the boundary between “what” and “how” to trade The use of AI in fixed income is creating a deeper structural change in how decisions are made. Historically, fixed income workflows separated “what to trade” from “how to trade it,” with portfolio construction and execution treated as distinct problems. AI is beginning to narrow that separation. Investment intent and execution strategy are being considered together, with liquidity conditions, execution constraints, and counterparty behavior feeding back into portfolio design rather than being treated only as downstream execution considerations. This is particularly relevant in [portfolio trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-vs-list-whitepaper), where execution quality is highly sensitive to size and composition. While portfolio trading can deliver strong outcomes, execution quality can become more sensitive as portfolio size, complexity, or liquidity dispersion increases. AI-enabled optimization allows these larger portfolios to be restructured into smaller, more digestible components, improving execution efficiency by aligning each basket with the most appropriate liquidity providers. #### The block trade frontier As more routine flow becomes automated and electronically intermediated, trader attention and balance sheet engagement can be focused more deliberately on complex transactions. In that sense, efficiency in smaller trades can support better handling of larger block trades, which remain among the least electronified segments of fixed income markets. Even here, however, AI is beginning to play a role. Rather than attempting full automation, its impact is emerging through better counterparty targeting, improved request-for-quote distribution, and enhanced understanding of liquidity availability. By ensuring that large trades are directed only toward the most relevant counterparties, market impact can be reduced while execution quality improves. #### Agentic AI and the question of control Across all of these developments, a consistent distinction emerges between traditional algorithmic trading systems and newer agentic AI approaches. Conventional execution algorithms are typically rule-based, deterministic, and extensively backtested prior to deployment. By contrast, agentic systems are more adaptive: they can reason across broader datasets, respond to changing market context, and support more dynamic decision workflows. Therefore, an immediate opportunity for agentic AI is likely upstream of live execution, in areas such as data analysis and signal generation. This flexibility, however, introduces new requirements. Unlike static models, adaptive systems cannot rely solely on historical validation. They require continuous oversight, rigorous governance frameworks, and, critically, a human-in-the-loop approach to ensure that flexibility does not compromise control. #### From experimentation to infrastructure As fixed income markets continue the transition towards the [adoption of AI](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/the-state-of-ai-survey-findings) across trading workflows, the relationship between platform providers and clients is evolving. Market participants are building their own AI tools and combining them with external data and execution capabilities. The result is a hybrid model in which proprietary client systems and platform infrastructure interact to produce more sophisticated decision-making environments. Value is no longer concentrated in a single layer, but at the intersection of internal and external intelligence. What becomes clear across all these developments is that AI is not simply accelerating existing processes. It is changing the structure of how fixed income markets process information. The traditional separation between data, decision, and execution is being replaced by a more continuous system in which information is constantly interpreted, refined, and acted upon. As AI becomes more deeply embedded in market structure, competitive advantage will belong to firms that can translate complex market activity into scalable trading insight. At [MarketAxess](https://www.marketaxess.com/), we are leading that evolution. The use of AI is embedded across our trading and workflow infrastructure, enabling clients to navigate fixed income markets with greater precision, efficiency and confidence. By combining one of the industry’s deepest pools of proprietary trading and workflow data with advanced analytics and electronic trading capabilities, we are transforming the future of fixed income trading. ### Related content #### The state of AI in fixed income trading [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/the-state-of-ai-in-fixed-income-trading) #### AxessPoint: Tradability deep dive—insights powered by an enhanced liquidity metric [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-tradability-deep-dive-insights-powered-by-an-enhanced-liquidity-metric) #### AxessPoint: Portfolio Trading and price discovery in US IG and HY markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-portfolio-trading-and-price-discovery-in-us-ig-and-hy-markets) --- # Are Green Bonds Special? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/are-green-bonds-special ## Are Green Bonds Special? --- # Argentina’s battle for control Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/argentina-s-battle-for-control Argentina’s bond markets have been notoriously challenging for investors. Twenty years after the country underwent a major debt restructuring, and just five years after it defaulted on a half billion US dollars of debt due to creditors, political uncertainty is again creating both risk and opportunity for long and short position holders. The impact on trading patterns is also significant, driving bond traders on the buy-side and market makers to focus attention on liquidity access, for large and small trade sizes. The Buenos Aires elections on 7 September were in favour of the Fuerza Patriaand against the party of the national government La Libertad Avanza, going against the polls. This suggests the Milei government – and therefore current economic policy - may face tough opposition in the 26 October midterm elections. “These results appear to increase the probability of the central downside scenario in which the market questions the likelihood of continued reforms, and uncertainty rises around the future external financing sources,” wrote Morgan Stanley’s Fernando Sedano and Simon Waever on 8 September in a client note. “In this scenario we saw bonds down around 8 points from Friday's close to a 56 average price with the front-end underperforming. As also laid out, the market will likely factor in the potential for other downside scenarios.” For traders, facing a more uncertain economic outlook, the Argentinian market has seen US$34 billion traded year to date, up 25%, with ARGENT being the number one emerging market hard currency ticker globally, according to MarketAxess data. While YTD average daily volume (ADV) has been US$195 million, volume the day after the election (8 September 2025) was US$456 million. Notably, MarketAxess data indicates that trading jumped in size, indicating larger-sized risk positions were being taken, where normally the level of trading suggests that smaller sized trades are being delivered effectively. #### Argentina HC Trade volume and count Source: MarketAxess Increased volatility suggests raised bond yields and wider credit spreads, with increased secondary market trading which should attract market makers and support investors. “We close our suggestion added only last week to buy into the recent weakness despite what are likely to be much cheaper levels today, also removing our like stance,” noted Sedano and Waever. “As the credit curve flattens, we see the front-end bonds underperforming despite the much shorter duration due to the amortisations.” The level of speculation driving flows between until the October polls are likely to necessitate different models of trading – from smaller ot larger size – which in turn should direct the use of different trading protocols including all-to-all trading and directed request for quotes so traders can respond to reactive market movements, with each poll or event potentially prompting rapid repositioning. ### Related content #### Shaping tomorrow’s fixed-income landscape with Targeted RFQ [Listen to the podcast](https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/shaping-tomorrows-fixed-income-landscape-with-targeted-rfq) #### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-awards-2025-article) #### Optimising execution in Qatari and Kuwaiti bond sell-off Originally published on The DESK | 26 June 2025 [Read the article](https://www.fi-desk.com/optimising-execution-in-qatari-and-kuwaiti-bond-sell-off/) --- # Asia Credit’s structural shift: What’s powering the market’s evolution Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/asia-credit-s-structural-shift-what-s-powering-the-market-s-evolution Trader's Table event recap: MarketAxess hosted a Trader's Table in Hong Kong on Asia credit, in partnership with Barclays that brought together a diverse group of buy-side traders and portfolio managers for a dynamic exchange on Asia’s rapidly evolving credit landscape throughout 2025. Insights exchanged from the session reflected a market not merely cycling through phases, but undergoing a genuine change driven by liquidity shifts, accelerating technology adoption, and changing dealer-client behavior. The discussion flowed naturally from the healthy recovery seen in Asia credit, to broader themes including liquidity improvements, execution priorities, protocol innovations, dealer strategy and automation roadmaps, as well as the role of MarketAxess’ data in empowering client trading decisions. #### Asia Credit sees healthy recovery and diversification Asia USD credit volumes have traced a distinct cycle over the past five years: a post-COVID surge in 2021, a slowdown in 2022–2023, and a healthy recovery underway in 2024–2025. This recovery is supported by resilient macro fundamentals and a robust primary market. In terms of sectors, the banking and finance segment remains dominant, increasing from 31% in 2023 to 34% in 2025. Hotels and restaurants are seeing steady growth, while real estate continues to face headwinds, with declining volumes due to regulatory pressure and weaker sentiment. Looking regionally, TraX® and TRACE data have reflected that a meaningful diversification has been playing out since 2022. While China credits’ share of secondary trading has declined, activity has grown notably in South Korea, Japan, and Australia credits, driven by strong issuance and attractive premiums. Trading data has shown that the inclusion of Australia and Japan has more than doubled overall APAC credit trading volumes and are partially traded during US hours, as seen in the comparison between Chart A and Chart B below. Chart A ##### USD Asia Corps & Sovs TraX & TRACE Average Daily Volume - EX AU/JP Chart B ##### USD Asia Corps & Sovs TraX & TRACE Average Daily Volume - INCL. AU/JP Meanwhile, we observed that trading volume in other APAC credit markets including the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia has also grown over the years, reflecting a broader diversification taking place. ##### TraX Asia volume share dynamics by region In response to these shifts, market makers have expanded their credit capabilities across Japan, Australia, and South Korea credits, compressing margins and intensifying competition for client flows—especially in liquidity provision. #### Liquidity continues to improve in Asia Credit Despite tight spreads and subdued volatility, several indicators point to improving liquidity across Asia credits. Domestic banks - holding ample deposits but facing tepid loan growth have redirected excess funds into USD bonds. This reinforces an overall structural shift toward investment-grade dominance. Meanwhile, MarketAxess data metrics like CP+™ bid/ask spreads and RFQ hit ratios show clear improvement from the second half of 2023 through the first half of 2024. Although a modest widening appeared from late 2024 into the first half of 2025, it likely reflects a more cautious tone or evolving market‑making strategies. ##### Asia USD IG bid/ask spread: Corps vs Sovs (bps) ##### Asia USD IG bid/ask spread: Corps vs Sovs ($) Both Asia Investment Grade and High yield spreads spiked during the 2025 Liberation-Day event but compressed mid-year amid improving macro conditions. Investors - especially these Emerging Market mandates - are flagging increasingly focused on total yield, not just spread levels. TraX and MarketAxess platform data presented a clear increase in block trading activities, and larger trade sizes attract more dealer responses, partly due to their visibility and self-selection—dealers bid more aggressively for size in liquid names. Market participants broadly agreed that protocols, such as Targeted RFQ (an EM hard currency block trading solution), offer better control over exposure and improve hit rates. Plus, Portfolio trading and ETF flows are improving liquidity in particular illiquid names, signalling a broader shift toward scalable execution models. #### CP+ Asia Corps vs Sovs credit spread & bid/ask spread dynamics ###### 2025 YTD Asia USD IG Credit Spread Dynamics (bps) ###### 2025 YTD Asia USD IG YTM Dynamics (%) ###### 2025 YTD Asia USD HY Credit Spread Dynamics (bps) ###### 2025 YTD Asia USD HY YTM Dynamics (%) #### Dealer strategy & automation roadmap Dealer business models are steadily moving from traditional high‑touch approaches toward algorithmic and systematic trading. Electronic platforms are emerging as critical infrastructure, enabling greater transparency and efficiency in price discovery. A key area of focus is the integration of Asia EM credit trading into centralized global risk books, managed alongside rates and FX through a mix of optimized risk management and differentiated execution channels. Moreover, they are replacing manual pricing for commoditized flows with predictive algorithmic tools that enable faster, more consistent, and data-driven execution. These, coupled with enhanced alignment between research, execution and data analytics, help drive smarter decisions on trading desks. #### Holistic data insights for event-driven markets Recent market events have highlighted the importance of combining real‑time market colour with post‑trade analytics. New World Development’s bonds (NWDEVL) demonstrate a clear example: while TraX provides valuable retrospective data, MarketAxess’ Axess All live prints and instant dealer communication were critical in navigating volatility during the Q2 2025 cycle. Recent market events have highlighted the importance of combining real‑time market colour with post‑trade analytics. New World Development’s bonds (NWDEVL) demonstrate a clear example: while TraX provides valuable retrospective data, MarketAxess’ Axess All live prints and instant dealer communication were critical in navigating volatility during the Q2 2025 cycle. The chart below provides a retrospective view of NWDEVL’s trading volume and net skewness during the Q2 2025 volatility cycle – it illustrates how trading patterns evolved. ##### NWDEVL TraX volumes & net skew: weekly 2025-YTD - New World Development (NWDEVL) saw strong net selling in April till early May. - Trading volume peaked from the end of May to early June, where loan financing plans were in talks and announced officially. - Volume waned soon after the peak, followed by another net selling session in the end of June. Complementing this, the snapshot below is a real-time screen capture of relatively live data after company news on loan refinancing was released on June 2, indicating the timing and prices of completed transactions in the secondary market while keeping trade counterparties confidential. Gaining insight to both retrospective data and relatively live data enables traders to move with more confidence, resulting in better trade decisions. New World Live snapshot: - 2 June 2025 10:04am BBG news: New World Gets Bank Commitments for 60% of Loan Refinancing. - 1st snipping shows the Axess All snapshot as of 11:00am SGT/HKT today 2nd snipping shows the individual traded prices from Axess All PRINTs where the trade size = =5MM’ bucket. US HG dealers saw the best response levels vs their Axes for the ‘100K-1MM’ bucket, followed by ‘>=5MM’. Neither product saw responses with greatest slippage in the block Axe sizes. #### Axe performance vs wider platform activity Q4 data reveals that axed content drives materially superior trading outcomes across all markets for sizes >=1MM. Response rates are 2-5x higher when dealers are axed, and win rates are 1.5-2.7x greater. ###### Q4 2025 Cross-Market Performance (1MM+) Axed dealers show dramatically higher engagement: 2.1x higher response rates in EUR IG, 2.9x in US HG, and 5.3x in US EM - indicating strong reliability and liquidity interest from Axes. When Axed, dealers also win tickets at significantly higher rates, with Axed dealers’ win rates (*) in EUR IG at 2.7x that of non-Axed dealers, and 1.5-1.7x for US HG and EM. Relative to penetration of Axes, EUR IG demonstrates the most mature Axe ecosystem on MarketAxess, with 61% of inquiries inviting at least one Axed dealer, and 48% of inquiries being won by an Axed dealer. US HG (26%) and US EM (15%) show lower but growing adoption, suggesting significant expansion potential in US markets. *Win Rate: % of dealer responses that won on inquires. #### Conclusion In Q4 2025, axe-based trading demonstrated substantial growth and improved quality across major bond markets, significantly outperforming non-axed activity in response rates, win rates, and execution quality. By using CP+ pricing data, we can definitively measure the quality and performance of Axes vs non-Axed trades and see the improvement in reliability of axe content during 2025 as dealers became more precise in their axe levels and commit to tighter disclosed levels. ### Related content #### AxessPoint: AI infrastructure boom reshapes hyperscaler bond liquidity [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-ai-infrastructure-boom-reshapes-hyperscaler-bond-liquidity) #### Unlocking liquidity: How MarketAxess Opening and Closing Auctions are reshaping bond trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-liquidity-how-marketaxess-opening-and-closing-auctions-are-reshaping-bond-trading) #### CP+™ ranks as a top provider in the 2025 SS&C Fixed Income Study [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-ranks-as-a-top-provider-in-the-2025-ss-and-c-fixed-income-study) --- # AxessPoint: Credit markets showed resilience through April volatility Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-credit-markets-showed-resilience-through-april-volatility #### Highlights: - The credit market demonstrated resilience amid April volatility, maintaining robust trading volumes across various sectors. - Credit spreads widened due to flight-to-quality flows, while bid-ask spreads remained contained compared to previous periods of extreme stress. In contrast to the COVID-19 crisis, dealers stayed active and algos continued to provide liquidity, underscoring the successful growth of algo usage across liquidity providers. - PT volume rose with overall market activity, maintaining a stable share and continuing as a reliable tool for credit markets. - The impact was uneven globally—US markets saw the sharpest disruption but the fastest recovery, while EU and EM markets remained more stable overall. During the April 2025 tariff-driven market turbulence, credit markets experienced notable but relatively orderly volatility, in contrast to the severe dislocation seen during the COVID-19 liquidity crisis. The April 2nd tariff announcement in the late afternoon resulted in policy uncertainty, causing notable market fluctuations during the following week. Sentiment stabilized following a U.S.-announced 90-day pause on additional tariffs (excluding China) on April 9th (early afternoon). Bid-ask spreads widened substantially during this period, though far less than in 2020. During April turbulence, average bid-ask spreads for US HG reached 9.11bps, reflecting a brief reduced market liquidity period—though still significantly tighter than the 44.62bps recorded during the peak of COVID-19 market stress. Importantly, bid-ask spreads normalized swiftly without the need for large-scale monetary intervention, highlighting improved market functioning and a more tempered assessment of the economic impact of the tariff shock. At the same time, trading activity picked up significantly, with TRACE-reported volumes in US HG reaching record highs. The peak occurred on April 8th, with a total of $55.9 billion traded that day. #### US HG Bid-ask spread: April volatility vs COVID-19 period #### US HG TRACE volume: April volatility vs COVID-19 period Market depth declined, though the scale of the reduction was modest relative to the COVID-19 episode, and liquidity recovered quickly. In US HG, the average number of prices per RFQ dropped from 13.2 to 6.6 on April 9 but quickly rebounded to 11.3 within a week. By contrast, during the COVID-19 shock, dealer responsiveness remained depressed for a prolonged period. Algo liquidity fell more sharply than non-algo liquidity in 2020 as evidenced by a 10-percentage-point drop in the share of prices back coming from algos—from 60% to 50%. During the recent volatility period, algos showed greater resilience in April with their contribution to overall liquidity provisioned consistently around 80%. This stability underscores the strengthened role of algos in supporting market function during volatility. Similarly, as noted in our [recent AxessPoint](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidity) on algos in block trading, the share of algo responses in block trades has grown significantly over the past four years, highlighting its rising importance in both U.S. and EUR credit markets. #### US HG average number of responses: April volatility vs COVID-19 period #### US HG % Prices coming from algos: April volatility vs COVID-19 period PT activity remained stable during the April volatility, with volumes rising in line with broader market activity. PT continues to offer an efficient channel for executing large risk transfers, even though the execution costs for PT client sells began to rise as market volatility picked up. The absolute volume of PT increased alongside broader market flows, and its share of total activity remained steady during the event—highlighting PT’s established and consistent role in the credit market. #### US HG PT volume/share (TRACE) From a regional perspective, the US market reacted the most sharply but also recovered the fastest. Bid-ask spreads for US HG widened by as much as 231% in price but returned to normalcy quickly after April 9. In contrast, bid-ask spreads for EUR IG and USD EM widened more modestly —by 67% and 49% respectively —but remained elevated for a longer period. The divergence was also evident in trading volumes. EUR IG TraX® volumes rose by only 17.5%, whereas US HG volumes surged 59.5% relative to the 2024 average, underscoring the more dynamic response of the US market. #### Bid-Ask spread: April volatility across markets #### Conclusion The April volatility highlighted the growing resilience of credit markets compared to past shocks like COVID-19, reinforcing investor confidence in engaging with the market. The increased use of dealer algos and the steady performance of PT underscore how automation and new protocols are strengthening market structure. As these tools become further integrated into trading workflows, they will be key to navigating volatility and enhancing execution efficiency. ##### Appendix: Comparative metrics highlight resilience across markets Bid-ask spreads remained contained, and spread dispersion rose only modestly, signaling a more resilient market alongside solid trading volumes globally. Open Trading® played a key role in supporting liquidity, driving more than doubled the price improvement for US HG and delivering meaningful improvements across other markets. #### US High Grade #### US High Yield #### EUR Investment Grade #### EUR High Yield #### USD Emerging Market ##### Measure definitions: CP+™ Bid-Ask Spread (bps/$/€): End-of-day bid-ask spread estimated by CP+—The MarketAxess proprietary AI-powered pricing engine—across the full bond universe. CP+ Spread Dispersion (bps): Interquartile range of CP+ credit spreads, calculated as the difference between the 75th and 25th percentiles. OT Price Improvement (bps/$/€): Average price improvement achieved via Open Trading, measured by the difference between the Open Trading trade level and the best disclosed cover level in the response stack. % of Responses from OT: Share of total dealer responses originating from Open Trading protocols. TRACE ADV (billions): Estimated average daily trading volume reported to TRACE. TraX ADV (billions): Average daily trading volume reported to TraX. ### Related content #### AxessPoint: The expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidity) #### AxessPoint: The new era of corporate bond trading for retail investors [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-new-era-of-corporate-bond-trading-for-retail-investors) #### AxessPoint: Intraday liquidity trends [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends) --- # AxessPoint: Diverse participants create liquidity opportunities during credit market stress Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-diverse-participants-create-liquidity-opportunities-during-credit-market-stress *Editor's note [April 7, 2025]: The strategies outlined in this 2020 article continue to prove valuable in today's market environment. Our analysis remains a timely resource for traders seeking to optimize execution quality during periods of heightened volatility. In today's turbulent markets, we're witnessing volatility reminiscent of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Last week's data revealed Open Trading® penetration in US High Grade bonds reaching 39%, delivering price improvements of 1.87 bps. US High Yield exhibited a similar pattern with 38% penetration and price improvements of 37 cents. For strategic insights on navigating these challenging conditions, we invite you to revisit our 2020 AxessPoint on unlocking liquidity during market volatility.* #### Highlights - Bond ETFs traded at a premium or discount to their “fair” value, measured by the bid/offer levels of their underlying bonds, throughout recent credit market volatility. - On April 9th, when the Federal Reserve expanded their QE program to include High Yield bonds, ETF share prices traded at a premium to their underlying holdings. - The Open Trading marketplace allowed participants to connect and take advantage of this arbitrage opportunity. #### Arbitrage opportunities Under typical market conditions, corporate bond ETF share prices lie in or around the fair value of their underlying bonds, calculated using [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) bid/offers. However, under recent extreme conditions, ETF share prices have moved outside the NAVs, i.e. fair value, of their underlying securities. #### US IG corporate bond ETF, LQD, share price ($) vs CP+ NAV on April 9th #### US HY corporate bond ETF, HYG, share price ($) vs CP+ NAV on April 9th The most pronounced example of this was on April 9th, when the Federal Reserve announced an additional $2.3 trillion to its QE program, including High Yield bonds and Junk ETFs. A global market rally ensued where arbitrage opportunities emerged in Bond ETFs. The US IG corporate bond index, LQD, traded at a $1.45-$3.62 premium to the NAV of the underlying bonds, while the US HY corporate bond index, HYG, traded at a $2.3-$6.55 premium throughout the day. More recently, on April 21st, corporate bond ETFs were trading at a discount to their fair value as oil turned negative for the first time in its history, leading to a global market sell-off. The US IG and HY ETFs, LQD and HYG, traded at discounts of as much as 60 cents and 109 cents, respectively, versus the “fair” value measured by CP+ bid/offer levels. #### Connecting participants to engage liquidity Arbitrage opportunities remain within ETF markets as volatility persists and underlying credit market spreads remain elevated. During recent volatility, we observed that ETF participants, as well asset managers and other non-bank institutions, were an active part of the liquidity transfer mechanism [see: “[AxessPoint: Diverse participants create liquidity opportunities during credit market stress](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_diverse-participants-create-liquidity-opportunities-during-credit-market-stress)”]. The diverse trading connections facilitated by Open Trading allowed participants to take advantage of this arbitrage opportunity and maximize their liquidity options. ##### Redefining real-time bond ETF pricing CP+ (fka Composite+) is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 25,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 20 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. Through MarketAxess’ partnership with Virtu, the upcoming eNAV data service will provide real-time NAVs for corporate bond ETF markets, powered by CP+. This will measure ETF “fair” value, in real-time, previously unavailable in the marketplace. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end - Trading volumes on month-end days nearly double compared to the rest of the month in US High Grade and High Yield. - Trading activity is increasingly concentrated near the end of the day, especially at month-end. - On MarketAxess, volume for Auto-X™ and Portfolio Trading on month-end are consistently more than double the ADV in these protocols, especially in High Grade. #### Trading volumes nearly double on month-end days An analysis of TRACE data in US High Grade and High Yield shows that more volume is traded on month-end now versus a decade ago. Increasing trading activity could lead to better liquidity and execution during month-end, especially towards the end of the trading day. This trend is indicative of changing bond market microstructure and trading patterns, and the activity spike is also reflected in newer trading engagements that look to promote efficiency of execution. First, we looked at the annual average month-end volume as a multiple of the same month’s average daily volume (ADV) for both High Grade and High Yield from 2008 to date*. For each month, we calculate the following: #### Historical month-end multiple of ADV As can be seen in the chart above, both groups showed an upward trajectory in trading volume. High Grade increased from 1x ADV in 2008 to 1.9x ADV in 2022, while High Yield increased by a similar magnitude from 1x ADV to 1.7x ADV in the same period. #### Considering causes of activity spikes On the chart below, when comparing volumes on a quarter-end versus ex quarter-end basis we observe minimal variance. This may suggest the driver is less likely to be bank dealers optimizing capital ratios, which we would expect to primarily concentrate at quarter-ends. An alternative hypothesis is that expanded index trading and passive rebalancing at month-ends could be a factor. The consistent uptick, regardless of quarter-end, seemingly aligns with regular monthly passive inflows. As passive fixed income investing has grown, more funds now track fixed income indices and may rebalance on regimented monthly schedules. #### Historical month-end volume % ADV for High Grade #### Historical month-end Volume % ADV for High Yield #### Larger trading share near day-end on month-end days Additionally, on month-end days, we found a further concentration of liquidity occurring near the end of the trading day. The percentage of volume after 3pm on month-end days increases significantly over the years compared to after 3pm on ex month-end days. In High Grade on month-end days, volume after 3pm as a percentage of daily volume went from ~27% in 2008 to ~36% in recent years, while on ex month-end days the trend is relatively stable at around 26%. While the same trend exists in High Yield, it was less pronounced and noisier. For month-end, it went from ~24% in 2008 to ~28% in recent years, and for ex month-end, it decreased from ~26% to ~24%, and there are some major fluctuations from 2016 to 2018. #### Historical trading volume after 3pm for High Grade #### Historical trading volume after 3pm for High Yield #### Auto-X and Portfolio Trading In tandem with the increase in volumes overall, we also see a spike in trading in efficiency-oriented electronic engagements during month-end days. The most common examples can be seen in automated RFQ (Auto-X) and Portfolio Trading. For High Grade, the traded count share of Auto-X at month-end is on average 1.26x the ex month-end day count share since data was collected in Q1 2020. The same trend can be seen in High Yield with more fluctuation, volume at month-end is on average 2.14x the ex month-end volume. #### Median count share for Auto-X on MarketAxess for High Grade #### Median count share for Auto-X on MarketAxess for High Yield We see a similar pattern in Portfolio Trading. Month-end volume share on TRACE was on average 2.34x ex month-end volume share for High Grade and 3.86x for High Yield. The trend of smaller tickets size and larger number of tickets are potentially encouraging traders to speed up execution on month-end with automation tools such as Auto-X, which requires less manual intervention and protocol such as Portfolio Trading that can move a large number of positions and provide certainty of execution for less liquid bonds. #### Median volume share for PT on TRACE for High Grade #### Median volume share for PT on TRACE for High Yield #### Results TRACE data showed a clear pattern of increasing trading volume on the last trading day of the month, with volume concentrating near the end of the trading day. Increased volume could present opportunities and risk. Firms that are cognizant of this on either side would be reminded to consider how they can best assess activity pre-trade when executing into the market at that point, and to consider which trading protocols might best manage the risks that they face to mitigate them effectively. *For this analysis, we removed May, July, August, November, and December because of lesser volume due to either the summer lull or proximity to US holidays. The analysis used TRACE data from 2008 Q1 to 2023 Q1. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### How are innovation and collaboration shaping the Chinese bond market? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) --- # AxessPoint: Finding US Treasury liquidity in volatile markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-finding-us-treasury-liquidity-in-volatile-markets Unprecedented levels of US Treasury volatility on 16 March 2020 led to market-wide liquidity concerns. Yet inventory on MarketAxess Rates remained available due to a diverse mix of participants. --- # AxessPoint: Intraday liquidity trends Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends This AxessPoint takes a look at intraday liquidity trends and the factors that impact this activity. A deep dive reveals that access to liquidity is strong throughout the trading day as indicated by cost of trading and depth of liquidity. We start by looking at market liquidity through the traded volumes in US IG and EU IG that are reported to TRACE and TraX®, respectively. #### Highlights Intraday trends in volume are driven by liquidity taker workflow, not liquidity provider activity. Access to liquidity is strong throughout the trading day as indicated by cost of trading and depth of liquidity. #### Liquidity Taker Activity We first look at market liquidity through the traded volumes in US IG and EU IG that are reported to TRACE and TraX®, respectively. In US IG, 10% of trading volume is reported at the precise moment of benchmark price determination—a process known as "spotting," where trades are logged at the exact time the benchmark's price is established. 11am, 3pm and 4pm are the most common spot times. 12% of client submitted RFQs on MarketAxess by trade volume use a delayed spot. For this analysis, we remove TRACE prints that occurred at common spot times as the spread for these trades could have been agreed upon at any point prior in the day. Both US IG and EU IG volumes exhibit dips and peaks throughout the day. At first glance, this might suggest a changing liquidity landscape. However, understanding the full market dynamic requires a deeper dive into the driving forces behind executed volumes. #### Distribution of Traded Volume Figure 1 | Bins represent 15-min sum. Time is local (London for TraX, New York for TRACE) We further analyze the client-initiated inquiries on the MarketAxess platform. Our findings reveal that requested volume trends closely mirror those of executed volumes, indicating that executed volume patterns are influenced by the actions of liquidity takers. #### Distribution of Inquiry Volume on MarketAxess Figure 2 | Time is local (London for EU IG, New York for US IG) Through inquiry volumes and executed volumes, we observe trading patterns of liquidity takers. We now examine cost of trading and depth of liquidity intraday, which gives alternative measures of liquidity. #### Cost of Trading By using CP+™, which is the MarketAxess AI powered algorithmic bond pricing engine, and more particularly CP+ Bid-Ask Spread, we can evaluate pre-trade cost of trading. The B/A spread gives the expected round trip cost. In both US IG and EU IG, trading costs decline in the first hour of the day before remaining close to constant for the rest of the session. #### CP+ Bid-Ask Spread Figure 3 | Difference between CP+ bid and ask predictions. Time is local. We can also look at the realized cost of trading on the MarketAxess Platform. For this, we use Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) which is the delta between executed level and CP+ of the corresponding side. Investors obtained constant TCA throughout the day. TCA in H1 2024 was 1 cent in US IG and 0 in EU IG on client initiated. #### TCA on MarketAxess Figure 4 | Cost of transaction compared to CP+. Time is local. #### Depth of Liquidity Strong access to liquidity is further seen through Tradability, MarketAxess’ AI-powered gauge of liquidity that predicts the expected number of disclosed and anonymous responses a given inquiry will receive on the MarketAxess platform. A higher Tradability signals a deeper market. In both US IG and EU IG, Tradability climbs for the first hour of the day, before remaining constant for the rest of the session. This consistency further supports our finding that access to liquidity remains stable from 9:00am till market close. #### Tradability Predictions Figure 5 | Average Tradability. Time is local. While Tradability measures the expected depth of the market, the realized number of responses to an RFQ gauges actual depth of market. In both US IG and EU IG, the average number of responses from a liquidity provider remains strong from 9:00am onward – with 12.31 responses per inquiry in US IG and 10.60 responses per inquiry in EU IG in H1 2024. The stability of responsiveness strengthens our conclusion of sustained access to liquidity from 9:00am till market close. #### Responses Per Inquiry on MarketAxess Figure 6 | Average responses throughout trading day. Time is local. #### Conclusion Both predicted and realized trading costs and depth of liquidity provision exhibit that liquidity is strong and constant intraday. Liquidity providers supply consistent liquidity all day. Patterns in overall volumes can be explained by liquidity taker workflow. Traders should feel comfortable accessing liquidity all day long. CP+ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 33,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. Tradability is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI powered liquidity metric for corporate bonds. It assesses the market’s capacity to provide immediate pricing to a specific order. It predicts the number of responses to a given RFQ inquiry pre-trade and is size and side specific. It covers nearly 18,000 bonds. TraX data from MarketAxess aggregates bond market activity executed by European banks, asset managers and trading firms across both voice and electronic trading methods that is validated in near real-time through a post-trade regulatory reporting and trade confirmation engine. [Download the PDF](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity.pdf) #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 4 | Block execution in USHG [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-4-block-execution-in-ushg) #### CP+™ under the hood: How trades and inquiries impact pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-plus-under-the-hood-how-trades-and-inquiries-impact-pricing) #### Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # AxessPoint: The liquidity gap between 144A and Reg S bonds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-liquidity-gap-between-144A-and-regs-bonds #### Highlights - Liquidity measures such as Bid-Ask spread in 144A and Regulation S (Reg S) bonds across markets can vary widely for otherwise identical bonds. - Reg S and Rule 144A securities have distinct regulatory backgrounds and key differences. - Issuers wanting to maximize buy-side engagement may want to consider the likely liquidity profile of a bond. #### Reg S and Rule 144A offerings - Rule 144A and Reg S provide safe harbors from registration of securities under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933. - Rule 144A permits resales of unregistered securities in the U.S. to “Qualified Institutional Buyers” or QIBs. An issuer utilizes an initial purchaser who purchases the securities from the issuer and resells them to QIBs in transactions that comply with Rule 144A. QIBs may freely re-sell securities offered and sold under Rule 144A to other QIBs in the U.S. under Rule 144A or offshore under Reg S, subject to certain conditions. - Regulation S allows, under certain conditions, for the offering, sale, and re-sale of securities to in offshore transactions without any directed selling efforts in the U.S. - A security can be offered and sold simultaneously under both 144A and Reg S, which would open trading both to foreign investors and US-based QIBs. A marked difference in historical liquidity profiles of Reg S and Rule 144A bonds may have an effect on investor appetite and access. Both rules above alleviate some disclosures typically required for registration, so this may lead to cheaper and quicker access to capital. #### Matching offerings across registrations If a security is issued under both Rule 144A and Reg S, holders can exchange between the two types of bonds. For the following analysis, 144A and RegS bonds were considered “matched” when each bond had the same issuer, maturity, coupon, and issue date. In nearly every scenario, the presence of a 144A bond will portend a corresponding Reg S counterpart. However, the inverse is not always true. The chart below shows the share of RegS issuance that has a matching 144A bond, as a percentage of total amount outstanding. 48% of Reg S bonds classified as an emerging markets bond had a corresponding 144A bond that appeared on TRACE, whereas more than 90% of high grade and high yield bonds were matched as a percentage of amount outstanding. This illustrates that for EM issues, Reg S-only issuance is a very common practice. For all other cases, a significant amount of overlap exists. ##### Match Rate as % of Amount Outstanding (Reg S) #### Liquidity analysis Bid-asks spreads can be used as a proxy for liquidity or the value of a security. We can therefore compare the difference in Bid-Ask spreads across Rule 144A and Reg S bonds from the Composite+™ (CP+™) pricing algorithm (shown below). Going across the selected markets, CP+ Bid-Ask spread is noticeably higher for Reg S bonds in the High-Yield and High-Grade markets, with a difference of $0.28 and $0.08 respectively, but the inverse is true when looking at Emerging Markets, with 144A bonds having a larger CP+ Bid-Ask spread by $0.06. ##### Median CP+ Bid-Ask Spread Entry and exit liquidity Liquidity can also be assessed based on trading volumes. A key point for traders and issuers to consider with these bonds is on- vs off-the-run liquidity. Put simply, is there sufficient liquidity to exit a position in the future that is taken today? The potential to move into and out of positions can affect the level of market making activity that is supported by dealers. It may also affect investors comfort in acquiring bonds, especially during volatile periods. The below chart compares TRACE volumes in the first 50 trading days after issue date vs the rest of a bond’s life, by market and bond type. As expected, there is some level of decay in all cases. We can see that volumes fall most sharply for 144A offerings in HG and EM. This perhaps suggests a “buy and hold” philosophy for some investors in these securities and indicates that liquidity at a future point in time may be harder to come by. For HY, Reg S bonds actually appear to sustain volumes more consistently than standard issues. #### Footnotes The overarching universe for the above is every 144A/Reg S bond that has appeared on TRACE between start of 2020 and end of 2022. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### How are innovation and collaboration shaping the Chinese bond market? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) --- # AxessPoint: Open Trading™ - Liquidity during volatility Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-open-trading-liquidity-during-volatility How do you find liquidity in a volatile market? Participants using the widest range of tools are best positioned to improve both trading speed and economics - critical during volatile periods. --- # AxessPoint: Oracle—Investment-grade rating, high-yield reality Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-oracle-investment-grade-rating-high-yield-reality Oracle (ORCL) was downgraded to BBB- by S&P in early July, from BBB to one notch above high-yield. Its 30-year bonds have widened 150 bps since September, when it raised $18bn of debt for AI infrastructure. ORCL now trades wide to many BB names after raising another $25bn in February. But does it truly trade like a high-yield bond? By many metrics compared to peers, ORCL 30-year bonds have gone from near-first to near-last, becoming more high-yield by the day: - Its spreads are now wide of BB names: +25 bps to CHTR, +100 bps to VTRS, and +150 bps to many low BBB peers. - The share of client RFQ trades won by an Open Trading® response is up from 20% to 30-40%, a share typically seen during periods of high volatility or in BB and single B bonds. - It now moves 3 bps a day on average, in line with PARA and up from only 1 bp for much of 2025. - Its more seasoned 30-year bond has a bid-ask of almost 3 bps, while its BBB peers are all under 1.5 bps. Below we look at its three newest 30-year bonds: two issued as part of the hyper-scaling deals in February 2026 and September 2025, and one issued just before in February 2025. We compare them to many liquid 30-year benchmarks: high profile BB names like CHTR and PARA, tech BBB names that were (once) its peers like AVGO and INTC, and finally non-tech BBB names also in the news or highly liquid like BA, CVS, and HCA. #### 1. Spread Except for PARA 4.95 ’50, ORCL trades wide to both BB 30-year bonds of comparable size. At +275, ORCL trades 25 bps wider than CHTR and 100 bps wider than VTRS, both liquid BB 30-years with over $1bn outstanding. As recently as summer 2025, ORCL at +125 traded tighter than almost all the bonds shown below. *Data as of July 28th, 2026 #### 2. Price change since Jan 1st 2025 The shift is particularly evident in ORCL’s price change. We compare ORCL to its peers for all 30-year senior bonds of at least $750mm deal size. Like an index, we start on Jan 1, 2025 and weigh each issuer’s daily price changes by amount outstanding. ORCL long bonds have deteriorated over 20% in price terms, worse than PARA and all its BBB peers. *For illustrative purposes, clean price only – does not include coupons and accrued interest. #### 3. Open Trading share of trades The share of client RFQ trades won by an Open Trading response typically rises with higher volatility and lower credit quality. For stressed credits and volatile markets, the value of the MarketAxess OT network rises to fill in liquidity gaps. ORCL's share by count doubled from 20% just before its first AI deal in September 2025, to 40% by the time of its second deal in February. An OT response wins a third of trades in ORCL currently, more in line with BB and even single B buckets, and above the 25% typically seen for investment grade. #### 4. CP+™ bid-ask spread The bid-ask on ORCL's older pre-AI issue has converged with PARA 4.95 '50 to almost 3 bps. Its Sep '25 deal has a bid-ask comparable to CHTR 6.7 '55. Its most recent issue has a bid-ask of 2 bps, while more seasoned BBB peers all have a bid-ask near 1.5 bps and some as tight as 1 bp. #### 5. Average daily spread change ORCL’s spreads to treasury now move 3 bps a day on average, in line with PARA 4.95 '50 and CHTR 6.7 '55 recently. Before its massive AI issuance, it used to trade +/- 1 bp per day, like most of its BBB peers still do. #### Conclusion While Oracle may still carry an investment-grade rating, its 30-year bonds are increasingly trading with high-yield characteristics. Wider spreads, steeper price deterioration, higher daily spread volatility and a rising Open Trading share all point to liquidity characteristics more commonly associated with BB credit than investment-grade peers. The market appears to be repricing Oracle’s AI-driven debt buildout in real time, with liquidity dynamics and trading behavior suggesting that investors are already treating Oracle as high-yield risk. ### Related content #### How trades move markets: a data driven exploration of market impact [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-trades-move-markets-a-data-driven-exploration-of-market-impact) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### Dive into the worlds deepest liquidity pool for corporate credit [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/ot-brochure-2026?x=PG963o) --- # AxessPoint: Playing the long game — the best solutions for long duration trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-playing-the-long-game-the-best-solutions-for-long-duration-trading - Recent steepening in the yield curve has widened rate differentials, drawing attention to pricing dynamics in the long end of the US IG market. - Depth-of-market metrics show a steady rise in long-end liquidity over the past few years, reducing execution risk and enabling larger trades with tighter spreads. - MarketAxess’ CP+™ and Tradability tools provide near real-time, unbiased pricing and liquidity measurement—empowering traders to navigate long-dated trades with precision and transparency. The long end of the US investment grade curve is gaining renewed interest as curve steepening shifts rate dynamics. Once challenging to trade, longer maturities now benefit from deeper liquidity and tighter spreads, making execution more efficient. With tools like CP+ and Tradability, MarketAxess equips clients to navigate long-duration trading with confidence. #### Depth of Market Liquidity conditions at the long end of the US investment grade curve have improved meaningfully in recent years. Four years ago, client RFQs in bonds with 10 years or more to maturity would typically attract 6 responses. Today, that figure has risen to more than 10, underscoring a significant broadening of market depth at the long end of the curve. ###### Average responses back per RFQ (≥10 years) #### Tighter Spread CP+, MarketAxess’ AI-powered pricing engine, highlights a notable tightening of bid-ask spreads at the long end of the US investment grade curve. Over the past two years, median spreads have narrowed from $0.37 to $0.14, reinforcing the broader trend of improving liquidity in longer-dated bonds. ###### Median CP+ Bid/Ask spread in US IG by maturity ($) #### Conclusion The long end of the US investment grade curve is more accessible than ever, supported by deeper market depth and tighter spreads. By leveraging MarketAxess’ advanced pricing via CP+ and liquidity insights through Tradability, clients can execute long-duration trades with greater clarity, speed, and confidence. ### Related content #### AxessPoint: Credit markets showed resilience through April volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-credit-markets-showed-resilience-through-april-volatility) #### AxessPoint: Portfolio Trading and price discovery in US IG and HY markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-portfolio-trading-and-price-discovery-in-us-ig-and-hy-markets) #### AxessPoint: The expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidit) --- # AxessPoint: Portfolio Trading and price discovery in US IG and HY markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-portfolio-trading-and-price-discovery-in-us-ig-and-hy-markets #### Executive Summary: - Portfolio trading (PT) enhances liquidity in difficult-to-trade bonds with its basket-based "all-or-nothing" method. It has gained popularity among traders, increasing volumes and market share for IG and HY trading recently. - PT is particularly beneficial for less liquid US Investment Grade and High Yield bonds. Some bonds trade primarily within PTs, helping to make more of the market tradable and, as such, aiding price discovery. - Although PT pricing is done at the basket level, reducing focus on line-item accuracy, the gap between PT and RFQ pricing precision is narrowing. In our recently published Portfolio Trading vs RFQ List [White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-vs-list-whitepaper), we discussed how Portfolio Trading offers benefits for traders looking to trade illiquid bonds. One of the advantages of the PT protocol is that when included in a well-balanced basket, line items with lower liquidity scores typically receive more favorable outcomes compared to execution with RFQ lists. To expand on this concept, we dive deeper into PT as a mechanism for price discovery for US IG and HY bonds. As illustrated in the white paper, the generally held tenet is that portfolio trading is preferred for illiquid bonds. This is at least partially attributed to traders taking advantage of the protocol to attend to bonds that they may have little to no chance to trade otherwise. We can confirm this by observing several low-liquidity bonds traded primarily through PT. Additionally, we also evaluated the pricing precision of PT and RFQ execution against CP+™, MarketAxess’ proprietary real-time AI pricing engine. From this, we can measure the precision of price discovery from PT as the market adopts this new protocol. #### Rise in PT volume For the last three years, PT has seen explosive growth in absolute volume and share of TRACE volumes. IG volumes rose from $122 billion in Q3 2023 to $275 billion by Q1 2025 , jumping from 7.4% to 10.4% of TRACE volumes. HY PT saw similar growth, rising from $32 billion to $74 billion, jumping from 6.2% to 10% of TRACE volumes. ##### Volume in Portfolio Trading in US IG ##### Volume in Portfolio Trading in US HY #### Portfolio Trading accounts for a higher percentage of all trade activity for Illiquid bonds As mentioned in our PT vs RFQ white paper, liquidity plays a major role in the composition of a PT basket. In the most efficient portfolio trades from a cost perspective, traders use PT to blend a mix of illiquid bonds in the same basket as liquid bonds. We measure liquidity for this case using the MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score (RLS), which measures bonds on a scale from 1 (least liquid) to 10 (most liquid). More information on the score methodology can be found [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/relative-liquidity-score-product-sh). ##### Share of TRACE trades via PT by Liquidity Score - HG From the above chart, we see that between Oct 2024 and March 2025 in IG, for bonds with at least one trade, on a per bond basis an average of 18.04% of trading activity is executed through PT for bonds with low liquidity score (<5), whereas for bonds with high liquidity score (≥8), only 10.18% of trading activity are executed through PT. This shows a clear divide between the importance of PT between the liquid and illiquid end of the market. ##### Share of TRACE trades via PT by Liquidity Score - HY We can do a similar analysis for HY. From the chart below, we see that for the same period, on a per bond basis an average of 21.74% and 25.30% of trading activity is executed through PT for bonds with low and middle liquidity score respectively, whereas for bonds with high liquidity score, only 13.87% of trading activity are executed through PT. #### CP+ Median Absolute Deviation for Portfolio Trade and RFQ CP+ is designed to predict trade prices for institutional size trades (≥150k). It uses a consistent methodology across various market conditions, making it a reliable benchmark for measuring pricing precision. In the charts below, we plot the median absolute deviation (MAD) of MarketAxess platform traded levels to CP+ to measure the pricing precision of PT and RFQ. ##### Median Absolute Deviation by PT flag in HG - On Platform While PT MAD used to be consistently higher than RFQ MAD, reflecting lesser line-item level pricing precision for PTs compared to all other trades to RFQ, we see this difference diminishing significantly in recent quarters. This indicates that the price discovery effect of PT is close to that of RFQ, as PT pricing accuracy at the basket level is increasingly like RFQ. ##### Median Absolute Deviation by PT flag in HY - On Platform In HY, PT pricing quality was initially lower than RFQ in 2023, with median absolute deviation to CP+ at $0.17 for PT and $0.13 for RFQ. However, by Q1 2025, PT pricing deviation reduced to $0.10, close to the RFQ deviation of $0.09, indicating similar pricing precision as PT's share of trades increased. #### Conclusion Portfolio Trading has surged significantly in both volume and its share of TRACE activity over recent years. This evolution underscores the vital role Portfolio Trading plays in price discovery, particularly for illiquid bonds, which see a higher percentage of their activity within PT baskets. Remarkably, even though PT pricing is negotiated at the basket level, its pricing precision at the line-item level has increasingly mirrored traditional trading protocols like RFQ, enhancing overall market efficiency and price discovery. ### Related content #### The evolution of Portfolio Trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-evolution-of-portfolio-trading) #### The power of data in trading protocol selection [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection) #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) --- # AxessPoint: Speed of trading, algos and velocity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-speed-of-trading-algos-and-velocity #### Highlights - Time to trade is on average 13 times faster in the EU markets than in the US: the median time to trade is 43 seconds in EUR IG vs 10 minutes in USD IG. - Growth of algos in both EU and US markets means that trading can be faster than it used to be. - Submitters already calibrate their timers to size and liquidity but there is the opportunity for them to adjust them even more. - There is little benefit to delay the timers as similar trading outcomes can be obtained with shorter timers. - Trading is expected to continue to get faster with the adoption of automation and more data driven workflows. #### Time to Trade EU markets trade on an ASAP timer model while US markets trade on a Bin timer model. That means EU investors can view quotes back as soon as they are sent, and they can trade against them at any point. In the US markets however, participants must wait until the end of the timer for the quotes to be revealed; only then the execution decision can take place. By the nature of these protocols, trading speed varies considerably between the two markets - EU markets are much faster compared to US ones. US participants tend to use long timers: the median Bin timer in USD IG is 10 minutes. Time to trade – which is defined as the delta between submission time and trade time – can thus only be longer than 10 minutes on 50% of the trades. It explains why speed of trading is slower in US markets. When looking at request for quote (RFQ) activity on MarketAxess in Q1 2023, we saw that 46% of the EUR IG volume was executed in less than one minute while only 2% of the USD IG volume was done in less than one minute. In EUR IG, 93% of the volume was traded in less than four minutes vs 11% of the USD IG volume. 21% of the USD IG volume had a time to trade of more than 20 minutes. ##### Cumulative Distribution of Trade Volume #### Algos Growth Increasingly liquidity providers quote prices via fully automated algorithms. Through their algos, providers can respond faster and across an expanded coverage leading to an improved depth of liquidity on the platform. Responsiveness and quality of responses is improved. We see that both the proportion of responses coming from algos, and proportion of trades executed with an algo increased. In USD IG, 75% of prices came back from algos and two thirds of trades were won by an algo-generated price in Q1 2023. In EUR IG, 63% of responses came from algos in Q1 2023 and half of the trades were executed facing an algo. There has been a massive growth of algos for the past six years, with providers expanding their universes in terms of number of bonds covered and quote size. The bond universe itself grew by 79% from 2017 to 2023: we saw algo responses on ~9,500 unique bonds in USD IG in Q1 2023, up from ~5,300 bonds in Q1 2017. There is also an increase of ticket size that algos are quoting. Despite being initially active only in smaller tickets, algos are now willing to quote larger sizes. In Q1 2017, 66% of <=1MM inquiries received at least one algo response while only 4% of blocks (>5MM) did in USD IG. In Q1 2023, 94% of <=1MM inquiries received at least one algo response and 62% of block inquiries benefited from algo liquidity. ##### % Inquiries with 1+ Algo Response - USD IG While long timers are being used in USD IG, the market is efficient. The presence of algos means participants can quote within a few seconds and the market is thus forming prices instantaneously. Automation is also growing on the submitter side. On the MarketAxess platform, Auto-X RFQ allows clients to automate inquiry orders based on pre-defined tolerance settings. These settings include the inquiry’s size, liquidity, and quality of responses. If all limits are met, then a trade will automatically occur. In USD IG, more than one out of four trades were automated in 2022 and in EUR IG we saw one out of five trades automated. ##### Auto-X % of RFQ Trades #### Velocity In USD IG, we see that submitters naturally adjust their Bin timers with size and liquidity. Bin timers tend to be longer when the size of the inquiry increases and when the Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) of the bond decreases. While the median timer for an <=100K inquiry with a RLS of 10 is seven minutes, it almost doubles (15 minutes) for an inquiry of 2MM+ with a RLS of 1. Given the automation trends, could submitters adjust the timers even more and develop further the use of data within their execution workflow? When looking at the inquiries sent in Q1 2023 in USD IG, we can see that submitters obtain similar trading outcomes regardless of the Bin timer that they set. This is true across several metrics. First, we control that the universe is similar and that inquiries have comparable liquidity profiles. We can see that the average Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) is close to seven, regardless of the timer. The depth of the stack – measured with the number of prices back per inquiry – is greater than 10 across timers. Most of the liquidity is coming from algos and highly automated providers. The liquidity quantity is constant and the quality of execution is similar. Looking at the success rate or hit rate – defined as the number of trades divided by the number of inquiries - the hit rate is above 80% no matter how the timer is set. We also measure the execution quality through Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) vs CP+™ side: we compute the delta between the traded level and CP+ of the same side. Here as well, we can see that the execution occurs very close to CP+ side across Bin timers. Traded levels are within two tenths of a basis point of CP+ side, a small range compared to the full CP+ Bid-Ask Spread - which was 3.7bps for Q1 in USD IG. Depth of liquidity and execution outcomes are positive for submitters regardless of the timer. Shortening timers appears to be a viable solution to gain even more efficiency in the market. Trading workflow can thus be tailored depending on the size of the inquiry and liquidity of the bonds traded. Data-driven approaches are key to mastering and optimizing trading outcomes. Time to trade is expected to reduce further as more automation tools and data driven insights are adopted. CP+™ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 33,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds and highlights the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. It covers nearly 36,000 bonds daily, with scores ranging from 10 - the highest level of liquidity - down to 1. Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) is defined relative to CP+ and is computed as the difference between the trade price and the CP+ price on the corresponding side, at inquiry time. A positive value means the trade occurred inside (more competitive than) CP+ bid or offer, while a negative value means the trade occurred outside (less competitive than) the CP+ bid or offer. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # AxessPoint: The expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidity #### Highlights - Algos currently supply liquidity to 96% of US HG, US HY, EUR IG and EUR HY client RFQs on the MarketAxess platform and are rapidly expanding into block trades (≥5MM). - Inquiries in US HG saw the share of responses coming from algos jump from 12% to 37% for 5-10MM sizes and from 1% to over 16% for ≥10MM orders in the past four years. - Unique bond coverage by algos has grown by 82% since Q1 2021, ensuring near-complete coverage of key ETFs like LQD and HYG. - In the 5–10MM range for EUR IG, the share of inquiries with one or more algo responses surged from 45% to 70% in just two years, demonstrating a shift toward expanding algo liquidity across markets. - The evolution of algorithmic trading is reshaping the future of electronic fixed income trading by enhancing liquidity sourcing and execution outcomes across market segments. Dealer algorithms are liquidity provisioning programs that quote prices back to RFQs using fully automated systems. They now command a significant and growing share of trading volume in the largest market segments, while rapidly expanding into the HY space (both US and EUR). This rise has been fueled in part by the growth of the electronic bond market and by the increasing availability and depth of data from platforms, allowing dealers to continuously refine pricing and liquidity‐prediction models. In Q1 2025, US HG algos were on average providing 11 responses per inquiry and were the counterparty on 88% of trades, which is up 21 percentage points from Q1 2021. It is becoming clear that algos are dominating the liquidity pool and will continue to increase in importance. In particular, the role of algos in executing large-volume transactions is quite significant. This trend is especially evident in block trades where algo-driven trades continue to grow steadily each quarter. The increasing reliance on algorithms not only boosts efficiency and speed but also enhances market depth. The continued expansion of algorithmic trading in the bond market is expected to further transform traditional trading structures and practices, driving changes in how liquidity is sourced. #### Percent of responses from algos by quarter & size bucket US HG Looking at US HG activity on the MarketAxess platform we can see that from Q1 2021 to Q1 2025, the percent of responses coming from algos for inquiries of size 5-10MM has increased from 12% to 37%. For inquiries of size ≥10MM, algorithmic responses have surged from 1% to over 16% in four years. This same trend is also very prominent when we examine the percentage of inquiries with more than one response coming from algos. For inquiries of size ≥10MM, the percentage has seen a massive increase from 10% to 78% in the past four years. #### Percent of responses from algos by quarter & size bucket US HY Focusing on the US HY market, we see a remarkable shift in algorithmic participation over recent years. In Q1 2021, only 20% of responses to inquiries ranging from 1-2MM in size were generated by algos. In Q1 2025 we are observing even greater levels of algorithmic penetration in trades of 3MM and above. In 2021, these larger inquiries had only 7% of responses originating from algos, but in Q1 2025, it had grown to 21%. This increasing share of algo activity is seen across all markets in the 5-10MM range — US HG currently has 93% of inquiries with more than one algo response, US HY at 64%, EUR IG at 70%, and EUR HY at 29%. #### Percent of Inquiries with ≥1 Algo Response for 5-10MM Provider algorithms also have wide coverage in terms of unique bonds and size of orders. In Q1 2025, roughly 11,700 unique US HG bonds were covered by algos which represents a 32% growth from the 8,900 bonds covered in Q1 2021. As the universe of available bonds increases, algos are moving in tandem to maintain their growing coverage. This liquidity results in coverage for 99.8% of CUSIPs in the LQD ETF and 95.8% of CUSIPs inquired for on MarketAxess. For US HY, roughly 3,100 unique bonds are covered representing 95.8% of CUSIPs in the HYG ETF. #### CUSIPs covered by algos And it is not a handful of algos that are providing this coverage—from MarketAxess platform activity we can see that 8.7K out of the 11.7K US HG bonds are covered by 10 or more algos while only 2K bonds are covered by 5 or less. A slightly different dynamic emerges in US HY algo coverage since 900 out of the 3.1K unique bonds are covered by 10 or more algos while 1.8K are covered by 5 or less. Traders can feel much more confident that they will have competitive and fast pricing on their RFQs due to the growing presence of algos. Additionally, the universe covered by algos has been steadily expanding across both size and liquidity profile. The tables below show how responses from algos vary across liquidity and quantity dimensions. The Liquidity Buckets represent groupings of our Relative Liquidity Score. Over the past four years, US HG has seen the percentage of responses coming from algos roughly double in larger-size segments. For example, in the 2MM-3MM bucket, algo responses have jumped from averages in the mid-20s in Q1 2021 to over 60–71% in Q1 2025. More extreme trends are observed in the 3MM-4MM and 4MM-5MM buckets, where increases of over 300% indicate that even as trade sizes grow, algos are now able to provide robust liquidity and pricing. ##### Percent of responses from algos US HG Q1 In US HY, the growth is even more dramatic with several segments more than tripling their algo participation. In the 5-7 liquidity 2MM-3MM segment, the percentage of responses from algos has grown from approximately 12% in Q1 2021 to 33% in Q1 2025. Additionally, for inquiries >3MM, the percentage of responses from algos have increased from roughly 4% to 20%, underscoring that high-volume, HY trades are now supported by a significantly enhanced liquidity pool. ##### Percent of responses from algos US HY Q1 These responses are also leading to increased trades with algos as the counterparty. Between Q1 2021 and Q1 2025, the share of trades with algos as the counterparty for orders over 1M in US HG increased by roughly 30 percentage points. In US HY, the proportion of algo trades for trades over 1M grew by about 20 percentage points. Similar trends are seen in the European market across EUR IG and EUR HY with increases in both the percentage of responses and trades coming from algos. The tables below show various metrics segmented by trade size for US HG and US HY. The US HG data shows that for larger trade sizes (5–10MM and >10MM), the MarketAxess platform delivers robust liquidity with competitive pricing. For instance, on the >10MM bucket – which represents 8.2% of inquiry volume – there is an average of 8.4 responses and a hit rate of 85.4%, indicating efficient execution and minimal price impact. ##### US HG Q1 2025 metrics *RLS = Relative Liquidity Score Similarly, there is evidence to support executing larger block trades in high-yield markets. The >3MM bucket averages 5.3 responses with a hit rate of 68.8%, reinforcing that block-sized trades can secure competitive pricing and reliable liquidity. ##### US HY Q1 2025 metrics The growth of algorithmic trading has had a transformative effect on the bond market, significantly enhancing market liquidity and pricing efficiency. Better RFQ and trade data, along with improved models, have enhanced algo pricing capabilities, encouraging dealers to take on more risk. As the share of algo responses continues to rise across market segments and trade sizes, traders are becoming confident in executing larger orders electronically. The rapid expansion of algo participation—particularly in larger size transactions—has not only improved execution quality but also fostered greater competition and speed in pricing. The increased coverage of unique bonds and the continued evolution of algorithmic strategies have created a large liquidity pool, empowering traders to engage in higher-value trades with greater confidence. This trend is expected to persist, with algorithmic trading playing an increasingly dominant role in shaping the future of fixed income market dynamics. CP+™ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 33,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds and highlights the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. It covers nearly 36,000 bonds daily, with scores ranging from 10 - the highest level of liquidity - down to 1. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### AxessPoint: The new era of corporate bond trading for retail investors [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-trading-dynamics-of-retail-orders-in-ushg-price-protocol) #### AxessPoint: Intraday liquidity trends [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends) #### Blockbusting Part 4 | Block execution in USHG [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-4-block-execution-in-ushg) --- # AxessPoint: The new era of corporate bond trading for retail investors Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-the-new-era-of-corporate-bond-trading-for-retail-investors #### Highlights - 49% of responses arrive within 2 seconds, and the average trade completion time on the USHG ASAP Price protocol is 60 seconds. - We see 77% hit rate and avg 6.7 responses per inquiry on the platform. - Orders below 150K achieve favorable TCA outcomes, higher hit rates, and receive more responses. USHG ASAP Price protocol is primarily used by Private Banks and Wealth Management execution desks across various order sizes. We observe strong liquidity and favorable execution outcomes for odd-lot and retail-sized orders within this protocol. Especially smaller orders below 150K benefit from deep liquidity and faster execution—this is a new area of trading efficiency for retail investors. #### Platform activity Data: We use client RFQ data from platform over the period from September 2024 to February 2025 under the USHG ASAP Price protocol. 60% of the orders have sizes below 150K, and 90% are below 500K. On average, we observe a 77% hit rate and receive 6.7 responses per inquiry on the platform. Both metrics tend to decline for orders larger than 150K. #### Speed of trading and responses 49.2% of responses arrive within 2 seconds, and 98.7% of responses arrive within 1 minute. For orders below 150K, 92% of responses are received within 20 seconds. Larger orders take longer to receive responses, and we observe a decline in response speed for orders exceeding 150K. Orders with sizes below 150K execute within a minute, with initial responses arriving in an average of 6 seconds. For orders larger than 150K, both time to trade and response arrival take slightly longer. In both cases, orders involving liquid bonds tend to execute and receive initial responses more quickly. The high speed of responses and trading combined with the availability of highly accurate pricing pre-trade through CP+™ represents opportunities for retail investor to execute quickly and efficiently. Liquid bonds receive more responses than illiquid ones. The figure below illustrates the response arrivals over time. On average bonds with an RLS 7 or higher receive 7 responses in 10 seconds. We observe faster execution with fully automated orders, with an average trade time of 40 seconds—aligning with users' minimum wait time settings. In contrast, Auto-X inquiries with manual overrides and manual RFQs take longer to execute. #### TCA outcomes In terms of execution costs, orders below 150K have average TCA within 1 cent of CP+ side. The figure below illustrates how TCA changes with order size. TCA outcomes tend to worsen as order size gets larger after 150K. CP+ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 33,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds and highlights the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. It covers nearly 36,000 bonds daily, with scores ranging from 10 - the highest level of liquidity - down to 1. Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) is defined relative to CP+ and is computed as the difference between the trade price and the CP+ price on the corresponding side, at inquiry time. A positive value means the trade occurred inside (more competitive than) CP+ bid or offer, while a negative value means the trade occurred outside (less competitive than) the CP+ bid or offer. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### AxessPoint: Intraday Liquidity Trends [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends) #### Blockbusting Part 4 | Block execution in USHG [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-4-block-execution-in-ushg) #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) --- # AxessPoint: Tradability deep dive—insights powered by an enhanced liquidity metric Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint-tradability-deep-dive-insights-powered-by-an-enhanced-liquidity-metric Tradability is our machine learning based AI model that is calibrated to predict market depth on a bond, side, and size level. Tradability is primarily used for estimating responsiveness for a potential RFQ, but there are several supplemental insights that can be extrapolated with the knowledge of provider interest and market direction. - What to trade: Tradability assesses the current, absolute liquidity of an individual bond—helping traders determine whether a specific security can be executed efficiently right now, based on live market conditions. - How to trade: The difference between Tradability buy and sell values (skew) can be used as an indicator of pre-trade costs as well as future potential to unwind an order. - When to trade: Intra-day updates of the Tradability model give insight into current conditions and the market’s reaction to news on both a bond/ticker level as well as a market-wide basis. Tradability is a tool that can be used as a standalone data input or as an expansion of our existing RLS (Relative Liquidity Score) product. RLS provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for an individual bond, highlighting the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. Bonds with a higher RLS see more responses, smaller bid-ask spreads, and improved transaction costs (TCA). Tradability has a similar linear relationship for trades on bond/side/size situations with higher predictions. We see a strong linear correlation between the number of responses an RFQ gets and expected execution quality. Additionally, Tradability goes further than RLS by not only being bond specific in its prediction but giving a score that is relevant for a particular order, due to the fact that it considers order side, size, and time of day. This directly leads to a further use case of the Tradability data set — it can be used to show not only which bonds to trade, but also how and when to trade. While traditional RLS can be used as a point of comparison between bonds to see which is more fit, Tradability can help us map out entry and exit liquidity due to its size and side characteristics. An important value that we can derive from Tradability data is skew, which measures the difference between the buy and sell predictions on a bond and size. The higher the skew value is, the cheaper it will be to purchase a bond, with differences measuring at 7-10 cents depending on prevailing market sentiment (figure 1). However, selling off that particular holding later may be costly if market direction holds. One potential outlet for orders like this may be through portfolio trading. As has been discussed in previous pieces like our [PT vs RFQ white paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-vs-list-whitepaper), illiquid line items in portfolio orders tend to see favorable execution outcomes when included in a well-balanced basket. This opens the opportunity to potentially acquire a bond with high skew cheaply via RFQ and exit the position later via PT. ###### Figure 1: RFQ TCA by Skew/Side An example of Tradability aiding in how to trade can be seen in Auto-X™ RFQ. Historically, RLS has been used as a pre-trade selection criterion for automation eligibility. Tradability goes one step further by being not only instrument but also side and size specific. In this situation, Tradability can be used as a reliable guidepost for order selection. As can be seen in the chart below (figure 2), even for high liquidity bonds (defined as RLS of 7 and above) there are over 400 ISINs per day that have a Tradability skew of 3 or greater in either direction. At times we observe cases at the bond or market level where the skew inverts, with sell interest outpacing buys. In a recent example here, we can see that due to issuer/bond level liquidity differences even bonds that would look identical from a liquidity score perspective see vastly different Tradability outcomes, either skewed towards buys, sells (inverted), or flat (figure 3). ###### Figure 2: Average daily number of ISINs by Skew ###### Figure 3: Tradability Skew for similar bonds (RLS 10, 5-year maturity bucket, Oil-Gas-Exploration, 100k-1MM) Intra-day updates of Tradability can also give an indicator of market reaction to news and liquidity events. A recent notable example of this was the April 2025 volatility spike seen across the market. As uncertainty rose, we observed a sharp difference in market-wide Tradability predictions. Between President Trump’s announcement on April 2nd and the peak of market volatility from April 8-10th, Tradability predictions dropped roughly 20% on a market-wide basis, reflecting uncertainties felt by liquidity providers (figure 4). More granularly, there were several occasions where average Tradability predictions fell by nearly an entire response on an hour-over-hour basis intraday*. ###### Figure 4: Median Tradability values vs April 1st, 2025 In conclusion, Tradability is a tool that has a wide set of use cases across the trading spectrum. Order-specific insights from the model can help illuminate expected trading costs and outcomes, and a higher-level view of aggregate predictions can be used to track sentiment, net flows, and intraday changes on an issuer, sector, or market-wide basis. By integrating Tradability into workflows, market participants can better navigate liquidity events and volatility while executing existing orders with greater pre-trade assurance. *Tradability scores were capped at 10 during this period. Tradability was later uncapped starting on 5/10/2025, revealing a wider range of scores and more precise predictions. ### Related content #### AxessPoint: Axe quality and reliability evolution across major markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-axe-quality-and-reliability-evolution-across-major-markets) #### AxessPoint: AI infrastructure boom reshapes hyperscaler bond liquidity [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-ai-infrastructure-boom-reshapes-hyperscaler-bond-liquidity) #### AxessPoint: Playing the long game — the best solutions for long duration trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-playing-the-long-game-the-best-solutions-for-long-duration-trading) --- # AxessPoint: Intraday bid/ask spreads in global corporate bond markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_Intraday-bid-ask-spreads-in-global-corporate-bond-markets #### Highlights - Bid/ask spreads are wider in the morning and narrower throughout the day as trading information increases. - The delta between opening and closing spreads was greater during the crisis, in line with wider bid/ask spreads and more volatile pricing. Additionally, spreads re-widened intraday with greater frequency. - USHG, when compared to ASIA USD and EURO EUR, showed the most spread tightening intraday. #### Wider bid/ask spreads in the morning When measuring the median CP+ bid/ask spread by hour of the day across global corporate bond markets, we observe that CP+ bid/ask spreads begin the day wider and tighten throughout the day. As more market data becomes available throughout the day, bond pricing moves towards a consensus, leading to less uncertainty and tighter bid/ask spreads. For example, USHG in January 2020, median 8am – 4pm (NY Time) bid/ask spread tightened by $0.077, or 26% of the opening bid/ask spread. We observed the same phenomena in other regions as well; with ASIA USD spreads being $0.0252 (11.7%) and EURO EUR at €0.0162 (11.2%) for the same period leveraging Singapore time for ASIA bonds and London Time for EURO. Figure 1. Regional median intraday bid/ask spreads in price. Bonds quoted on price basis. Figure 2. Percentage Tightening of Intraday Spreads, Higher percentages indicate spreads moving more significantly over the day. #### Volatility drove bid/ask spreads higher Pre-crisis intraday bid/ask spread differentials were comparatively lower than during the height of the crisis. As we noted in a previous [AxessPoint](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_adjusting-to-a-new-normal-in-european-credit-markets), bid/ask spreads increased over the crisis and have slowly tightened since. Intraday bid/ask spreads also experienced a dislocation due to the volatility, where markets tightened over the day, but appeared to widen into the close, potentially due to news that introduced fresh uncertainty. Figure 3. USHG intraday CP+ bid/ask spread behavior before, during and after the crisis. Globally, higher volatility drove bid/ask spreads wider over the day, and increased costs into the day’s close. In March 2020 specifically, frequent global news headlines around the pandemic resulted in multiple intraday widenings as participants tried to digest market impact in real time. In April, bid/ask spreads opened even wider at the start of the day, but with fewer spikes as the world settled into the new normal. April opening bid/ask vs. normal times was also multiples higher in all regions. #### Redefining real-time bond pricing CP+™ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 29,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Adjusting to a new normal in European credit markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_adjusting-to-a-new-normal-in-european-credit-markets #### Highlights - Since the market sell off caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic, bid/ask spreads in European credit markets are settling at twice their pre-crisis levels. - Bid/ask spreads peaked at €0.43 for EUR IG, €0.85 for EUR HY, £0.61 for GBP IG, and have since fallen by approximately 1/3ʳᵈ. With upcoming fiscal and monetary stimulus in Europe, spreads are settling. #### Stabilising bid/ask spreads Until the end of February, European bid/ask spreads were among the tightest across major markets. For example, at the start of February the [Composite+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) spread for EUR IG was at €0.09, while that for EUR HY was €0.20, and GBP IG was £0.21. At the height of the crisis, European price spreads saw increases of +377% in EUR IG (€0.09 to €0.43), +325% in EUR HY (€0.20 to €0.85), and +190% in GBP IG (£0.21 to £0.61). Following this, with the number of new COVID-19 cases declining in Europe and a series of newly announced ECB monetary stimulus packages, bid/ask spreads started falling and have now stabilized. European bid/ask spreads remain 2-3x higher than pre-crisis, with EUR IG at €0.22 vs €0.09, EUR HY at €0.49 vs €0.20, and GBP IG £0.40 vs £0.21 pre-crisis. #### Divergence in bid/ask by sector and maturity There has been a divergence between different sectors and maturities, with some recovering slower than others. For example, the bid/ask for short-end maturity EUR-Financials still remains four times higher (€0.16 vs €0.04 pre-crisis), while the short end Sterling Utility sector is only one and a half times higher than that pre-crisis (£0.16 vs £0.11 pre-crisis); see below table. #### Top traded investment grade sectors by currency #### Adjusting to a new normal As the global economy begins to open and people start to adjust to a new working environment, credit markets have likewise adjusted. After March peaks, bid/ask spreads have stabilized at levels roughly twice that pre-crisis, with some sectors tightening quicker than others. With European fiscal and monetary stimulus on the horizon, spreads could remain at these elevated levels for the foreseeable future. ##### Redefining real-time bond pricing Composite+ (CP+) is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 25,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates over 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). ### Related content #### AxessPoint: A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) #### Composite+ AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### White Paper: Algorithmic pricing for the European credit market [Read the white paper](https://assets.marketaxess.com/2019-01/MKTX_European_Composite%2B_whitepaper.pdf) --- # AxessPoint: Analyzing chair gensler’s comments on TRACE reporting Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_analyzing-chair-genslers-comments-on-trace-reporting #### Highlights - The SEC chair recently announced the SEC was considering reducing the reporting window for US corporate bond transactions to TRACE from 15 minutes to 1 minute in an effort to improve post-trade transparency in the fixed income market. - Currently, greater than 80% of all uncorrected prints on TRACE are already disseminated within 60 seconds. - Trades that would be most impacted by such a change to reporting requirements are block trades. #### SEC chair’s proposal and the current bond landscape During a recent regulatory event, SEC chair Gary Gensler outlined several potential changes to corporate bond reporting in an effort to increase transparency in capital markets. One of the more notable mentions was to reduce the reporting window for TRACE corporate bond transactions significantly, from the current 15 minute requirement – which has been in place since shortly after TRACE was launched in 2005 – to just 1 minute. Citing the increasing electronification of bond markets, the proposition was backed with the understanding that a large portion of municipal bond trades are already reported well within the potential timeframe*. Our analysis** of recent TRACE data from the month of April 2022 shows that 83% of trades were reported within 60 seconds of execution. The average time to report for all trades was 37.9 seconds, and half of all trades were disseminated within 9 seconds. ##### Average and median TRACE reporting time gap by month Going back to the start of 2020, average and median time to report for the TRACE platform have remained within a very tight range. Average time to report has stayed within 35-50 seconds, while median has been between 7 and 14 seconds. This has held through periods of high and low trading activity, including the extreme volatility as seen in the COVID market shock of 2020, and does not show any seasonality effects. #### Using trace feed to determine affected parties A further examination of TRACE data allows us to qualify the above and identify those trades that would be most affected by this potential change. The below chart shows the breakdown of trades from April 2022 by size bucket and what portion of each were reported within the proposed timeframe. As noted in a 2019 piece by Greenwich Associates, upwards of 90% of micro-lot trades (below 100 bonds) are executed on electronic marketplaces. These trades make up a large majority of the trade feed by count but are often less than 5% of overall volume collectively. The largest trades are currently reported with the largest gaps in time from execution. ##### TRACE reporting time gap by trade size (Apr. 2022) *A 2012 study by MSRB listed that 73.4% of all trades were reported within 1 minute **The universe for the above TRACE analysis is all trade prints reported in the month of April 2022 (except where noted), excluding cancellations, corrected records, and records that occurred outside of market hours For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # AxessPoint: Axes and trading behaviour in EUR IG blocks Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_axes-and-trading-behaviour-in-eur-ig-blocks #### Highlights - Responders who improve upon their pre-trade level (Axe or Pre-trade indicative levels) tend to win more on block inquiries. - For block inquiries, axe levels slippage is substantially smaller than pre-trade indicative levels slippage. - Response and win rates substantially increase when a dealer is streaming Axe information. They increase further when the axe level is competitive or the axe size is large. #### Slippage improvement to win a block inquiry We investigate the change in slippage in block sized inquiries when the responder wins the inquiry compared to when they don’t. We define slippage as the difference between the response level on an inquiry and the axe/ pre-trade indicative level being streamed at the same time by the same dealer. A positive slippage means that the response was more competitive than the pre-trade level. Looking at both axes and pre-trade indicative levels in block inquiries, to trade, the responder must submit a more competitive level than its pre-trade level. #### Responses vs trades slippage for block inquiries For block inquiries, the axe slippage is smaller than the pre-trade indicative level one, meaning that axe levels are closer to the response levels than pre-trade indicative levels are. Firm responses are in line with axes (0 EUR cents slippage on responses) while 4 EUR cents worse than the corresponding pre-trade indicative levels (slippage is -4 EUR cents). #### Effect of pre-trade levels on response and win rates in blocks Using EUR IG March-May 2022 data, we demonstrate the effect of streaming axes on response and win rates. We define block inquiries as inquiries of >5mm in size. Response rate is defined as the proportion of disclosed inquiry invites that received a response. While win rate is defined as the proportion of inquiries that traded. Response and win rates vary depending on whether dealers are axed and on the quality and size of their axe. Both a competitive axe level and a higher axe size improve the response outcome. #### Relationship of response and win rates with axes for block inquiries In block inquiries, the win rate and response rate go from 11% and 49% respectively when streaming pre-trade indicative levels to 21% and 55% when streaming a top 3 pre-trade indicative level to 22% and 69% when axed, to 30% and 96% when the axe size is >5mm*, and to 38% and 75% when the axe is a top 3 pre-trade level*. Dealers win most when they are invited on a bond for which they are streaming an axe that is a top 3 pre-trade level. *Sample size for these subsets is relatively small. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # AxessPoint: BBB-rated corporate bond activity through the crisis Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_bbb-rated-corporate-bond-activity-through-the-crisis #### Highlights - BBB-rated activity has grown substantially through 2020, rising from 32% to 37% of TRACE as of February 2021. - During the crisis period, BBB bid-ask spreads rose more and remained elevated longer than other Investment Grade ratings. #### Overall growth in trace-reported activity This universe of bonds with S&P ratings of BBB+, BBB, or BBB- appearing on TRACE in 2020 grew 6.5% vs 2019, to a new high of 11,353 unique CUSIPs. The total amount of outstanding debt on these bonds grew from $3.7T to $4.9T with the largest new issues coming from Pemex, AT&T, T-Mobile and AbbVie. #### Volume Share of TRACE by S&P rating BBB volume grew from $244.6B in February 2020 to $308.4B in February 2021 – a 26% increase YoY. This pushed its TRACE volume share by rating from 32.2% in February 2020 to 37.0% in February 2021, hitting a high of 37.9% in October 2020. Trade count grew by 14% from 494,327 to 564,381 and average trade size increased by 10% to $546k. #### Comsposite+™ bid/ask spread by S&P rating Bid/Ask spreads widened considerably across all ratings in March 2020, with BBB bonds hitting 8.73bps – higher than any other rating bucket. Although BBB bonds spiked higher than their counterparts, they recovered much more quickly than high yield bonds and dropped back down to pre-crisis levels within a year. #### Uncapped TRACE from MarketAxess Using an intelligent mapping engine, the uncapped TRACE report has been linked to the original trade records as an add-on to the standard Corporates and 144a feed. This provides accurate trade-level information for transactions that were previously capped, going all the way back to the inception of the feed in July of 2002. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Block trading activity in US credit during the 2020 crisis Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_block-trading-activity-in-us-credit-during-the-2020-crisis #### Highlights - Both US High Grade and US High Yield capped trade activity saw significant growth in the first half of 2020. - The largest trade sizes were an area of opportunity for buyers, as buys outperformed sells of similar size by as much as 17 cents. #### Capped trade activity during market turmoil Our previous [AxessPoint](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_european-government-bonds-bid-ask-spread-analysis) described FINRA’s timeline for disclosing uncapped trade quantities. Now that the complete data for the first half of 2020 is available, we can look carefully at March-June 2020, the most volatile period since the 2008 financial crisis. Trade counts and volumes rose sharply as investors rushed to update their strategies in the quickly shifting market. This was even more true in High Yield names, as concerns around downgrades and fallen angels led to forced sales for some and opportunities for others. High Grade block trades saw increased activity overall in the first half of 2020, in line with count and volume growth market wide. March, April, May, and June had the four largest HG block trade counts on record, with April’s total of over 23,000 the highest among them. Further, there were more than 10,000 HG block trades of 20MM or more over the same period, a record as well. The C2D buy/sell ratio in this segment peaked in March at a rate of 1.2 Buys/Sell. High Yield block volumes rose by 29.8% overall, outpacing volume growth as a whole. HY block volumes over 10MM exploded, growing by 50% YOY. There were more HY block trades of 50MM and above in 1H 2020 than in all of 2019. The HY market remained very well-balanced, at 1.08 Buys/Sell. #### Measuring performance of block trades The uncapped data allows us to measure trade performance for specific size buckets that are normally masked. Looking at the universe of HG C2D buys and sells for the first half of 2020, the original capped data set shows that client buys outperformed [Composite+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) offer price at the time of execution by 2.9 cents, and client sells underperformed the CP+ bid by 1.3 cents on a median basis. Median market-wide C2D TCA vs. CP+ ranged from -1.3 cents in January to -7.8 cents in March. Using the uncapped data, we can provide a more granular breakdown that shows this performance gap between buys and sells grows sharply for larger block sizes. For trades from 5-10MM and 10-20MM, the premium remained close to the overall value, at 2.5 and 5.1 cents, respectively. For blocks between 20 and 50MM, the premium rose to 7.7 cents. For trades over 50MM, the number was a sizable 17.3 cents. High yield numbers showed a similar trend, with the premium stretching from 4.8 cents for trades from 1-5MM to 17.4 cents for trades of 50MM and above. #### 1H 2020 US High Grade Median TCA vs. Composite+ ($) #### Uncapped TRACE from MarketAxess Using an intelligent mapping engine, the uncapped TRACE report has been linked to the original trade records as an add-on to the standard Corporates and 144a feed. This provides accurate trade-level information for transactions that were previously capped, going all the way back to the inception of the feed in July of 2002. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Comparing corporate bond liquidity across regions Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_comparing-corporate-bond-liquidity-across-regions #### Highlights - The US corporate bond market offers a significantly greater number of ISINs with high daily trade counts than other developed markets. - The most liquid ISINs in the US market typically see more daily trades than the most liquid ISINs in European markets. - Depth of liquidity increases more rapidly as Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) increases for US IG bonds than for US HY bonds. #### Depth of liquidity The rise of automation has led to increased market interest in highly liquid bonds that change hands frequently. A metric that can be used to assess liquidity from this perspective is the depth of liquidity, which we define as the total number of secondary market trades an ISIN sees in a day. During FY 2021, we find that, on average, 1,316 US IG ISINs have a depth of liquidity greater or equal to 10 on a given day, compared to 52 in EUR IG (Figure 1).1 This disparity in depth of liquidity is not limited to absolute ISIN count terms, but persists as a share of daily ISINs traded, since around 18% of US IG and HY ISINs traded on a given day had a depth of liquidity of at least 10, compared to 3% in EUR IG Corps, and 1% in GBP IG Corps. We thus see a substantially steeper drop-off in depth of liquidity in European markets than in US markets. This is particularly evident when comparing the US HY and EUR IG universe, which are comparable in terms of average number of unique ISINs traded per day (2,325 vs 1,948), but the US HY market has a substantially greater number of ISINs with strong depth of liquidity (414 vs 53). Fig 1: Cumulative distribution of average % of daily ISINs traded and average ISIN counts by depth of liquidity and market (FY 2021). #### Depth of liquidity by relative liquidity score (RLS) When comparing depth of liquidity across markets by RLS, we see the pattern of superior liquidity in US markets persist. Bonds in the most liquid portion (RLS = 10) of the EUR IG bond universe typically trade 3.21 times per day, compared to an average of 15.08 and 6.63 in US IG and US HY (Figure 2). Within the US market, as RLS increases, the depth of liquidity for US IG bonds increases rapidly, whereas we see a more moderate increase in US HY. For example, an RLS increase from 6 to 10 yields an expected depth of liquidity growth of 305% for US IG (3.72 à 15.08), compared to only a 33% expected increase in depth of liquidity for US HY (4.98 à 6.63). This large relative spike in depth of liquidity for US IG bonds with high RLS coincides with a spike in ETF constituency. For example, on average 83% of US IG ISINs with an RLS of 10 are constituents of the actively traded iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD), compared to 27% of bonds with an RLS of 6. For the US HY universe, this ETF relationship appears less pronounced, as the percentage of ISINs included in the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) remains fairly constant around 60% for ISINs with RLS between 6 and 10. Fig 2: ​​​​Average daily trade count by Relative Liquidity Score and market (FY 2021). ##### Relative Liquidity Score (RLS) Methodology The proprietary MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score provides a consolidated measure of the current liquidity of an individual bond, using factors such as trading activity, MarketAxess platform inquiry activity and platform dealer activity. The methodology covers approximately 33,000 bonds daily. Scores range from one to ten, where ten indicates the highest level of liquidity and one the lowest. 1 It should be noted that figures for US markets are based on TRACE volumes, whereas European market insights are based on TraX® volumes. Centralized reporting of European market data is not mandated and thus TraX® is estimated to cover 75% of European market activity, compared to 100% US market coverage by TRACE. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # AxessPoint: Comparing transaction costs for retail vs institutional investors Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_comparing-transaction-costs-for-retail-vs-institutional-investors #### Highlights - We observe via TRACE that small size trades execute significantly wider than larger trades. For example, trades less than $50k in notional size execute more than 6 cents wider in US High Grade and more than 30 cents wider in US High Yield. - However, this small size effect on transaction costs doesn’t hold for 144a bonds. Since 144a bonds are only tradeable by qualified investors, and since retail investors trade mostly smaller quantities, we believe that whether an investor is institutional or not is a more determining factor than trade size. #### A look at US High Grade Firstly looking at TRACE, we observe that micro lots trade wider than larger trades. Wider means that the trade price is further away from the [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) price (for ‘Dealer Buys’ trades we compare to CP+ bid and for ‘Dealer Sells’ to the CP+ offer) and therefore less advantageous for the liquidity taker, which is usually the buy-side client. However, trade size is only a confounding factor and the dimension that matters most is whether the investor is institutional or not. Even though there is no investor type field in the TRACE database, we can control for the investor variable by comparing 144a bonds, which only qualified investors can trade, to other bonds which anybody can trade, including retail investors. #### Transaction costs by trade quantity and bond type | US High Grade* The graph above represents the US High Grade transaction cost (US$) by size bucket. It is defined as the distance between the TRACE trade price and the CP+ price on the corresponding side. A positive value on the y-axis means that the trade was inside CP+ (better for the liquidity taker). A negative value means that it was outside CP+ (worse for the liquidity taker). Each size bucket’s value in the chart is the median of all observations. On the one hand, the graph shows that, for non 144a bonds, trades under $100k are priced significantly wider than CP+ while trades above $100k are in-line with CP+. On the other hand, for 144a bonds, quantity is hardly a factor at all, and all size buckets are in line with CP+. #### A look at US High Yield In US High Yield, the same trend is confirmed. The size effect is even more pronounced for non-144a bonds and, hardly a factor for 144a bonds. #### Transaction costs by trade quantity and bond type | US High Yield* #### Sizing the impact A final illustration of the relationship between investor type and trade quantities on TRACE is that only 17% of the trades in 144a bonds are micro lots (i.e. the notional is less than or equal to $100k) vs 68% for non-144a bonds. *May to July 2020 TRACE data (Client to Dealer trades only, riskless principal trades are excluded) #### Redefining real-time bond pricing CP+™ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 28,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates over 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. --- # AxessPoint: Comparing the March 2022 volatility to March 2020 in US Investment Grade Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_corp-bond-price-movements #### Highlights - March 2022 was the most volatile month in the US credit market since the height of the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020. - Contrary to the March 2020 sell-off, credit traders were mostly takers of the March 2022 volatility episode as corporate bond price changes were mainly decided by movements in another asset class, namely US treasuries. - This could explain why the March 2022 increase in corporate bond transaction costs was contained: despite volatility reaching 40% of what it was in March 2020, transaction costs were only 33% of what they were then. #### Volatility and transaction costs ##### Daily credit spread, treasury yield and yield changes Fig 1: Daily credit spread, treasury yield and yield changes. Figure 1 shows the median daily absolute Composite+ credit spread, treasury yield and yield changes, in bps, for US investment grade (IG) corporate bonds. In March 2022, the median absolute daily yield change, a proxy for volatility, reached about 40% of what it was at the height of the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020 (6.2 bps vs 15.5 bps). In March 2020, corporate bonds sell-off led to spread to treasury changes being the main driver behind price movements whereas in March 2022, the primary drivers were changes in treasury yields. Indeed, the volatility was driven outside of the credit market, more specifically by the war in Ukraine and the actions of the Federal reserve to curb inflation. This can explain why transaction costs as measured by the Composite+ bid-ask spread were only about one third of what they were then (4.5 bps vs 14.0 bps). ##### Composite+ bid/ask spread in yield terms Fig 2: Composite+ Bid/Ask Spread in yield terms #### Treasury yields as the main drivers of corporate bond price changes Except for the covid-19 crisis, over the past 5 years, daily treasury yield changes have been consistently larger than daily credit spread changes. In 2021, the median absolute daily credit spread change was 0.87 bp while the median absolute daily treasury change was 2.13 bps. Knowing that corporate bond prices are a direct function of yield [corporate bond yield = treasury yield + credit spread], in 2021, treasury yield changes were responsible for 71% of daily US IG corporate bond price changes. Even though many of the 40,000 US IG corporates only trade sporadically, they benefit from the real-time price discovery process happening in Treasuries. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) --- # AxessPoint: Dealer RFQ Cost Savings via Open Trading® Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_dealer-rfq-cost-savings-via-open-trading #### Highlights - Dealer RFQs on MarketAxess have access to a larger liquidity pool than traditional inter-dealer networks as 43% of trades are with non-dealer counterparties. - Dealer Open Trading cost savings grew to 7.6bps (US IG), $0.64 (US HY), $0.24 (US EM), €0.23 per bond for Q3 2020. #### An expanded liquidity pool Dealer RFQ includes the traditional inter-dealer counterparty network, of course, but simultaneously includes our all-to-all Open Trading network with non-dealer counterparties globally. The liquidity provision from Open Trading is unique and significantly additive to a dealer’s outcome. #### Dealer RFQs won by non-dealers Source: MarketAxess The chart above illustrates how often the Open Trading network acts as a liquidity provider. For example, the diversity of participants has helped increase its share from 28% to 50% in 2020 for US IG. #### Savings during and post-crisis In the previous AxessPoint, ‘[Estimating pre-trade Open Trading cost savings for liquidity takers’](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_estimating-pre-trade-open-trading-cost-savings), we highlighted the savings investor clients realize through Open Trading, these savings also extend to Dealer RFQs submitted through Open Trading as well. #### Average monthly dealer OTCS Source: MarketAxess Dealer OTCS followed a similar trend as their investor client counterparts, namely as market volatility increased, Dealer OTCS increases in step. US IG grew from 5bps (Feb) to almost 17bps (March), a 260% increase. US HY increased from 58 cents to 102 cents, 75% increase. EM USD and EUR IG also saw significant increases. Additionally, Dealer OTCS remains elevated in every market against the start of the year, with a 38% average increase. #### Dealer Open Trading Cost Savings (Dealer OTCS) Measured per bond, Dealer Open Trading Cost Savings is the price differential (improvement) between the winning Open Trading response with a non-dealer and the best dealer response. This represents the benefit gained by a Dealer through Open Trading versus a traditional inter-dealer broker network. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Estimating pre-trade Open Trading™ cost savings Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_estimating-pre-trade-open-trading-cost-savings #### Highlights - Open Trading contributes meaningful cost savings for liquidity takers (inquiry submitters), which is most often presented in post-trade reporting. - Establishing pre-trade expectations of Open Trading’s cost savings for liquidity takers can be an important factor in determining how to manage an order. #### Cost savings expectations Any post-trade review of [Open Trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) cost savings is an important part of understanding its total contribution to trading outcomes. How can traders incorporate that insight into their pre-trade process, however? Of course, they can always oversimplify and assume that the recent historical cost savings would be a good approximation of what to expect in the near future, which is a common and reasonable starting point. But for any specific order, what should Open Trading cost savings expectations be? We know, for example, that realized cost savings are highest where liquidity can be more challenging, so the pre-trade effort of being more specific should pay off. To help traders create a pre-trade expectation, we can link it with something that traders more thoroughly understand and experience. Since Open Trading cost savings for liquidity takers is structurally similar to the cover level, we’ve added a chart plotting those two elements—Open Trading cost savings and cover delta—over the last 52 weeks for the US Investment Grade activity on MarketAxess. Here we can observe a direct linear relationship between them. #### Open Trading cost savings (liquidity taker) vs true best to cover In the chart, we see that when a cover is 1.5 bps, the cost savings is 1.8 bps. Similarly, when the cover is 2 bps, the cost savings is 2.5 bps. The correlation is an extremely high at 0.99. #### Open Trading cost savings (liquidity taker) by liquidity score and dealer side Taking it a step further, the tables highlight that this strong relationship holds when split by Liquidity Score or by side. By establishing confidence in this linkage, traders can build pre-trade Open Trading cost savings expectations, which can then be used to improve trading outcomes especially in circumstances where Open Trading cost savings is expected to be large and add the most value. ##### Calculating the Open Trading cost savings (OTCS) Measured per bond, Open Trading cost savings for Liquidity Takers is the price differential (improvement) between the winning Open Trading response and the best disclosed dealer response; e.g. the disclosed dealer cover, which would have been the best available response absent Open Trading. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Euro Investment Grade price dispersion during volatility Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_euro-investment-grade-price-dispersion-during-volatility #### Highlights - Price dispersion in EUR IG drastically increased throughout February and peaked in March. Since April, it has started to decrease and has stabilized at nearly the pre-crisis level. - The distribution of price deltas between trades and the corresponding Composite+™ side flattened during the crisis but stayed centered around zero. - Win rates—which are driven by client acceptance rates—on levels wider than Composite+ side peaked in April and are now decreasing to pre-crisis levels. #### Measuring price dispersion We measure price dispersion through two indicators: A) The price delta between the traded level of RFQs executed on MKTX and the corresponding Composite+ side – a positive delta means the level is better than the Composite + bid/offer while a negative delta means the level is worse than Composite+ side and B) The win rate of the liquidity provider sending the most competitive level to an inquiry, as a function of the distance to the Composite+ side. Price dispersion can be seen as a secondary risk, with bid/ask the primary pricing risk (read our [prior AxessPoint](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) on the volatility in bid/ask spreads brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic). #### Euro Investment Grade price deltas Pre-crisis price dispersion was low, with the distribution of price deltas between traded levels and Composite+ side peaking around zero. Trades were tightly distributed around Composite+, demonstrating its accuracy and unbiased nature. #### Distribution of price deltas vs Composite+ side As shown in the above plot, in January, 74% trade levels were within 10 cents of Composite+ side and less than 2% were more than 40 cents wider than Composite+ side. During the crisis, there was in shift of liquidity demands, and alongside extreme price uncertainty which lead to higher price dispersion. This price dispersion drastically increased throughout February and March. The distribution of price deltas quickly flattened – even if still centered around zero. 25% trades were within 10 cents of Composite+ vs 30% were 40 cents wider or worse in March. Starting in April however, we saw a slow return to normal in price dispersion. The tails of the distribution tightened again, while the peak around Composite+ increased: in October, 65% trades were executed within 10 cents of Composite+ while less than 3% were executed more than 40 cents wider than Composite+. #### Euro Investment Grade win rates RFQ responses that are more competitive than the corresponding Composite+ side have a higher chance of execution. During the crisis win rates on levels far from Composite+ reached a peak; best level RFQ responses that were 40 cents wider than Composite+ side had a win rate of 21% in January, compared to over 46% in March and 25% in October. RFQ pricing is becoming increasingly competitive as participants adjust to the new normal. #### Win rate vs Composite+ side #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: European government bonds bid/ask spread analysis Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_european-government-bonds-bid-ask-spread-analysis #### Highlights - The bid/ask spread increases with maturity across all issuing countries. The average bid/ask spread is less than €0.01 for short bonds but more than €0.05 for long bonds. - Actively traded bonds typically have a tighter bid/ask spread. The average bid/ask spread is €0.012 for bonds with more than €80MM in average daily trading volume on TRAX; €0.02 for the rest. #### Bid/ask spread by country and maturity We calculate the bid/ask spread as the average of all bond-day Composite+™ bid/ask spreads as of 4pm London in December 2020 and January 2021. Bid/ask spreads are a good measure of trading costs and in the case of European Government bonds, they are strongly correlated with time to maturity and the issuing country. #### Composite+ bid/ask vs years to maturity Time to maturity Bonds with less than 5 years to maturity have bid/ask spreads tightly grouped around €0.008 across countries. With a AAA rating, Germany is seen as the safest issuer of EGB. It has the tightest average bid/ask spread after controlling for maturity. #### Bid/ask spread by bond liquidity Generally, more liquid bonds observe a tighter bid/ask spread. We use a measure of activity as a proxy for liquidity, where “More Active” bonds are defined as bonds with more than €80MM in average daily trading volume on TRAX. Bonds’ activity level is positively related to their issuance date and negatively related to their price; average time since issuance is 2 years for more active bonds and 7 years for less active bonds, while average price is €106 and €118 for more and less active bonds respectively. #### Composite+ bid/ask vs maturity Maturity Bonds with the same maturity and issuer may have a significantly different bid/ask spread. For example, the newly issued (January 2021) German bill (BUBILL 0.000 12/15/21) has a 0.003€ bid/ask spread, while a less active counterpart (BUBILL 0.000 11/21) issued in December 2020 hovers around 0.008€. Their bid/ask spreads are 0.005€ different, even though they are both German money market securities and trade around 100€. #### Redefining real-time bond pricing Composite+ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate and government bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 30,000 instruments globally. The engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Global credit market bid/ask spreads return to normal Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads-return-to-normal #### Highlights - Median CP+™ bid/ask spreads are significantly lower in March 2021 compared to March 2020 at the height of the crisis. The bid/ask spreads are now closer to the pre-crisis levels. - Most major markets’ bid/ask spreads have reverted to pre-crisis levels or lower, such as EUR IG whose spreads are now 38% lower than pre-crisis. USD EM stands out as an exception as spreads remain 23% higher compared to pre-crisis ##### CP+ bid/ask spread comparison At the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in March 2020, bid/ask spreads spiked across all major markets (See “[A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads)”). Bid/ask spreads have since continued their trajectory falling back to pre-crisis levels a year later. USD IG is now at 2.4 bps, USD HY is at 25 cents, USD EM is at 27 cents, and EUR IG at 8 Euro cents indicating a return to the pre-crisis tighter spread regime. From March 2019 to March 2021, credit spreads, measured by CP+, saw changes of: - -17% for USD IG (2.9 bps to 2.4 bps); - -8.7% for USD HY (28 cents to 25 cents); - +23% for USD EM (22 cents to 27 cents); - -38% for EUR IG (13 Euro cents to 8 Euro cents). ##### USD-denominated EM CP+ bid/ask spread comparison The increase in bid/ask spread in USD EM appears to be uniform with some variance in magnitude. All sectors’ bid/ask spread remain elevated compared to their pre-crisis levels. From March 2019 to March 2021, USD EM bid/ask spreads across sector, measured by CP+, saw increases of: - +47% for Asia Corporates (19 cents to 28 cents); - +88% for Asia Sovereigns (16 cents to 30 cents); - +25% for EMEA Corps (24 cents to 30 cents); - +35% for EMEA Sovs (17 cents to 23 cents); - +6.3% for LATAM Sovs (16 cents to 17 cents); - +12% for LATAM Corps (26 cents to 29 cents). Bid/ask spreads across major products have largely returned to pre-crisis levels or lower except for USD EM. For USD EM, across all sectors, bid/ask spreads remain higher than pre-crisis levels. This is particularly pronounced in Asia sovereigns where spreads remain 88% higher now compared to pre-crisis. #### Redefined real-time bond pricing CP+ (fka Composite+) is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 30,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Growing adoption of delayed spotting in corporate bonds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_growing-adoption-of-delayed-spotting-in-corporate-bonds ##### Highlights - Reported corporate bond transaction volumes spike at regular times daily due to the printing of delayed treasury spot trades. - Delayed spotting is commonly used to hedge against price movements in the underlying benchmark Treasury and reduce interest rate risk. - Delayed spotting has grown from 2% of the IG market in 2017 to 7% of the IG market in 2021. Investment grade corporate bond volumes - as reported by FINRA’s Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) - follow a familiar pattern. Trading volumes begins to rise in the morning (US Eastern Time) around 8am, dip slightly around lunch, and start to wane around 4pm; except for the daily spikes in reported volume. These daily spikes in reported volume represent trades made using delayed treasury spotting; in investment grade corporate bonds, transactions are often made by counterparties agreeing on a spread to a benchmark Treasury security. The price of the trade is calculated at a specified time using the agreed upon spread-to-Treasury. For example, counterparties may agree to a spread at 2:00pm, and the price is calculated (and reported to TRACE) based on the benchmark’s yield at 3:00pm. ##### Investment Grade client-to-dealer TRACE volume share by minute (Q4 2021) By analyzing the TRACE feed, we can get an accurate picture of how much of the trading volume is conducted using delayed treasury spotting. For years, most delayed spot trades were done at 3:00pm, with some earlier or later trades printing at 11:00am or 4:30pm; in January of 2021, a significant amount of the 3:00pm volume was shifted to 4:00pm, following a change in pricing convention by the Bloomberg Barclays Indices. ##### Quarterly Investment Grade client-to-dealer TRACE volume share by minute Over the past several years, the practice of trading using a delayed treasury spot has grown in popularity. In the fourth quarter of 2017, only around 2% of investment grade transactions on TRACE were estimated to be done with a delayed spot. In Q4 of 2021, delayed treasury spot trades represented an estimated 7% of the investment grade market. The surging growth of this type of trading of investment grade bonds can help traders effectively manage the separation of credit risk and interest rate risk. ##### TRACE Context A MarketAxess data product, TRACE Context allows subscribers to gain real-time and historical insights into transactions reported to TRACE, enriched with proprietary supplemental data points. For delayed spot transactions which occurred on the MarketAxess platform, TRACE Context reveals the time that the spreads were agreed upon, in addition to when the price was reported to FINRA. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) --- # AxessPoint: Impact of recent FINRA guidance on ATS volumes Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_impact-of-recent-finra-guidance-on-ats-volumes #### Highlights - ATS activity has accounted for an increasing volume share of the TRACE corporate feed over the past few years. - The nature of ATS activity lends itself to a multiplicative factor of trade prints; In July 2021 FINRA took action to mitigate these effects. - In the months following FINRA’s changes, as much as 3.5% of all TRACE corporate volume was removed due to ATS double counting. #### A brief history of corporate bond ATS activity An Alternative Trading System (ATS) refers to a group of trading platforms that operate outside of the traditional phone and RFQ methods of trading. At times referred to as Electronic Communication Networks (ECNs), these marketplaces can take several forms, but commonly appear as live order books or matching sessions. Between the start of 2017 and the middle of 2021, the ATS count share of the TRACE feed remained stagnant and even fell slightly. However, the volume share executed thru ATS’s grew nearly threefold, due to the average size of trade ballooning from $107k to $319k. ##### ATS TRACE trends 2017-2022* #### Recent changes to TRACE volume reporting An important characteristic to note about ATS trades is the unique way that their executed trades are commonly reported. As noted by FINRA in rule 6730 and related notice [here](https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/notices/14-53), a single ATS transaction can result in a string of related records that extend across multiple unique trade reports. Over time, it became apparent that clusters of trades on some ATS platforms were inflating the TRACE feed. The chart below summarises an analysis from June of 2021, where it was seen that ATS trades with a venue listed as the contra party had at least one accompanying trade within 30 seconds on the same bond and size. Commonly, these groupings numbered three or more records that all appeared as individual trades. #### Clusters of trades centered around an ATS print | June 2021 In July of 2021, FINRA announced a change to their monthly volume reporting (can be seen [here](https://www.finra.org/filing-reporting/trace/technical-notices/notice-enhancements-trace-volume-reports)) to “standardize volumes across different ATS business models”. This new methodology excluded some redundant transactions between ATS venues and their clients. The impact was immediately noticeable. The July volume reports showed a 30.8% reduction in reported ATS volume and a 3.2% drop in overall TRACE volumes due to this new policy. The overall reduction peaked in September, when 3.52% of all volume as previously reported was reduced from the total. The magnitude of this phenomenon changed shortly after the change went into effect. In the three-month period from November 2021 thru January 2022, the ATS reduction in share noted above decreased to 20% of ATS volume and 1.5% of all TRACE corporate volume. This effect is still significant in the context of the entire market but the magnitude of ATS activity has been reduced by the reporting patterns of some market participants. *Data up to June 2021 provided directly from FINRA. From July 2021 onwards, new reports and FINRA’s guidance were used to assemble comparable values. ##### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) --- # AxessPoint: Impacts of high issuance days on secondary market activity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_impacts-of-high-issuance-days-on-secondary-market-activity #### Highlights - In secondary European Investment Grade (IG) Credit markets, we observe more selling pressure on days of high primary market issuance. On average, there is an 8% excess selling in MarketAxess trading platform volumes during days of very high issuance. - On busy primary market issuance days, buy-side traders aim to free capital by selling shorter dated bonds in the secondary market. #### Primary market In 2021, the European Investment Grade Market (EUR IG) had on average €2.6 billion issuance per day. The top 5% highest issuance days had a daily average of €8.4 billion. We get primary market information on TraX, a unique centralised source of European cleansed fixed income data. By looking at the first trading day of a bond and its deal price, we can identify days of large primary market issuance, and hence the total amount of primary market issuance. #### Secondary activity during high issuance days We investigate buy-sell split in trading activity during high issuance days between 2017 and 2021. From TraX data, we identify the top 5% of high primary market issuance days and look at the trading volume ratio on the MarketAxess platform, a proxy for secondary market activity. Specifically, we compare the fraction of sell orders during high issuance days (the top 5%) and the remainder of the days (excluding the top 5% of high issuance days). We present this in Figure 1 for each year since 2017 and, on average, we see selling skew during high issuance days of circa 55%. Contrast this to the remainder of the year, where selling skewness is circa 51%. Clearly, secondary markets have seen more selling pressure on days of high primary market issuance in EUR IG since 2017. This phenomenon can be attributed to buy-side traders wanting to free capital in the secondary market to buy newly issued bonds in the primary market. ##### Fraction of sell trades by volume in EUR IG Fig 1: The fraction of sell orders during high issuance days and the remainder of the days (excluding high issuance days). Heavy selling creates opportunities for clients to provide liquidity on bonds that other clients are selling through Open Trading. Figure 2 shows average issuance and trading maturity breakdown. We observe that, clients tend to sell short maturity bonds more than long maturity ones. During high issuance days average issuance maturity is 9.8 years whereas average sell maturity is 7.8 years. Traders tend to sell their low maturity bonds in the secondary to purchase higher maturity bonds in the primary. ##### Average Maturity Breakdown During Issuance Days EUR IG (2017-2021) ##### Deeper insights with Trax® data Trax data from MarketAxess aggregates bond market activity executed by European banks, asset managers and trading firms across both voice and electronic trading methods that is validated in near real-time through a post trade regulatory reporting and trade confirmation engine. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # AxessPoint: Meaningful price improvements with partial-size trades Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_meaningful-price-improvements-with-partial-size-trades #### Highlights - Partial-size responses can offer significant price improvement over full-sized responses. In 1H20, the median traded premiums for partial responses were 6.7 bps for US Investment Grade and 68 cents for US High Yield. - When the best level is a partial, participants tend to accept partial size orders that offer price improvement over full-sized orders across all liquidity scores. #### A look at US Investment Grade MarketAxess gives RFQ inquiry submitters the option to allow partial-sized responses from liquidity providers. When the best level is a partial, the liquidity taker can trade the partial or full at their discretion. In 1H20, 64% of US Investment Grade inquiries allowed partials. Of those, 15% had one or more partial responses and 3% had the partial as the best level. When a partial response is the best level, liquidity takers tend to trade the partial response (25% hit rate, median 6.7 bps premium) over the full-sized response (15%, median 1.8 bps premium). As the premium increases, so does the likelihood to trade the partial response. Inquiries that do not trade (DNTS) are still common (60%, median 6.9 bps premium). These aggregate results can vary by bond. The chart below looks at the results when the best level is partial, split by liquidity score. Partial-sized responses’ hit rates (in blue) increases as relative liquidity scores increase. Additionally, they’re much higher than the full-sized responses’ hit rates (in green), particularly for lower liquidity scores. ##### Hit rate vs Liquidity score #### A look at US High Yield In 1H20, 81% of US High Yield inquiries allowed for partials. Of those inquiries, 8% had one or more partial responses and 4% had the partial as the best level. As with US Investment Grade, liquidity takers tend to trade the partial response (31% hit rate, median 68 cents premium) over the full-sized response (8%, median 14 cents premium) when a partial response is the best level. They are also more likely to trade the partial response as the premium increases. DNTS are still common (61%, median 71 cents premium). Similarly, when the partial is the best level, partial-sized responses’ hit rates (in blue) increases as relative liquidity scores increase, and they are consistently higher than the full-sized responses’ hit rates (in green) across all liquidity scores. ##### Hit rate vs Liquidity score #### Improving trading outcomes Partial-enabled inquiries can be an appropriate option for buy-side traders who prioritize execution performance, and partial responses can benefit dealers who provide superior pricing. Ultimately driving better trading outcomes for all participants. ##### Relative liquidity score The MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds by highlighting the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. Available for Euro, Sterling and Dollar‐denominated bond markets, our scoring method covers nearly 26,000 bonds daily, with scores ranging from 10 – meaning the highest level of liquidity – down to 1. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Measuring liquidity in European corporate bond markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_measuring-liquidity-in-european-corporate-bond-markets #### Highlights - Relative Liquidity Scores (RLS) are strongly correlated to traditional single liquidity metrics across all market segments that have historically been used as single proxies for liquidity. - While RLS is not directly comparable across different bond markets, traditional liquidity metrics can be inferred to show the expected ability to execute a trade on a given bond. #### Relative liquidity score methodology The MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds and highlights the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. Available for Euro, Sterling and Dollar-denominated bond markets, our scoring method covers nearly 33,000 bonds daily, with scores ranging from one to ten, ten indicating the highest level of liquidity, one the least liquid. Market segments are scored separately, hence the relative nature of the scores. There are bond-specific factors which go into the calculation of RLS, such as market wide activity, MarketAxess platform inquiry activity, and platform dealer activity. Full information can be found on the product sheet for RLS. #### Interpreting relative liquidity score Despite the size of the fixed income markets, liquidity is segmented and fractured across counterparties. Individual ISINs can be quite illiquid – it’s rare for single corporate bonds to change hands daily. Figure 1: RLS Stat Sheet for February 2022 in EU IG RLS aims to solve this by providing a single score which strongly correlates with varying different metrics which traders have historically used to approximate liquidity. For example, looking at EU RLS across February 2022 (Fig. 1), we see that RLS scores are strongly correlated to bid/ask as measured by MarketAxess CP+™ pricing, turnover, hit rates and average responses received back on client initiated RFQs. RLS can be used in conjunction with CP+, as the products share a similar selection criterion, so the bond universe overlap between RLS and CP+ is quite high. In Figure 2 below there is a clear trend of the average number of responses increasing, in line with general expectations of traditional liquidity measures. The amount outstanding, also shown in Figure 2, is another metric which suggests higher RLS bonds can be sourced more easily due to the larger issuance and availability. Figure 2: Amount outstanding and avg. responses by RLS for Feb 2022 in EU IG For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # AxessPoint: Month-end activity in alternative protocols Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_month-end-activity-in-alternative-protocols #### Highlights - We have seen an average increase of about 11% in High Grade & High Yield TRACE volumes at the end of every month. - This TRACE volume increase is correlated with increases in volume share in various protocols on MarketAxess. We see this increase, particularly in the Portfolio Trading, Delayed Spot, and Auto-XTM protocols. #### Month-end volume increases on TRACE Historically, we have observed a noticeable spike in High Grade and High Yield volumes on the TRACE feed during the last few days of each month. We compared the average daily volume across the last 3 trading days of each month with the rest of that month’s ADV and observed an average increase of 17% at month-end during the first three quarters of 2021 as well as 2022. #### Average TRACE Volume ($B) #### Month-end volume share in Delayed-Spot, Auto-X, and Portfolio Trading on our platform We hypothesized that certain trading protocols spike in volume more than others towards the end of each month. After reviewing the historical trading on our platform, the universe is defined as all RFQ trades on the MarketAxess platform, we see that there are considerable increases in the share of Delayed-Spot trades. The average month-end increase in Delayed-Spot trading was 46% during 2021 (Q1 - Q3) and 68% so far in 2022. The average month-end increase in Auto-X (automatically executed) trades was 15% in 2021 (Q1 - Q3) and 18% so far in 2022. The average month-end increase in portfolio trades was 67% in 2021 (Q1 - Q3) compared to 7% so far in 2022. Time-series for 2022 can be seen below. This sort of increase in both volume and share is likely due to trading mandates, the rebalancing of indexes, and balance sheet adjustments. #### Average Delayed Spot Share of MKTX (%) #### Average Auto-X Volume Share of MKTX (%) #### Average Portfolio Trade Share of MKTX (%) #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Download the PDF [Download Now](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/axesspoint-month-end-activity-in-alternative-protocols.pdf) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # AxessPoint: Next Generation of European Supranationals & Agencies Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_next-generation-of-european-supranationals-and-agencies ## AxessPoint: Next Generation of European Supranationals & Agencies #### Highlights - The European Commission’s Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) and NextGenerationEU (NGEU) pandemic recovery bonds have significantly increased volumes in the European Supranational bond market. - Prior to the issue of the inaugural SURE bonds in October 2021, the Average Daily Volume (ADV) for EUR denominated Supranational bonds was just 547MM - compared to 2BN in September 2021. - EU SURE and NGEU bonds now make up a combined 78% of EUR denominated Supranational ADV and trade in volumes comparable to safe assets such as EGBs. ##### EUR Supernational ADV #### Supranational and Agencies trends The EUR Supranational and Agencies markets have traditionally followed similar trends but the launch of the SURE and NGEU programmes in October 2020 and June 2021 caused a boost in the Supranational market and a noticeable divergence. ##### EUR Supernationals and Agencies ADV #### EGB comparison EU SURE and NGEU bonds now trade in volumes traditionally limited to top traded EGBs. When ranked against EGBs in ADV, the combined SURE and NGEU issuance ranks 7th. #### EGB Benchmark comparison Ticker NGEU is very active in the 5YR. This contrasts with the other EGBs, with the exception of Italy and Greece, where the 10YR benchmark bond trades significantly more than the 5YR benchmark bond. ##### NGEU vs EGB benchmarks | September 2021 ##### Deeper insights with TraX® data TraX data from MarketAxess aggregates bond market activity executed by European banks, asset managers and trading firms across both voice and electronic trading methods that is validated in near real-time through a post-trade regulatory reporting and trade confirmation engine. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Pre-trade Open Trading™ cost savings | Liquidity providers Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_pre-trade-open-trading-cost-savings_liquidity-providers #### Highlights - Open Trading contributes meaningful cost savings for liquidity providers (inquiry responders). - Establishing pre-trade expectations of Open Trading’s cost saving for liquidity providers can be an important factor in determining how to manage an order, especially when traders can prioritize price improvement vs. immediacy. - See our [prior AxessPoint](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_estimating-pre-trade-open-trading-cost-savings) for detail on Open Trading cost savings opportunities for liquidity takers. #### Cost savings expectations Traders always have the opportunity to meet their immediate liquidity needs by submitting an RFQ and taking liquidity, either by hitting the bid or lifting the offer. The bid/ask spread is the “price” of such a transaction. Through Open Trading, traders have the opportunity to instead provide liquidity to another participant’s RFQ. For example, they can provide a bid for another participant’s BWIC or an offer for another’s OWIC. Of course, buying on the bid-side as a liquidity provider rather than lifting an offer to achieve liquidity has an obvious benefit: the price is improved by the bid/ask spread. We measure Open Trading Cost Saving for Liquidity Providers exactly that way: the traded level vs. the available level on the opposite side. #### Cost savings vs Bid/Ask spread We’ve added a chart plotting those two elements – Open Trading cost savings (OTCS) for Liquidity Providers vs. bid/ask spread since January 2019 for US investment grade activity on MarketAxess. Here we can observe a reliably linear relationship between them. In the chart, for example, we see that when bid/ask is 4 bps, the OTCS is expected to be 3.5 bps. The R-squared is high at 79%. #### USD Investment Grade OTCS (LP) vs Composite+™ B/A Further, we can plot OTCS as a percentage of bid/ask, which can be used as an effective shorthand on the pre-trade value of OTCS given a bond’s bid/ask spread. #### USD Investment Grade OTCS (LP) as a % of Composite+ B/A vs Composite+ B/A We observe OTCS as consistently 80-100% of bid/ask, though the percentage dips lower when bid/ask is elevated. By establishing confidence in this linkage, traders can build pre-trade Open Trading cost savings expectations, which can then be used to improve trading outcomes in circumstances where bid/ask is wide and can add the most value. #### Calculating the Open Trading Cost Savings (OTCS) Measured per bond, Open Trading Cost Savings for Liquidity Providers is the price differential (improvement) between the winning Open Trading response and the Composite+ level on the opposite side; e.g. the expected trade level that the client might have experienced had they instead met their need as Liquidity Taker. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Pricing dynamics of EU bonds in the wake of SURE and NGEU Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_pricing-dynamics-of-eu-bonds-in-the-wake-of-sure-and-ngeu #### Highlights The European Union’s SURE and NGEU programs (launched in October 2020 and June 2021 respectively) was unlike anything the bloc had undertaken before. Issuing debt in amounts normally reserved for sovereign nations, SURE and NGEU transformed the size of the European supranational bond market and elevated EU bonds to trading levels of European Government Bonds (see [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_next-generation-of-european-supranationals-and-agencies)). As a follow up, we here investigate the price comparison between these EU bonds and EGBs, demonstrating: - EU bonds offer very similar yields in the belly of the curve (5-10 years) to France. - EU bonds have a yield curve comparable to safe-haven assets such as Germany and the Netherlands. - EU bonds have higher transaction costs than Germany and Netherlands with a wider bid/ask spread. #### Issuer Curves Unlike the peripheral EGB countries (such as Italy and Spain) where investors want to be compensated with higher yields for assuming the added risk of investing in longer-term bonds, EU bonds are priced with a lower yield on the long end of the curve alongside German Bunds and Netherlands DSLs, which have less associated risk (see the below yield curves). ##### Composite+™ issuer curve Fig 1: Chart displaying government bond yield curve using Composite+. Yield value is the mid Composite+ value taken at 4pm UK time on 9 November 2021. Although the whole EU bonds curve is not negatively yielding like Germany, they are closer on the belly and long end of the curve to all the safe-haven bonds. The EU yield curve indicates they are viewed as the third safest asset available in the Eurozone, with the third lowest long end yields. #### Transaction costs Bid/ask spreads for EU bonds are wider than core EGBs and more akin to the semi-core and peripheral countries (e.g Spain, see below). The largest difference to the core EGBs can be found on the belly of the curve (see maturity bucket “>5Yrs and <=10Yrs” above) where the transaction costs for EU bonds are two cents higher than Bunds. ##### Composite+ bid/ask spread by maturity Fig 2: Chart displaying average bid/ask price spread by bond country and maturity in November 2021 using Composite+. Average price values in EUR e.g., €0.01 = 1 euro cent. As it was recently announced, the ECB’s bond Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) would end in March, impacting confidence in semi-core and peripheral EGBs, EU bonds now offer an appealing alternative to ultra-safe Bunds ##### Redefined real-time bond pricing Composite+ (CP+) is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 30,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spread) #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) --- # AxessPoint: Quantifying the efficiency opportunity for automation Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_quantifying-the-efficiency-opportunity-for-automation #### Highlights - Auto-X RFQ has seen steady growth as a tool for traders and now encompasses 17% of all trade tickets on MarketAxess. - In Q2 2021, traders saved approximately 131 seconds per inquiry when successfully trading via Auto-X RFQ, totaling over 3600 hours overall. #### Growth of automation on MarketAxess One of the larger areas of growth in bond markets in recent years has been the emergence of tools for automating workflows. A 2020 [Greenwich Associates report](https://www.greenwich.com/fixed-income/automation-bond-market) determined that 61% of market participants have already begun using or plan to soon employ automation in some form. On the MarketAxess platform, Auto-X RFQ allows clients to automate inquiry orders based on pre-defined tolerance settings around an inquiry’s size, liquidity, and quality of responses. If all limits are met, then a trade will automatically occur. Auto-X RFQ has seen significant adoption over the past 2 years (see below) as trading desks seek to improve efficiency. Q2 2021 saw a YOY growth in completed orders of 50%. The rolling 6 quarters from the start of 2020 onwards have all seen greater than $30B of automated volume, with Q2 2021 setting a record as the first quarter over $40B. Nearly 100 unique clients now take advantage of automation functionality on the system. ##### Quarterly global Auto-X trade volume and count #### Time saved by utilizing Auto-X RFQ An exercise in measuring the value of automation is putting a tangible figure on what traders have gained by shifting their flows to Auto-X RFQ. In Q2 2021, the median length of time between the bin of responses becoming available to view and the trader choosing to accept on traded orders was 130.8 seconds. In addition, on a traditional high-touch RFQ it takes a trader between 2 and 5 clicks to navigate the order screen. In this time, they have to evaluate the stack of responses and potential counterparties, confirm spot type, and check calculated price/yield/spread. Over the same period, there were 219,000 fully automated trades completed on MarketAxess. Even if we assume that a trader isn’t actively evaluating their options for the full length of the gap, we can approximate that a trader spends 60 seconds to validate all of the available data. Using this conservative estimate, traders saved over 3600 hours and 410,000 clicks in the three-month period. That adds up to roughly 400 trading days of additional opportunity that were opened up through parameter-based automated trading. These numbers are striking and this is likely just the beginning of the shift toward automation. Even accounting for the positives listed above, trades sent through Auto-X RFQ only accounted for 17% of all trade tickets on MarketAxess in Q2 2021, up from 11% in Q2 2020. We expect this number to continue to rise through client adoption and expansion across markets. US High Grade is a market that has seen substantial adoption; 80% of all automated RFQ trades were in USHG in 2020. Other markets have started to make progress with share of US High Grade falling to 75%. As clients become increasingly confident in the functionality and integrate the functionality across other markets, the path toward greater automation is clear given the efficiency gains. #### Auto-X RFQ on MarketAxess Auto-X RFQ is an execution tool for corporate bond trading on MarketAxess where a trader specifies criteria for a given inquiry’s size, liquidity and level. Auto-X RFQ evaluates these criteria against bids and offers, checks for outlier prices, and when all parameters are met, the system automatically executes the transaction. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Return of volatility and widening credit market bid/ask spreads Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_return-of-volatility-and-widening-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads #### Highlights - Market wide Bid/Ask Spreads spiked significantly in February 2022 compared to October 2021.* - However, the widening of spreads is not as dramatic as it was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March 2020. #### Increase in bid ask spread In previous AxessPoints, we illustrated pandemic-related credit spread changes and the subsequent return to more normal levels this past summer. Recent market activity and an increase in volatility has prompted us to revisit these figures. Credit market bid/ask spreads in October 2021 started increasing towards the end of the year and have continued to widen in 2022. USD IG was at 1.90 bps in October, we observed an uptick in November to 2.06 bps, and bid/ask spreads continued to expand to 2.56 bps in February. Similarly, EUR IG was 6 cents in November, 8 cents in December, and 11 cents in February. The increase in transaction costs, and thus widening in bid/ask spreads, can be seen across other markets as well from Q4 2021 to February 2022: +12% for USD EM, +18% for USD HY, +57% for EUR IG. Notably within EM, bid/ask spreads of Czech Koruna (CZK) debt was up +100%. ##### Composite+ bid/ask spreads by market Bid ask spreads at relative lows If we expand our view to give context to these developments, we can see that these bid/ask spread expansions are not as dramatic as other recent events. Simultaneously, even at these expanded levels, bid/ask spreads are still tighter than other comparable periods. Using USD IG bid/ask spreads from 2019 onwards, we see that transaction costs remain lower than 3 out of 4 quarters leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic. After that notable peak in the second quarter of 2020, bid/ask spreads began to decrease and relatively flatline from the end of 2020 into mid-2021, before observing a widening in Q4 2021 as noted above. ##### Composite+ bid/ask spreads | USD IG ##### Redefined real-time bond pricing Composite+™ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 32,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. *MTD as of February 22, 2022. Although our analysis was completed earlier in February, at the time of publishing the conflict in Ukraine is, of course, significantly impacting markets, and we would therefore expect to see further spikes in the coming weeks. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) #### Composite+: AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) --- # AxessPoint: Shifting primary dealer net positions and risk appetite Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_shifting-primary-dealer-net-positions-and-risk-appetite #### Highlights - During the crisis period, primary dealers shrunk their net positions to a low of $30 billion as they moved to reduce risk. US High Grade [Composite+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) bid-ask spread widened considerably rising from 3 bps to over 30 bps at its widest. - After the Federal Reserve committed to provide liquidity to corporate bond markets, primary dealer net positions reversed and expanded while bid-ask spread tightened. #### Delving into net dealer positions The COVID crisis caused primary dealers to shrink their net positions from a pre-crisis peak of $40 billion to a low of $30 billion. The plot below shows the S&P 500 index and primary dealer net positions in 2020 YTD and highlights the change during the key dates of the crisis (S&P 500 peak and Fed announcement). #### 2020 YTD primary dealer net position vs S&P 500 However, following the Fed’s commitment on March 23rd to support liquidity by potentially buying corporate bonds and fixed income ETFs, primary dealer net positions expanded from a low of $30 billion to $50 billion as dealers increased market-making activities, signally stronger market support. #### Analyzing TRACE volume During the crisis, TRACE volumes grew to record levels with very elevated bid-ask spreads (see “[A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads)”). After the Fed’s March 23rd announcement, volatility decreased while bid-ask spreads and TRACE volume normalized. The plot below shows the average daily TRACE volume and the average daily net dealer flow. A negative net dealer flow indicates that dealers were selling more than they were buying. Note that right before the Fed announcement, dealers were selling more than they were buying. Immediately after the announcement, dealers were buying more than they were selling. The average daily TRACE volume spiked during the crisis and gradually came down following the same direction as the average daily primary dealer net position. #### TRACE average daily volume vs daily net dealer flow #### Increased risk appetite Dealer activities during the COVID crisis evolved rapidly as the Fed announced new QE policies. The initial stage of the crisis saw a drop in dealer-provided liquidity and an increase in bid-ask spreads, while dealers shrunk their net positions. However, as the Fed made signals of support for the market, dealers expanded their net positions and investors, with renewed risk appetite, provided inflows into corporate bonds. This ultimately drove tighter bid-ask spreads. #### Uncapped TRACE from MarketAxess Using an intelligent mapping engine, the uncapped TRACE report has been linked to the original trade records as an add-on to the standard Corporates and 144a feed. This provides accurate trade-level information for transactions that were previously capped, going all the way back to the inception of the feed in July 2002. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Stylized facts about new issues in the US IG market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_stylized-facts-about-new-issues-in-the-us-ig-market #### Highlights - Most US Investment Grade bonds are issued to only 3 times to maturity: 5, 10 and 30 years. 20%, 16% and 14% of the total amount issued have a time to maturity of 10, 30 and 5 years respectively. - On average, the daily traded volume of a bond decreases significantly after it is first traded. 20 days after it first hits TRACE, the daily volume traded drops to 30% of that on the first trade day. #### Issue size distribution across maturities We define issue date as the first day the bond is traded. Using January 2020 to March 2021 data, we analyze the distribution of issued amount across time to maturity at issuance. The distribution is clearly centered around 5, 10 and 30 years to maturity and one fifth of the issued amount is to 10 years to maturity. Additionally, over 90% of the bonds with 6, 11 and 31 years to maturity at issuance are callable within their final year and therefore can be grouped with the bonds issued with 5, 10 and 30 years to maturity, bringing the percentage of bonds issued with these 3 maturities to 70%. #### Time to maturity at issuance across sectors Bonds in different maturity buckets at issuance are distributed differently across various sectors. The Financial and Auto sectors issue shorter bonds, while the TMT and Healthcare sectors issue longer bonds. The Financial sector is the largest issuer of bonds with maturities of 5 or 10 years, while the TMT sector is the largest issuer of 30-year bonds. #### Proportion of bonds per time to maturity across sectors #### Trading volumes decrease after issuance We study the volume of newly issued bonds as a function of the number of days since their issuance. The daily traded volume falls quickly and sharply after the first day of trading, reaching 20% of the volume traded on day 0 in as little as 45 days. Simultaneously, the Composite+ bid-ask spread increases with time. Both trends illustrate the evolution of liquidity after issuance. #### Average daily volume traded trend after first trade date For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: The Open Trading inquiry orderbook - An untapped source of liquidity insight Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_the-open-trading-inquiry-orderbook_an-untapped-source-of-liquidity-insight #### Highlights - Inquiries available for Open Trading® represent an average daily global volume of $17.2bn in 14,000 bonds across 30 different markets in Feb 2021. - These inquiries constitute an aggregated live order record that is available to any market participant. - Inquiry volumes were driven higher during the crisis, allowing greater liquidity opportunities at a time when traditional sources were more precarious. #### Open Trading inquiries offer liquidity insight across various markets Inquiries eligible for Open Trading averaged $17.2bn daily in Feb 2021. In key markets, USHG saw $7.2bn daily across 9k bonds; USHY had $2.6bn across 3,500 bonds, USD EM saw $2.6bn in 5,000 bonds and in EUR bonds, there was €799MM in 4,000 bonds daily. These daily levels are at a higher baseline than pre-crisis. ##### Daily Open Trading inquiry volume represent significant inventory every quarter #### Open Trading inquiries show firm orders in various areas of interest over the day Inquiries submitted to Open Trading come from a variety of market participants, and span a wide range of inquiry sizes, liquidity profiles and market segments. USHG inquiries in lower liquidity (1-3) constituted 11.1% of total inquiries submitted. ##### USHG Open Trading inquiry count by liquidity score and inquiry size Within each liquidity bucket, we observe that the highest proportion of inquiry counts belongs to odd lot trades, between $100K and $1MM. However, we see a growing percentage of high-volume inquiries for mid to high liquidity bonds. Furthermore, Blocks (orders 1MM or higher) are represented in line with overall platform trends over the day as seen in the volume breakout by hour below. ##### USHG Open Trading inquiry volume by hour and inquiry size #### Open Trading Inquiry Orderbook These are client and dealer RFQs submitted to the platform that are eligible for Open Trading. Being public RFQs, these orders are not mere indications, but are live orders and immediately actionable. Traders can search the order book or be alerted, and thus can opportunistically participate by providing liquidity when such ‘natural matches’ arise. In doing so, they simultaneously satisfy their own liquidity needs. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Understanding TCA Outcomes in European Credit Markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_understanding-tca-outcomes-in-european-credit-markets #### Highlights - A key driver in determining price outcomes when trading electronically is the number of responses received on an RFQ. More responses equate to improved pricing with more competition among liquidity providers. - We estimate every additional response in European Credit, YTD, improved average TCA by ~1.2 Euro cents. - To maximize the number of responses received, clients should invite as many disclosed dealers as possible alongside seeking anonymous liquidity via Open Trading®. #### What's the main TCA driver in electronic Euro credit? Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) is used by participants in corporate bond markets as a post-trade tool to assess the pricing and execution quality of their trading activity. When trading on an electronic venue, we see the major explanatory variable influencing TCA outcomes as the number of responses received on an order. Using MarketAxess trading platform data, YTD, in European Credit, we see a clear correlation between responses and pricing outcomes (a similar result to our [US IG analysis](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/axesspoint_axesspoint_understanding-tca-outcomes-in-us-Investment-grade.pdf)). The below shows average TCA vs number of responses, with each additional response improving TCA by ~1.2 cents. TCA outcomes are clearly strongly correlated with realized responses, as we see a linear correlation co-efficient (R-squared) >95%. In 2021 YTD, Euro Credit RFQs that received ten or more responses outperformed Composite+™ bid/offer, while over ~44% of trades received at least ten responses and outperformed Composite+ side. ##### Average TCA Delta #### Number of responses in electronic Euro credit To obtain maximum TCA benefits, and hence best-ex, it’s imperative that clients receive as many responses as possible. To understand response outcomes, we investigate MarketAxess trading platform data, YTD, in European Credit, and plot the number of disclosed dealers invited vs the number of responses received, when inviting Open Trading or not, see below; each dot contains data from at least 100 trades. ##### Average number of responses with and without Open Trading The above demonstrates how inviting more disclosed dealers does increase the response pool, with an uptick in responses when using Open Trading. The orange line has a constant gradient (a measure of the response rate) and, so, disclosed counterparties will respond regardless of whether they are put in competition or not. Moreover, the blue line also exhibits a circa constant gradient, emphasizing how counterparties will respond regardless of whether Open Trading is invited or not. Understanding TCA outcomes is critical when making trading decisions to satisfy best-execution requirements. Superior pricing is obtained when more responses are obtained, which can be acquired by inviting as many disclosed dealers as possible alongside seeking anonymous liquidity via Open Trading. ##### Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) TCA is defined relative to Composite+ and is calculated as the difference between the trade price and the Composite+ price on the corresponding side, at inquiry time. A positive value means the trade occurred inside (more competitive than) Composite+ bid or offer, while a negative value means the trade occurred outside (less competitive than) the Composite+ bid or offer. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # AxessPoint: Understanding TCA Outcomes in US Investment Grade Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/axesspoint_understanding-tca-outcomes-in-us-Investment-grade #### Highlights - Liquidity takers can achieve better price execution when trading US Investment Grade (IG) on MarketAxess, relative to a market benchmark such as TRACE. - A key driver in determining price outcomes, when trading electronically, is the number of responses received on an RFQ. More responses equate to improved pricing with more competition among liquidity providers. - Our analysis shows that every additional response improves TCA by ~0.36 bps on average. #### Electronic and voice trading TCA in the US IG market Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) is used by participants in corporate bond markets as a post-trade tool to assess the pricing and execution quality of their trading activity. Looking at TCA in aggregate can give us a unique view into broader trends in the corporate bond market and electronic trading. Across 2020 we have seen consistent overperformance of pricing quality executed on MarketAxess compared to non-electronic bond trading. In 2020 (Jan-Nov inclusive), the US IG trades executed on MarketAxess saw an average of 1.1 bps price improvement over other traded activity reported to TRACE, as shown in the [performance indices](https://www.marketaxess.com/index/investment-grade/0) below. #### What’s responsible for electronic TCA outcomes One of the primary factors that influences TCA outcomes is the number of firm price quotes received on an order. The more price responses received on an order, the more likely the best quote is to outperform a benchmark. A clear correlation between responses and pricing outcome emerges (see below plot); a linear regression fit shows correlation (R-squared) at 93%, with each additional response improving TCA by ~0.36 bps. On average, in 2020, RFQs that received seven or more responses outperformed Composite+™ bid/offer, while over 70% of trades received at least seven responses and significantly outperformed Composite+ side. To help improve pricing outcomes and achieve best execution, clients can aim to maximize the number of responses they receive on their inquiries. Having a pre-trade estimate for the numbers of responses that will be received on an RFQ can help inform best execution mandates. #### Transaction cost analysis (TCA) TCA is defined relative to Composite+ and is calculated as the distance between the trade price and the Composite+ price on the corresponding side, at inquiry time. A positive value means the trade occurred inside (more competitive than) Composite+ bid or offer, while a negative value means the trade occurred outside (less competitive than) the Composite+ bid or offer. For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists at [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com). --- # Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth This is the first in a short series of AxessPoints that will explore the benefits of trading larger block sizes electronically, and how our tools and protocols are being developed to help optimize execution regardless of size, side, and timing. #### Tradability: An AI-powered liquidity gauge Understanding the current depth of market on a given bond at a given point in time is fundamental to the decision making around execution method and timing. It helps the trader to better gauge the effort required (low touch / high touch) and the likely best outcome in all market conditions. Tradability, launched earlier this year, provides a unique, real-time measure of market depth for US credit, Euro, and sterling bonds on the MarketAxess platform. It generates a pre-trade prediction of the expected number of disclosed and anonymous RFQ responses to a given inquiry as a function of the bond, side, and size. Based on extensive proprietary trading platform and historical response data, it adapts quickly to changing market conditions throughout the trading day. The Tradability score can also be used as a guide to likely transaction cost outcomes, versus the CP+™ Mid. The table below explains this in more detail. We tracked performance metrics for US Investment Grade (IG) inquiries in Q2 2023 based on the size of the order and the Tradability scores for those orders. As you can see, volume-weighted hit rates per inquiry increase from a range of 48% - 52% to 77% - 81% for all sized trades as the Tradability score increases to 5 or more. The percentage of trades executed at or better than CP+ mid also increases by around 8% for all sizes. As you can also clearly see, even in larger block sizes, RFQ liquidity (number of responses back) is high when tradability scores are 5+. Further 2022 analysis conducted separately by us has also shown that even as volatility increases and CP+ bid/ask spreads widen, the average number of firm prices back for larger RFQ (>5mm) blocks remains consistently high (5+). This is, of course, in part driven by the availability of the Open Trading® all-to-all liquidity pool. #### Improving certainty of execution Today, Tradability is built into our CP+ price discovery toolkit and is available for all users across both US Credit and our Euro / Sterling products. What’s exciting for US clients, however, is the integration and expansion of Tradability within our new user interface, currently being rolled out in the US and specific to US credit (for now). This builds Tradability directly into every line item, list, and portfolio trade, with associated recommendations for workflow allocation based on each tradability score. This allows traders to better understand, at both individual bond level and aggregated list or portfolio trade basket level, the likelihood of execution and the impact of current market depth on TCA. #### Information leakage – challenges for trading larger sizes While Tradability does not directly address the challenge of information leakage while trading larger sizes, what it does do is help traders better understand how and where to best execute their orders, at all sizes, and therefore to optimize trading performance in both typical and volatile market conditions. To find out more about Tradability and our pre-trade analytics tools, or to get more information on the development of our new trading workflow and execution tools, please contact [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries #### Highlights and objectives - We aim to examine the price impact of client-initiated inquiries on the market, during a period of extreme volatility, to examine what drives information leakage. - When trading large EUR IG blocks on MarketAxess in March 2023 , traders managed to minimize market disruption. Moreover, post-trade analysis showed no adverse spread impact from their block trading activity. - Instead, market impact was driven more by prevailing market conditions than the number of dealers that saw a given order. - Sending an inquiry to Open Trading on MarketAxess did not lead to more post-trade spread movement – as such, the additional access to liquidity that Open Trading provides outweighs the potential information leakage. #### Methodology - We limit our study to client-initiated inquiries on the MarketAxess platform within the EUR IG segment during March 2023, a month which exhibited high levels of volatility thereby offering a unique opportunity to examine post-trade market impact of all inquiries. - We approximate market impact by computing the average percentage change in CP+™ levels in spread terms – for a given bond and side (e.g. bid, offer) – between time of inquiry submission and 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 and 120-minute intervals. - To standardize the percentage changes, we normalize by the CP+ bid/ask spread at the corresponding time interval. - Lastly, we remove instances of extreme outliers in spread movements that were likely the result of incorrect benchmarks and/or yield calculation irregularities. #### Effects of block trading on market impact Generally, one would expect larger trade sizes to have greater market impact – the larger the trade, the higher the likelihood for slippage and post-trade movements. Figure 1 explores the effect of trading larger sizes on post-trade spread movements. For the EUR IG segment during March 2023, size does not correlate with market impact as we do not see percentage changes in CP+ movements increasing for larger size buckets. As such, the analysis shows that trading larger, EUR IG blocks on the MarketAxess platform did not contribute to material, adverse post-trade movements. #### Trade size vs. market impact #### Effects of order direction on market impact In times of high market volatility, we expect to see an imbalance of trade orders in one direction and pricing movements to match. Figure 2 explores the effect of direction on market impact in both spread terms. CP+ movements ranged from 1.2-1.5x greater on the bid than offer side. Given that percent changes were normalized by the underlying CP+ bid/ask spreads, this suggests that the primary driver of spread movement was market beta. #### Order direction vs. market impact #### Liquidity analysis Conventional reasoning would expect a positive relationship between the number of counterparties privy to an order and market impact; however, trends from March 2023 provide an alternate picture. In Figure 3, we assess the combined effects of the number of dealers invited to respond and whether an inquiry was sent to Open Trading - ultimately, we do not see a measurable difference in post-trade movement across all four scenarios. Furthermore, both the average number of responses to an inquiry sent to Open Trading (1.73) and the penetration rate (27.11%) for March 2023 were in line with monthly figures from both before and after the period of study. The relative parity in CP+ movements further supports the thesis that the market volatility in March was not due to limited liquidity provisions but rather a market-wide selling off triggered by uncertainty in the bank/financials sectors. #### Number of dealers invited + Open Trading vs market impact #### Summary The objective of our study was to examine the effects of client-initiated inquiries on the market, via their price impact, during a period of extreme volatility, to examine what drives information leakage. Specifically, does trading blocks electronically during periods of high market beta lead to greater CP+ movements? Our conclusions are two-fold: (1) regardless of order direction and block size, trading electronically did not lead to excess market impact in the EUR IG segment and (2) market beta, rather than the manner in which a client trades, is the primary driver for post-trade movements. Accordingly, our analysis of the EUR IG segment during March 2023 reflects that trading electronically – irrespective of size and direction – did not lead to material market impact. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### How are innovation and collaboration shaping the Chinese bond market? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) --- # Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca #### Highlights and objectives - We aim to investigate any key drivers of Portfolio Trading (PT) Trading Cost Analysis (TCA) outcomes, as measured by PT price outcomes versus CP+™ side. - An analysis of PT features found no meaningful driver of TCA outcomes for PTs across ETF overlap and Liquidity Profile. - There is a strong correlation, however, between PT TCA and ETF premium discount, likely driven by dealer positioning and risk management. - We also compare this key driver with TCA outcomes of List RFQ and found this is a stronger driver of PT performance than for List RFQ. Portfolio Trading, where a basket of bonds is traded on an all-or-nothing basis at a volume-weighted price, has emerged as an increasingly important protocol in the corporate bond market. In September 2023, PT market share on TRACE in High Grade reached an estimated 5.55% of traded volume. Although PT offers certainty of execution and can complete large orders with many line items, it is still critical to ascertain the execution quality increased. To measure TCA, we compare the execution level(s) against side-dependent CP+, our award-winning AI-powered pricing engine. A client buying at a price below the bid or selling above the offer price would indicate outperformance of the benchmark. Using this, we compare pre-trade analytics that have a strong correlation to positive or negative TCA in PT and RFQ lists. #### Methodology To perform this analysis, we looked at PT trades from June 2022 to June 2023 on MarketAxess where High Grade bonds represent a majority of the basket. We filtered for PTs that have at least 2 unique bonds, minimum number of 2 dealers invited, a minimum of 5 line items, and a minimum total size of $1 million. We apply the same filters for RFQ lists in the below charts. The typical PT on the platform has 115 line items, has a median total size of $29.1 million and an average Relative Liquidity Score of 7.07. In comparison, the typical list has 26 line items, has a median total size of $4.3 million and an average Relative Liquidity Score of 7.04. #### Weak relationship between Portfolio Trading features and TCA Due to the basket nature and diversification of a PT, we can look at the characteristics of a PT and observe if there is any correlation with its TCA outcome. For this exercise, we looked at two PT characteristics – ETF overlap and Average Liquidity Score. Figure 1: Scatter plot of TCA vs Fraction of ETF LQD Eligible​ Figure 2: Scatter plot of TCA vs Average Liquidity Score In the above graphs, we measure a PT characteristic and plotted it against its corresponding Volume Weighted Average TCA against CP+ on the same side. We can see that both characteristics lack a strong correlation with PT TCA, meaning that neither are a driver of TCA outcomes. #### ​ETF premium discount and TCA Since PTs can execute many line items in a single transaction, one likely usage of PT is to trade baskets that mirror existing indexes. The rise of electronification among passive investment in the corporate bond market has provided a large sample size to test the relationship between ETF characteristics and TCA. We use our CP+ pricing tick data to calculate the value of the LQD ETF constituents. Similar to the above, when the ETF price is higher than the CP+ Offer for these constituents, the ETF is trading at a premium. Conversely, when the ETF price is cheaper than CP+ Bid for the constituent bonds, it trades at a discount. We calculate this for each trade date and hour. Premium/Discount = Avg (ETF Stock price – CP+ Side) We explore deeper into ETF arbitrage and inquiry volume skewness in [this article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/etf-arbitrage-and-inquiry-volume-skewness). Figure 3: Scatter plot of TCA vs ETF Premium Discount for PT Figure 4: Scatter plot of TCA vs ETF Premium Discount for List RFQ The above chart (Fig. 3) presents each PT’s execution quality vs LQD’s prem/discount for client trades over the stated period. We can see that clients receive better TCA outcomes when the ETF is ‘cheap’compared to the underlying bonds (negative x-axis), meaning that the market is working efficiently to perform ETF arbitrage. Similarly, we can analyze the effect of ETF Premium Discount on TCA outcome on List RFQs. We observe a similar trend, such that TCA outcomes are better when the corresponding ETF is trading at a discount. However, compared to the trendline of PT TCA, the trendline for List RFQs is not as steep (0.493 vs 0.385). From this we can infer that List RFQ TCA is a result of how dealers price and manage risk in single line items, whereas in PTs risk is managed at the basket level; this further demonstrates why ETFs are a more suitable hedging instrument for PT risk management. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # Blockbusting Part 4 | Block execution in USHG Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-part-4-block-execution-in-ushg This AxessPoint, Blockbusting Part 4, provides an update on the liquidity profile of block-sized trades on MarketAxess, with a specific focus on the $5mm-$10mm segment in US High Grade (blocks) for maturities over 5 years. In response to client inquiries and driven by the record trade volume in this size range during Q1 of 2024 on our platform, we are pleased to share our analysis on the quality of execution for block trades on our platform. #### Highlights and objectives This AxessPoint provides an update on the liquidity profile of block-sized RFQ trades on MarketAxess, with a specific focus on the $5mm-$10mm segment in US High Grade (blocks) for maturities over 5 years . In response to client inquiries and driven by the record trade volume in this size range during Q1 of 2024 on our platform, we are pleased to share our analysis on the quality of execution for block trades on our platform. Unless otherwise stated all results are for H1 2024. The analysis will show that there is: - No deterioration in the quality of execution from slightly above $1mm all the way up to $10mm. - Minimal impact from the size of the inquiry in terms of hit rates, prices back or transaction costs. For this analysis, we have excluded trade sizes below $1mm, where algorithmic trading activity is more prevalent and trading patterns differ. We have evaluated the quality of execution using various metrics, including the number of firm prices back on larger trades over time, TCA vs. Trace, and a graph showing hit rates and prices back vs. maturity in the $5mm+ segment. #### Prices back on $5-10mm trades over time on the MarketAxess platform 1We restrict to maturities over 5 years were dealers trade ‘flow’ as opposed to ‘technicals’ around bond ownership. The graph shows a clear trend in the number of firm prices back on larger trades we are seeing on the platform. This increase shows the growing willingness among dealers to quote and trade these sizes on MarketAxess. #### Prices back and TCA across size buckets on traded inquiries We also want to look at the data across various size buckets. Above, we have plotted the average number of prices back again, and we have added the realized TCA on trades for these categories. We see limited drop-off in dealer quotes at any size, with even the highest traded amounts showing healthy amounts of prices back on executed trades. Looking at the cost analysis, TCA vs Trace remains positive for trades all the way up to $10mm. #### Bond maturity Having focused on some of the characteristics of the inquiry, we now look at the maturity of the traded bonds. This graph shows hit rates and average number of firm prices back for trades in the $5mm-10mm segment across maturities. It reveals that execution is very good across the board, with even more prices coming back for higher maturity buckets. #### Trades vs CP+™ Finally, we analyze where trades are executed compared to MarketAxess’ proprietary pricing product CP+. The graph below shows trades executed at CP+ mid or better, as well as trades done 1bps away from CP+ mid and better. For block trades, we see 26% trading at mid or better, which are some of the highest values in the >$1mm range. This shows there are plenty of occasions where counterparties are willing to step up to be competitive at these large sizes. Percentage of trades executed 1bps away from CP+ mid and better is 54.3% for blocks, and the cross-bucket graphs again shows there is very consistent quality of prices for all size buckets. We also see consistently high hit rates across size buckets, again with highest values in the $5-10mm bucket. The data demonstrates that MarketAxess provides a highly liquid and competitive platform for block-sized trades in the US High Grade market, with a strong track record of execution quality and a growing number of dealer prices back. #### Conclusion The analysis shows that trade size has little impact on execution quality on inquiries in US High Grade market between $1m and 10mm. Dealer willingness to quote and trade larger sizes is growing and TCA vs. Trace remains positive for trades up to $10mm. Maturity seems to have a relatively small impact on either hit rates or prices back. Overall, MarketAxess provides a highly liquid platform for block-sized trades with strong execution quality and growing dealer prices back. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) --- # Blockbusting Partie 2 | Examen de l’impact sur le marché des requêtes des clients Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-partie-2-examen-de-limpact-sur-le-marche-des-requetes-des-clients #### Faits marquants et objectifs: - Notre objectif est d’examiner l’impact sur les prix des requêtes des clients sur le marché, au cours d’une période de volatilité extrême, afin d’étudier les causes des fuites d’informations. - Lors de la négociation d’importants blocs IG (catégorie investissement) en EUR sur MarketAxess en mars 2023, les market makers ont réussi à minimiser les perturbations du marché. En outre, l’analyse post-négociation n’a pas mis en évidence d’impact négatif sur les écarts de cotation du fait de leur activité de négociation de blocs. - Au contraire, l’impact sur le marché a été davantage déterminé par les conditions prévalentes du marché que par le nombre de market makers qui ont vu un ordre donné. - L’envoi d’une demande dans Open Trading sur MarketAxess n’a pas entraîné davantage de mouvements des écarts post-négociation : de ce fait, l’accès supplémentaire à la liquidité qu’offre Open Trading l’emporte sur la fuite potentielle d’informations. #### Méthodologie - Nous limitons notre étude aux requêtes initiées par les clients sur la plateforme MarketAxess au sein du segment IG en EUR au cours du mois de mars 2023, un mois qui a affiché des niveaux élevés de volatilité, une occasion unique d’examiner l’impact sur le marché post-négociation de toutes les requêtes. - Nous estimons l’impact sur le marché en calculant la variation moyenne en pourcentage des niveaux de CP+™ en termes d’écart, pour une obligation et un côté donné (par exemple, achat, vente), entre l’heure de soumission de la demande et des intervalles de 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 et 120 minutes. - Pour standardiser les variations en pourcentage, nous normalisons par l’écart entre les cours acheteur et vendeur de CP+ à l’intervalle de temps correspondant. - Enfin, nous supprimons les cas où les mouvements des écarts sont extrêmement aberrants et résultent probablement d’indices de référence incorrects et/ou d’irrégularités dans le calcul des rendements. #### Effets de la négociation de blocs sur l’impact du marché En règle générale, on peut s’attendre à ce que les transactions de plus grande taille aient un impact plus important sur le marché : plus la transaction est importante, plus il est probable qu’il y ait un effet de glissement et des mouvements post-négociation. La figure 1 explore l’effet de la négociation de volumes plus importants sur les mouvements des écarts post-négociation. Pour le segment IG en EUR en mars 2023, la taille n’est pas en corrélation avec l’impact sur le marché, car nous ne voyons pas les variations en pourcentage des mouvements de CP+ augmenter pour les tranches de taille plus importantes. Ainsi, l’analyse montre que la négociation de blocs IG en EUR plus importants sur la plateforme MarketAxess n’a pas contribué à des mouvements post-négociation négatifs et significatifs. #### Taille de l’opération versus impact sur le marché #### Effets du sens des ordres sur l’impact sur le marché En période de forte volatilité des marchés, nous nous attendons à un déséquilibre des ordres de transaction dans un sens et à des mouvements de prix correspondants. La figure 2 illustre l’effet du sens sur l’impact sur le marché en termes d’écarts. Les mouvements de CP+ ont été de 1,2 à 1,5 fois plus importants du côté du cours acheteur que du côté du cours vendeur. Étant donné que les variations en pourcentage ont été normalisées par les écarts entre les cours acheteur et vendeur du CP+ sous-jacents, il semble que le principal facteur de variation des écarts a été le bêta du marché. #### Sens des ordres et impact sur le marché #### Analyse de la liquidité Le raisonnement classique voudrait qu’il y ait une relation positive entre le nombre de contreparties ayant connaissance d’un ordre et l’impact sur le marché ; cependant, les tendances observées à partir de mars 2023 sont indicatives d’une situation différente. Dans la figure 3, nous évaluons les effets combinés du nombre de market makers invités à répondre et de l’envoi ou non d’une demande à Open Trading : en définitive, nous n’observons pas de différence mesurable dans les mouvements post-négociation dans les quatre scénarios. En outre, le nombre moyen de réponses à une requête envoyée à Open Trading (1,73) et le taux de pénétration (27,11 %) pour mars 2023 étaient conformes aux chiffres mensuels enregistrés avant et après la période d’étude. La parité relative des mouvements de CP+ confirme la thèse selon laquelle la volatilité du marché en mars n’était pas due à une offre limitée de liquidités, mais plutôt à une vente sur l’ensemble du marché déclenchée par l’incertitude dans les secteurs bancaire et financier. #### Nombre de market makers invités + Open Trading versus impact sur le marché #### Résumé Notre objectif était d’examiner l’impact sur le marché des requêtes des clients via leur impact sur les prix, au cours d’une période de volatilité extrême, afin d’étudier les causes des fuites d’informations. Plus précisément, la négociation électronique de blocs pendant les périodes où le bêta du marché est élevé conduit-elle à des mouvements plus importants de CP+ ? Nos conclusions sont doubles : (1) indépendamment du sens de l’ordre et de la taille du bloc, la négociation électronique n’a pas eu d’impact excessif sur le marché dans le segment IG en EUR et (2) le bêta du marché, plutôt que la manière dont un client négocie, est le principal facteur des mouvements post-négociation. Par conséquent, notre analyse du segment IG en EUR au cours du mois de mars 2023 montre que les transactions électroniques, indépendamment de leur taille et de leur sens, n’ont pas eu d’impact significatif sur le marché. #### Pour toute question ou tout suivi, envoyez un courriel à nos experts: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### How are innovation and collaboration shaping the Chinese bond market? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) --- # Blockbusting Teil 1: Pre-Trade-Informationen: Die Markttiefe kennen Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-teil-1-pre-trade-informationen-die-markttiefe-kennen ## Blockbusting Teil 1: Pre-Trade-Informationen: Die Markttiefe kennen Dies ist der erste Beitrag in einer kurzen Reihe von AxessPoints, die die Vorteile des elektronischen Handels mit größeren Ordervolumina erörtern. Darin zeigen wir, wie unsere Tools und Protokolle entwickelt werden, um die Ausführung unabhängig von Größe, Seite und Zeitpunkt zu optimieren. #### Tradability: Ein KI-gestütztes Liquiditätsmaß Die Kenntnis der aktuellen Markttiefe einer bestimmten Anleihe zu einer bestimmten Zeit ist von grundlegender Bedeutung für Entscheidungen über Methode und Zeitpunkt der Orderausführung. Händler können damit den erforderlichen Aufwand (Low-Touch/High-Touch) und das voraussichtlich beste Ergebnis unter allen Marktbedingungen besser einschätzen. Tradability wurde Anfang des Jahres eingeführt und misst die Markttiefe für US-, Euro- und Sterling-Anleihen auf der MarketAxess-Plattform in Echtzeit. Es prognostiziert die erwartete Anzahl von offenen und anonymen Antworten auf eine gegebene Preisanfrage nach Anleihe, Seite und Größe. Auf der Grundlage umfangreicher proprietärer Handelsplattform- und historischer „Dealer Response“ Daten passt sich das Maß im Laufe des Handelstages schnell an Veränderungen der Marktbedingungen an. Der Tradability-Score kann auch als Richtwert für die voraussichtlichen Transaktionskosten gemessen am CP+™-Mittelkurs verwendet werden. In der nachstehenden Tabelle ist dies näher erläutert. Wir haben die Performance-Metriken für Anfragen zu US-Investment-Grade(IG)-Anleihen im 2. Quartal 2023 nach Ordergröße und Tradability-Scores für diese Orders verfolgt. Wie man sieht, steigen die volumengewichteten Hit Rates pro Anfrage von 48% bis 52% auf eine Spanne von 77% bis 81% für alle Handelsvolumina, wenn der Tradability-Score auf 5 oder mehr steigt. Der Prozentsatz der Trades, die zum CP+-Mittelkurs oder besser ausgeführt wurden, steigt ebenfalls um etwa 8% für alle Volumina. Außerdem wird deutlich, dass die Liquidität der Preisanfrage (Anzahl der Rückmeldungen) selbst bei größeren Ordervolumina hoch ist, wenn der Tradability-Score bei 5 oder höher liegt. Eine 2022 von uns separat durchgeführte Analyse hat zudem gezeigt, dass selbst bei steigender Volatilität und einer Ausweitung der CP+-Geld-/Briefspannen die durchschnittliche Anzahl der handelbaren Preise bei Preisanfragen für größere Ordervolumina (>5 Mio.) konstant hoch bleibt (5+). Dies ist natürlich zum Teil auf die Verfügbarkeit des Open-Trading®-Liquiditätspools im „all-to-all“-Handel zurückzuführen. #### Verbesserung der Ausführungssicherheit Heute ist Tradability in unser CP+-Preisermittlungstool integriert und steht allen Nutzern sowohl für US-Anleihen- als auch für unsere Euro-/Sterling-Produkte zur Verfügung. #### Schutz vor Verbreitung von Handelsinformationen („Datenlecks“) – Herausforderungen für größere Handelsvolumina... Tradability geht nicht direkt auf das Problem von Datenlecks beim Handel mit größeren Volumina ein. Es hilft den Händlern jedoch, besser zu verstehen, wie und wo sie Aufträge aller Größenordnungen am besten ausführen und dadurch das Handelsergebnis sowohl unter normalen als auch unter volatilen Marktbedingungen optimieren können. Wenn Sie mehr über Tradability und unsere Pre-Trade-Analysetools erfahren möchten oder ausführlichere Informationen über die Entwicklung unserer neuen Handelsworkflow- und Ausführungstools wünschen, wenden Sie sich bitte an [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Blockbusting Teil 2 | Wie sich Kundenanfragen auf den Markt auswirken Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/blockbusting-teil-2-wie-sich-kundenanfragen-auf-denmarkt-auswirken #### Highlights and Ziele: - Wir möchten uns anschauen, wie sich von Kunden initiierte Anfragen in einer Phase extremer Volatilität auf den Marktpreis auswirken, um herauszufinden, was die Verbreitung von Handelsinformationen (Datenlecks) verursacht. - Beim Handel mit großen EUR-IG-Anleihepaketen auf MarketAxess gelang es Händlern im März 2023, Marktstörungen zu minimieren. Auch die Post-Trade-Analyse zeigte keine nachteiligen Auswirkungen der Blockhandelsaktivität auf den Spread. - Stattdessen wurde der Markt mehr durch die vorherrschenden Marktbedingungen als durch die Anzahl der Händler, die einen bestimmten Auftrag sahen, beeinflusst. - Das Senden einer Anfrage an Open Trading auf MarketAxess führte nicht zu mehr Spread-Bewegungen nach dem Handel. Von daher überwiegt der Zugang zu mehr Liquidität, den Open Trading bietet, potenzielle Datenlecks. #### Methodik - Wir beschränken unsere Studie auf von Kunden initiierte Anfragen auf der MarketAxess-Plattform im Segment der EUR-IG-Anleihen im März 2023. Der Monat wies hohe Volatilität auf und bot sich daher besonders gut an, die Marktauswirkungen aller Anfragen nach dem Handel zu untersuchen. - Zur Schätzung der Marktauswirkungen berechnen wir die durchschnittliche prozentuale Spread-Veränderung auf CP+™-Ebene – für eine bestimmte Anleihe und eine bestimmte Seite (z. B. Geld, Brief) – ab dem Zeitpunkt der Anfrage in Intervallen von 5, 10, 15, 30, 60 und 120 Minuten. - Um die prozentualen Veränderungen zu standardisieren, normalisieren wir um die CP+-Geld-Brief-Spanne für das entsprechende Zeitintervall. - Um zum Schluss entfernen wir extreme Ausreißer bei den Spread-Bewegungen, die wahrscheinlich durch falsche Benchmarks und/oder Unregelmäßigkeiten bei der Renditeberechnung entstanden. #### Marktauswirkungen des Blockhandels Generell würde man erwarten, dass größere Handelsvolumina größere Marktauswirkungen haben: Je größer die Order, desto höher die Wahrscheinlichkeit für Slippage und Nachhandelsbewegungen. Abbildung 1 zeigt die Auswirkungen größerer Handelsvolumina auf die Spread-Bewegungen nach dem Handel. Für das Segment der EUR-IG-Anleihen im März 2023 korreliert die Größe nicht mit den Marktauswirkungen, da wir keinen Anstieg der prozentualen Veränderungen von CP+-Bewegungen bei größeren Größenordnungen feststellen konnten. Dami zeigt die Analyse, dass der Handel mit größeren EUR-IG-Anleihepaketen auf der MarketAxess-Plattform nicht zu wesentlichen nachteiligen Nachhandelsbewegungen beitrug. #### Handelsvolumen vs. Marktauswirkungen #### Marktauswirkungen der Auftragsrichtung In Zeiten hoher Marktvolatilität rechnen wir mit einem Ungleichgewicht von Aufträgen in eine Richtung und entsprechenden Preisbewegungen. Abbildung 2 zeigt die Auswirkungen der Richtung an beiden Spreads gemessen. Die CP+-Bewegungen waren 1,2- bis 1,5-mal höher auf der Geldseite als auf der Briefseite. Da die prozentualen Veränderungen durch die zugrunde liegenden CP+-Geld-Brief-Spannen normalisiert wurden, deutet dies auf das Marktbeta als Haupttriebfeder der Spread-Bewegung hin. #### Auftragsrichtung vs. Marktauswirkungen #### Liquiditätsanalyse Herkömmlicherweise würde man ein positives Verhältnis zwischen der Anzahl der Gegenparteien, die einen Auftrag sehen, und den Marktauswirkungen erwarten. Die Trends vom März 2023 vermitteln jedoch ein anderes Bild. In Abbildung 3 schauen wir uns die kombinierten Auswirkungen der Anzahl der eingeladenen Händler an und ob eine Anfrage an Open Trading gesendet wurde. Letztendlich sehen wir bei allen vier Szenarien keinen messbaren Unterschied in den Nachhandelsbewegungen. Darüber hinaus entsprachen sowohl die durchschnittliche Anzahl der Antworten auf eine an Open Trading gesendete Anfrage (1,73) als auch die Penetrationsrate (27,11 %) für März 2023 den monatlichen Zahlen sowohl vor als auch nach dem Zeitraum der Studie. Auch die relative Parität der CP+-Bewegungen unterstützt die These, dass die Marktvolatilität im März nicht auf eine begrenzte Bereitstellung von Liquidität zurückzuführen war, sondern auf einen Ausverkauf am Gesamtmarkt, der durch Unsicherheit im Banken-/Finanzsektor ausgelöst wurde. #### Anzahl der eingeladenen Händler + Open Trading vs. Marktauswirkungen #### Zusammenfassung Das Ziel unserer Studie war die Untersuchung, wie von Kunden initiierte Anfragen sich in einer Zeit extremer Volatilität über Preisbewegungen auf den Markt auswirken. Dadurch wollten wir herauszufinden, was Datenlecks verursacht. Konkret wollten wir wissen, ob der elektronische Blockhandel in Zeiten mit hohem Marktbeta zu größeren CP+-Bewegungen führt. Unsere Schlussfolgerungen sind zweierlei: 1. Ungeachtet der Richtung und der Größe von Aufträgen führte der elektronische Handel nicht zu übermäßigen Marktauswirkungen im Segment der EUR-IG-Anleihen. 2. Das Marktbeta und nicht die Art und Weise, in der ein Kunde handelt, ist der Hauptfaktor für Nachhandelsbewegungen. Dementsprechend zeigt unsere Analyse des EUR-IG-Segments im März 2023, dass der elektronische Handel – unabhängig von Größe und Richtung – nicht zu wesentlichen Marktauswirkungen geführt hat. #### Wenden Sie sich mit Fragen oder Anmerkungen bitte per E-Mail an unsere Data Scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) #### CP+ Whitepaper [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # Bonds Trading at a Short Notice: Market Liquidity in E-Markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/bonds-trading-at-a-short-notice-market-liquidity-in-e-markets ## Bonds Trading at a Short Notice: Market Liquidity in E-Markets --- # Brazil’s fixed income market turns electronic Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/brazil-s-fixed-income-market-turns-electronic For years, the Brazilian fixed income market operated on a paradox: it was one of the world’s most sophisticated sovereign debt markets but it still relied heavily on voice and manual trade execution. With new regulatory mandates and political uncertainty defining the market climate, that’s beginning to change. A shift to electronic trading has been building since the Banco Central do Brasil and the National Treasury committed to a transparency-first agenda for local markets in 2019. Accelerating this trend is the more recent, early 2026 mandate primarily aimed at making the secondary market for Brazilian sovereign debt more liquid and observable. It specifically encourages the greater use of electronic trading. MarketAxess became one of four accredited platforms to support that initiative, to bring the same electronic workflow that transformed credit markets in New York and London directly into the Brazilian onshore ecosystem. The directive is working—BRL Títulos Públicos trading on MarketAxess is up 74% year-over-year through Q1 2026. ##### The growth of electronic trading in Brazil +74% | +51% | +24% | YoY Q1 2026 | YoY YTD through April 2026 | YoY onshore trading through April 2026 | The regulatory effort is largely a reaction to a macroeconomic and geopolitical climate that has heightened the importance of liquidity and execution quality. Brazil’s quantitative easing cycle and a contested electoral calendar have combined with this backdrop to introduce greater pressure on market volatility, pricing stability and investor confidence. As spreads move more rapidly and volatility increases, transparent price-discovery becomes more critical, as does a clear audit trail. In that environment, electronic platforms offer defensibility and control in addition to efficiency. As a result, a broader behavioral shift among local market participants is growing. Onshore clients and dealers, who are historically slower to migrate away from traditional execution methods, are stepping up their adoption of electronic workflows alongside their global counterparts. Brazil onshore trading is up 24% through April, pointing to organic changes in trading behavior rather than activity driven solely by regulatory requirements. The adoption curve reflects a market that is becoming more structurally electronic by choice, not just by mandate. Brazil’s fixed income market is increasingly aligning with the electronic infrastructure and trading standards that have become established across the US and Europe over the past decade. As market participants navigate a more volatile and interconnected environment, transparency, competitive pricing and technological agility are becoming foundational requirements. Brazil’s transition toward a more electronic market structure is now less a question of direction than of pace. ### Related content #### Responding to pressure Originally published on Asset Servicing Times | 08 January 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-asset-servicing-times-maria-calderon-2025-outlook) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) --- # Bridging borders: How innovation and collaboration are shaping the Chinese bond market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market “I recently had the privilege of attending the China Bond Market Forum in Beijing, hosted by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). The forum served as a melting pot for fixed income experts from across the region, and delved into how innovation is pivotal in navigating the challenges and opportunities within China’s evolving bond market.” Cathy Cai, Senior Sales Relationship Manager | #### Innovation opening doors The discussions covered a wide range of topics; a significant one being the role that recent innovations are playing to facilitate the continuous opening of China’s bond market to international investors. Notably, the dialogue highlighted: Hong Kong's strategic role: The city’s role in bridging international and Chinese bond markets was underscored, emphasizing its efforts in integrating Chinese onshore bonds into global bond indices. The power of data: The critical role of data as the foundational infrastructure for all major innovations in the fixed income market was a recurring theme, pointing towards a future where data-driven decisions become even more paramount. #### Regulatory developments and market sentiment Despite rising interest rates and heightened geopolitical tension dampening market sentiment, many participants pointed out the steadfast commitment of Chinese regulators to further open the country’s onshore bond market to foreign financial institutions. This is underscored by a pair of new development this year: - In January, the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) granted licenses to six foreign banks, enabling them to function as lead underwriters for new debt issuances within China. - Later this year, some of China’s largest banks are set to issue Total Loss Absorption Capital (TLAC) bonds, aligning with global capital requirements. #### Hong Kong: The conduit for connectivity The forum also delved into how Hong Kong continues to serve as an important conduit, deepening the connection between the international and the Chinese bond market. Innovative initiatives like Bond Connect, now accessible via the MarketAxess platform, has opened new avenues for foreign investors to access the Chinese interbank bond market—the second largest in the world. Looking ahead, Hong Kong is set to further solidify its role by strengthening tools designed to meet bond investors’ risk management needs. Examples include the Swap Connect, launched last year with the aim of helping investors mitigate rate risks. Additionally, in a significant move this January, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced that it would further open the onshore repurchase agreement (Repo) market to foreign institutional investors and expend the list of eligible RMB Bonds for HKMA's RMB Liquidity Facility. This comes as part of the country’s new measure to strengthen financial links between Hong Kong and the Mainland, as well as to further contribute to the internationalization of the Chinese Yuan (CNY). #### The path forward: Embracing innovation and collaboration The importance of data in the evolution of China’s fixed income market was center of many conversations. To highlight this, when asked for key words to define the improvement of the Chinese bond ecosystem, panel speakers at the session “Market Integrity and Sustainable Finance” responded with data, standard, transition. These discussions made it abundantly clear: the path forward for China's bond market is paved with innovation and international collaboration. As China’s bond market continues to grow in both size and influence within the broader global market, so does the importance of technology innovation and adoption. #### Fostering growth through technology This is where MarketAxess sits in this ecosystem. For the last 20 years, we stand at the forefront of leveraging technology to bridge gaps between global bond markets, providing the most comprehensive and global trading solutions for 28 emerging market local currency bonds. By integrating Bond Connect and CIBM-Direct into our platform, we have provided seamless access for global investors seeking CNY-denominated bonds. Our commitment to innovation doesn't stop here; we're constantly exploring how we can bring our cutting-edge technologies—like AI-driven analytics and automated trading tools—to further enhance the accessibility and efficiency of global bond markets. These efforts are underpinned by a wealth of data, including insights from MarketAxess TraX® data, platform trading data, and public TRACE data, ensuring that our solutions are both innovative and grounded in real-time market dynamics. Moreover, our technology has revolutionized how global investors find liquidity. Open Trading®, our all-to-all marketplace, has become essential for cross-border liquidity access, allowing investors to connect with a diverse range of trading counterparties anytime, anywhere, and further exemplifying our dedication to creating a more interconnected and efficient global financial ecosystem. We continue to innovate in ways that not only enhance market efficiency but also foster deeper integration within the global financial ecosystem. Our efforts are aligned with the broader trends and initiatives discussed at the forum, from supporting regulatory developments to leveraging data as the backbone of our platform's capabilities. #### A call to action for future collaboration Huge strides have been made in China’s onshore bond market in recent years. With the country’s strong commitment towards greater openness, strategic initiatives from Hong Kong, along with technology advancements from partners like MarketAxess and industry support from associations like ICMA, the market is becoming more accessible and dynamic for foreign investors. As we work to transform how the Chinese bond market grows and integrates into the global financial ecosystem, we are proud to be a crucial partner to regulators, investors and a global network of market participants. Let's continue to engage, innovate, and collaborate as we navigate this dynamic journey together, leveraging the best that technology can offer to foster connectivity and efficiency across borders. ### Learn more about our solutions to trade in China's onshore bond markets. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china) ### Related content #### What 2023 taught us about the APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-2023-taught-us-about-the-APAC-bond-markets) #### Transforming Asian bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/transforming-asia-bond-markets) #### How Fed policies shape the APAC local currency bond market [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-fed-policies-shape-the-apac-local-currency-bond-market) --- # Bridging the gap: How automation is empowering Asian private banks Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/bridging-the-gap-how-automation-is-empowering-asian-private-banks In today’s increasingly complex and fragmented fixed income landscape, private banks in APAC must embrace smarter, faster, and more efficient trading strategies to meet client expectations and remain competitive. The need to harness automation on private banks’ execution desks has grown stronger amid shifting market dynamics, increased volatility, and intensified macroeconomic headwinds. #### The challenge for private banks in APAC Private banks in APAC face a unique set of challenges when trading fixed-income securities. These include: - Fragmented regional markets with inconsistent liquidity, market structure, and regulatory environments across countries; - Limited transparency around pricing data and liquidity information; - Inefficient manual communication channels and lack of connectivity between the fixed income execution traders, relationship managers, and end clients. Relationship managers—who play a crucial role in guiding clients’ investment decisions—often find it hard to access relevant real-time market insights from their trading desks. Within APAC, MarketAxess has observed a gradual increase in the adoption of electronic trading and automation by fixed income desks, reflecting the region’s progress in electronic trading. Growing demand for automated processes and electronic trading solutions is also driving the momentum for continued innovation and transformation in the region’s trading workflows. Only a few years ago, fixed income desks at private banks across APAC predominantly relied on chat and voice-based request-for-quote (RFQ) trading, with relatively low penetration of electronic trading and even lower levels of automation. Due to the heavy reliance on manual processes, traders were—and in many cases still are—forced to spend a significant amount of time handling easily executable small tickets or providing price indications to client advisors. This often comes at the expense of focusing on more complex trades where their expertise and manual intervention can make a difference and truly add value. However, recent data from Axess IQ shows Asia is now reaching a new era of execution efficiency: As of 2024, 48% of fixed income trades in APAC were executed as “zero-touch” via Axess IQ®. However, there is still the potential to make workflows even more efficient, as seen through the momentum in Europe, where automation adoption is currently at its highest, reaching 90% on some of the private bank trading desks, creating an almost “equities-like” trading experience for end clients. As the region’s wealth ecosystem matures and client needs evolve, private banks in Asia are increasingly under pressure to find more efficient ways to trade fixed income products and streamline operations. #### Navigating market volatility To support fixed income traders in navigating volatile markets and improving trading efficiency, particularly in markets like Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, MarketAxess launched Axess IQ in 2019, a “one-stop shop” EMS-like unique execution and order workflow solution tailored specifically for the needs of private banks and wealth managers. Axess IQ enables traders to manage and monitor their open order queue, automatically assess and prioritize incoming orders, aggregate liquidity and pricing data into a unified view, and execute orders with greater ease and efficiency across the full spectrum from “high-touch” to fully automated “zero-touch” workflows. Furthermore, Axess IQ is fully integrated with MarketAxess’ unique liquidity and suite of trading protocols including Open Trading®, connecting traders to a global community of 2,000+ potential counterparties. Through automation protocols for RFQ workflows tailored specifically for the private banking and wealth management sector, MarketAxess has seen a surge in adoption of automation. In 2024, APAC’s Axess IQ volumes saw a 75% year-on-year increase while trading volumes for US investment grade bonds on Axess IQ rose by 109% year-on-year, and emerging markets debt saw a 78% year-on-year increase. By streamlining the workflows, Axess IQ enables private banks to respond faster to client inquiries and make better-informed decisions without relying on outdated data or manual processes. #### Execution on the go A major pain point raised by relationship managers and wealth management advisors in Asia was the lack of a mobile web app that provides access to real-time market insights, pricing and liquidity indications while on the go. Responding to this feedback, MarketAxess developed Axess IQ Lite, a web app that runs on any device (such as tablets or laptops), making it the ideal tool for advisors and relationship managers who need to stay connected with their trading desk, whether in the office or while traveling and meeting with clients. Axess IQ Lite provides relationship managers with direct access to live market insights like high-quality price and liquidity information for individual bonds or whole portfolios (based on CP+, MarketAxess’ award-winning AI-powered reference price) as well as real-time access to their orderbook, anytime and anywhere. The integration of Axess IQ Lite for advisors with the execution desk’s Axess IQ trading workstation also allows traders to share interactive recommendation lists with advisors and provides advisors with the option to directly submit their orders to their trading desk via Axess IQ Lite and the ability to track the execution status of their orders in real time. Axess IQ Lite is finally eliminating the disconnect between relationship managers and their fixed income trading desk, significantly enhancing front-to-back efficiency across the advisor workflow. #### The future of trading is here Automation and data are key to the future of trading, enabling private banks to manage their clients’ fixed income portfolio with the same efficiency and precision as other asset classes. However, enhancing workflow efficiencies through automation does not eliminate the need for human expertise. A human touch is also essential for private banks to engage more meaningfully with clients. Electronic trading platforms such as MarketAxess are at the forefront of this transition, helping private banks bridge the gap between advisory and execution. By bringing real-time data, shared recommendation lists and direct trading access to both execution desks and client advisors—ensuring they are more seamlessly connected throughout the entire fixed income journey, ultimately aiding them to better reach their clients’ investment goals. ### Related content #### A new era of efficiency and speed for Private Banking [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-new-era-of-efficiency-and-speed-for-private-banking) #### Insights into Private Banking in Asia [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/insights-into-private-banking-in-asia) --- # Bringing innovation and liquidity to the US Treasuries market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/bringing-innovation-and-liquidity-to-the-us-treasuries-market Earlier this month, PIMCO, one of the world’s largest fixed income asset managers, published their view on how to [improve the functioning of the US Treasury market](https://www.pimco.com/en-us/insights/viewpoints/in-depth/how-can-policymakers-improve-the-functioning-of-the-us-treasury-market). The paper was picked up quickly [by Robin Wigglesworth](https://www.ft.com/content/7d07879f-ef30-42d0-b10c-6ce379fd527a) at the FT – which served to further highlight how market participants and observers alike are (very) worried about the fragility of the world’s most important financial market. The views expressed in the paper reflect our own, and – if the PIMCO team will forgive me for paraphrasing – boiled down to the need to make it easier for any and all participants to make markets in USTs. And to enable those participants to access a large and reliable liquidity pool even in times of market stress. The proposed actions included providing broader access to the Fed’s standing repo facility, adjusting existing Dodd-Frank regulation to better balance market function vs. safeguarding, and, importantly, moving “the entire treasury market… to all-to-all trading”. Friends and clients of MarketAxess will pick up their ears at this last part. That’s right – all-to-all trading. Something that we launched for credit back in 2013 – having learned valuable lessons about liquidity from the crisis of 2008 and beyond. Our aim then, which still stands today, was to reduce liquidity fragmentation and “evaporation”, as the PIMCO report puts it, and to drive transparency and price improvement for all participants (so not just all-to-all, actually, but all-for-all – our platform, [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading), is not an exclusive club). The question raised in the report is – can we now do the same for US Treasuries? Good news reader - we already are. We’ve already begun to bring to market many of the concepts of all-to-all for USTs that PIMCO outline in their report. PIMCO noted several potential A2A benefits / key functions – such as inclusivity, access to data & pricing information, anonymity, CLOB-style trading capabilities etc. Well, last year, we launched [Live Markets for US Treasuries](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rates) – firm, executable, streaming prices (for both on-the-runs and off-the-runs) in an easy to use, customized order book. An accessible, executable, diversified liquidity pool designed to minimize your information leakage and improve the quality of pricing. On data & pricing – we’ve also worked hard to develop and refine our market-leading Composite+™ (CP+) pricing service for US Treasuries. With data sourced from real-time dealer contributions and aggregated, top-of-book pricing from Live Markets, we can offer accurate indicative composite pricing for all UST Bills, Notes and Bonds. The next step is [RFQ](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rates), which we launched this summer. Our RFQ solution supports both solicited workflow and unsolicited workflows and takes advantage of our newly designed platform GUI to provide a customizable activity console and execution display. As we develop the Open Trading approach for USTs (further reflecting the suggestions in the report), our goal is to provide all clients with access to alternative liquidity, while prioritizing the liquidity access needs of currently underserved mid-tier clients. Reaching more alternative liquidity providers through Open Trading will be integrated into our US Treasuries RFQ experience, providing optionality of execution and a unique, reliable liquidity pool for Rates traders in any firm. In short – what we started with and successfully built for global credit markets we’re now doing for rates. Even where broader adoption or market structure may be slow to evolve with us, as always we’re looking further ahead and developing a market that offers deeper liquidity and greater resilience. The pace of change is increasing, and as we’ve seen in credit, there will come an inflection point where regulators, clients, dealers and platform providers align. Hopefully we’re close to that point in USTs – because the technology and the tools exist. If you’d like to find out more about any of our US Treasury tools and services, please click [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rates) or get in touch with a MarketAxess sales rep. ### Related Content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Bringing transparency to the muni marketplace with AI-powered pricing Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/bringing-transparency-to-the-muni-marketplace-with-ai-powered-pricing CP+ is a major leap forward in bond pricing and provides heightened accuracy to valuations across global credit, rates, emerging markets, and now, the municipal bond market. Julien Alexandre, Global Head of Research, and Daniel Kelly, Head of Municipal Securities, discuss why MarketAxess is bringing the power of CP+ to municipal bonds and what this will mean for increased transparency across muni e-trading. TheDESK: Since first launching in 2017, CP+ has become a key pricing tool for corporate and emerging market bonds. Can you walk us through how it’s transformed trading in these markets? CP+ has transformed trading in corporate and emerging markets by enabling more efficient electronic execution through protocols like Auto-X for automated RFQ execution, Portfolio Trading for basket execution, and Mid-X for anonymous crossing at CP+ mid-price. Along with Open Trading®, MarketAxess’ all-to-all trading marketplace, precise pricing solutions like CP+ lowers the barriers to entry for price makers, allowing them to confidently provide liquidity across a broader range of securities using CP+ as a reliable reference price. Julien Alexandre Global Head of Research at MarketAxess | Beyond execution efficiency, CP+ also helps traders identify opportunities and mispricing through continuous, real-time price updates across both liquid and less-liquid bonds. This pricing engine leverages our proprietary access to unique data in combination with AI technology. CP+ derives robust pricing inputs, using the entire stack of inquiry responses sent by liquidity providers, regardless of if the bond traded or not. In combination with platform data and trade data from TRACE and TraX®, CP+ generates over 50 million daily price updates across more than 350,000 bonds globally, updating as fast as every 15 seconds. Our AI models provide accurate pricing for less liquid securities by analysing relationships between similar bonds, while also uncovering complex and non-linear relationships between a diverse array of pricing inputs, incorporating non-trade signals like dealer runs and RFQ responses. TheDESK: Now that CP+ will expand to cover municipal bonds and given the fragmented nature and specificities of the muni market, how will CP+ address the pricing challenges there? Julien: The municipal bond market’s fragmented nature presents unique pricing challenges that CP+ is well-positioned to address. Our AI models excel at extracting pricing signals from multiple data sources, which is crucial in munis where trading can be sporadic. CP+ can analyse relationships between similar issuers, sectors, and maturities to generate accurate pricing even for infrequently traded bonds. Drawing from our success in other fixed income markets, we expect CP+ to bring greater transparency and efficiency to muni e-trading by providing reliable, real-time pricing across the full spectrum of municipal securities. Additionally, as the municipal market evolves, where we are seeing more trades but with a lower average trade size, the need for accurate municipal bond pricing, tailored to different trade sizes, is paramount. TheDESK: Looking at the data that powers CP+, what unique advantages does MarketAxess have in both the corporate and municipal bond markets? Julien: MarketAxess has unique data advantages across corporate, emerging and municipal bond markets through our position as a leading electronic trading platform. In corporate and emerging bond markets, we see over 300,000 firm levels per day from the entire stack of RFQ responses, whether inquiries execute or not, providing CP+ with valuable pricing signals beyond just completed trades. Our growing municipal bond franchise—which saw a record market share of 8.8% in September, generates similar proprietary data including offerings, RFQ responses, and trading activity that will help CP+ generate accurate pricing even for less frequently traded issues. Daniel Kelly Head of Municipal Securities at MarketAxess | TheDESK: The municipal bond market seems to be embracing technological transformation lately and adding CP+ represents a step in the right direction. What other innovations has the MarketAxess municipal franchise seen this year? Daniel: This year alone, muni e-trading has benefitted from significant technological innovation. We’re extremely proud of this latest expansion of CP+, but this is not the first or last innovation we’ll bring to the municipal sector. Client and dealer appetite for workflow efficiency, new technology and demand for diverse trading tools is higher than ever and the market is ready. That’s why in the past twelve months, in addition to launching CP+ for Munis, we’ve also introduced Tax-Exempt Portfolio Trading, enhanced automation tools, and expanded liquidity sources to the platform. I’m proud to say that earlier this year, we announced our first PT for Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds, bringing greater efficiency and certainty of execution to muni baskets of up to 1,500 CUSIPs. Bringing a PT tool to MarketAxess was one of the most requested enhancements from our clients, and now clients can send large, complex and diverse lists to multiple counterparties or a single dealer, negotiating price improvements and trading discreetly on a diversified basket of Tax-Exempt Munis in one singular point of transaction. With Muni CP+ now providing increased price discovery for municipals, we believe tax exempt portfolio trading in the municipal market will become a more reliable protocol for clients looking to exchange baskets of risk. We also entered a strategic partnership with ICE Bonds, effectively connecting two complimentary liquidity networks for municipal bonds, which provides access to deeper liquidity in the fixed income markets and allows ICE Bonds’ ATS to communicate with our Open Trading network, ultimately expanding the depth and reach of our respective global user bases. And, of course, we’ve brought automation to the market with Auto-X RFQ for Tax-Exempt Muni bonds to optimize selling execution workflow. Auto-X RFQ for Tax-Exempt Munis provides clients with a simplistic way to obtain efficiency while leveraging your direct counterparties in anonymous all-to-all workflow for best execution. [Original article](https://www.fi-desk.com/marketaxess-bringing-transparency-to-the-muni-marketplace-with-ai-powered-pricing/) published by TheDESK ### Related content #### CP+ under the hood: How trades and inquiries impact pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-plus-under-the-hood-how-trades-and-inquiries-impact-pricing) #### AxessPoint: Intraday Liquidity Trends [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-intraday-liquidity-trends) #### MarketAxess hits new records in October Municipal Bond trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/marketaxess-hits-new-records-in-october-municipal-bond-trading) --- # Blockbusting Partie 3 | Comparaison de l'analyse des coûts de transaction entre les opérations de portefeuille et les demandes de cotation sur liste Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/comparaison-de-lanalyse-des-couts-de-transaction-entre-les-operations-de-portefeuille-et-les-demandes-de-cotation-sur-liste #### Faits marquants et objectifs - Notre objectif est d’étudier les facteurs clés des résultats de la Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA) du Portfolio Trading (PT), mesurés par les résultats des prix du PT par rapport au CP+™ Side. - L’analyse des caractéristiques du PT n’a révélé aucun facteur significatif de résultats de la TCA du PT par rapport au chevauchement des ETF et au profil de liquidité. - Il existe toutefois une forte corrélation entre la TCA du PT et le premium discount des ETF, probablement due au positionnement des banques et à la gestion des risques. - Nous comparons également ce facteur clé avec les résultats de la TCA pour les demandes de cotation sur liste et nous constatons qu’il s’agit d’un facteur plus important de la performance du PT que pour les demandes de cotation sur liste. Le Portfolio Trading, où un panier d’obligations est négocié sur une base tout ou rien à un prix pondéré en fonction du volume, s’est imposé comme un protocole de plus en plus important sur le marché des obligations d’entreprises. En septembre 2023, la part de marché des PT sur TRACE pour les obligations de haute qualité a atteint une estimation de 5,55 % du volume échangé. Bien que le PT offre une certitude d’exécution et qu’il puisse exécuter des ordres volumineux comportant de nombreuses lignes, il est toujours essentiel de s’assurer que la qualité d’exécution a augmenté. Pour mesurer la TCA, nous comparons le ou les niveaux d’exécution à CP+ en fonction du CP+ Bid/Offer, notre moteur de tarification primé, optimisé par l’IA. Un client qui achète à un prix inférieur au bid ou qui vend à un prix supérieur à l’offre indique une surperformance par rapport à l’indice de référence. À partir de là, nous comparons les analyses préalables aux opérations qui ont une forte corrélation avec une TCA positive ou négative dans le PT et les listes de demandes de cotation. #### Méthodologie Pour réaliser cette analyse, nous avons examiné les transactions des PT de juin 2022 à juin 2023 sur MarketAxess où les obligations de haute qualité représentent une majorité du panier. Nous avons filtré les PT qui ont au moins 2 obligations uniques, un nombre minimum de 2 banques invitées, un minimum de 5 lignes et une taille totale minimale de 1 million de dollars. Nous appliquons les mêmes filtres aux listes des demandes de cotation dans les graphiques ci-dessous. Le PT type sur la plateforme a 115 lignes, une taille totale médiane de 29,1 millions de dollars et un score de liquidité relative (Relative Liquidity Score) moyen de 7,07. À titre de comparaison, la liste type comporte 26 lignes, a une taille totale médiane de 4,3 millions de dollars et un score de liquidité relative moyen de 7,04. #### Faible relation entre les caractéristiques du Portfolio Trading et la TCA En raison de la nature du panier et de la diversification d’un PT, nous pouvons examiner les caractéristiques d’un PT et observer s’il existe une corrélation avec le résultat de leur TCA. Pour cet exercice, nous avons examiné deux caractéristiques du PT : le chevauchement des ETF et le score moyen de liquidité (Average Liquidity Score). Figure 1 : Diagramme de dispersion de la TCA par rapport à la fraction d’ETF LQD éligible​ Figure 2 : Diagramme de dispersion de la TCA par rapport au score moyen de liquidité Dans les graphiques ci-dessus, nous mesurons une caractéristique d’un PT et la représentons par rapport à la TCA moyenne pondérée en fonction du volume correspondante par rapport au CP+ sur le même côté. On constate que ces deux caractéristiques ne sont pas fortement corrélées avec la TCA du PT, ce qui signifie qu’elles ne sont pas un facteur déterminant des résultats de la TCA. #### Premium discount des ETF et TCA Étant donné que les PT peuvent exécuter de nombreux lignes en une seule transaction, l’une des utilisations probables du PT est de négocier des paniers qui reflètent les indices existants. L’essor de l’électronisation parmi les investissements passifs sur le marché des obligations d’entreprises a fourni un échantillon de grande taille pour tester la relation entre les caractéristiques des ETF et la TCA. Nous utilisons nos données de fluctuation minimale des prix CP+ pour calculer la valeur des composants de l’ETF LQD. Comme dans le cas précédent, lorsque le prix de l’ETF est supérieur au CP+ Offer pour ces composants, l’ETF se négocie à un prix majoré. Inversement, lorsque le prix de l’ETF est inférieur au CP+ Bid des obligations qui le composent, il se négocie avec un discount. Nous calculons cette valeur pour chaque date et heure de transaction. Premium/discount = moyenne (prix de l’action de l’ETF - CP+ Side) Nous approfondissons l’arbitrage sur les ETF et la dissymétrie des volumes de demandes dans [cet article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/etf-arbitrage-and-inquiry-volume-skewness). Figure 3 : Diagramme de dispersion de la TCA par rapport au premium discount des ETF pour le PT Figure 4 : Diagramme de dispersion de la TCA par rapport au premium discount des ETF pour les demandes de cotation sur liste Le graphique ci-dessus (Fig. 3) présente la qualité d’exécution de chaque PT par rapport au premium/discount de LQD pour les transactions des clients au cours de la période indiquée. Nous pouvons constater que les clients obtiennent de meilleurs résultats en matière de TCA lorsque l’ETF est « bon marché » par rapport aux obligations sous-jacentes (axe x négatif), ce qui signifie que le marché fonctionne efficacement pour réaliser l’arbitrage de l’ETF. De même, nous pouvons analyser l’effet du premium discount de l’ETF sur les résultats de la TCA pour les demandes de cotation sur liste. Nous observons une tendance similaire, à savoir que les résultats de la TCA sont meilleurs lorsque l’ETF correspondant se négocie avec un discount. Toutefois, par rapport à la ligne de tendance de la TCA des PT, la ligne de tendance pour les demandes de cotation sur liste n’est pas aussi abrupte (0,493 contre 0,385). Nous pouvons en déduire que la TCA des demandes de cotation sur liste est le résultat de la manière dont les banques fixent le prix et gèrent le risque dans des postes individuels, alors que dans les PT, le risque est géré au niveau du panier ; cela démontre en outre pourquoi les ETF sont un instrument de couverture plus approprié pour la gestion du risque des PT. #### Pour toute question ou tout suivi, envoyez un courriel à nos data scientists de MarketAxess: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # Control is the best defence Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/control-is-the-best-defence With a growing level of scrutiny coming from European Regulatory bodies about the quality of data reporting, firms would be wise to consider the extent to which their Control Framework is effective. But what constitutes a “control framework”? What elements should a firm consider when designing and operating its processes and procedures? And why is it an investment priority? Firstly, having an effective control framework means a firm is putting the best form of defence in place. Defence against breaching regulation. Defending itself from all manner of operational and reputational risk and helping to ensure the best levels of client service. The team that operates the control framework is often not the team that gets the “glory”, but plays an essential part in any firm's day-to-day operating model. Being regarded as a source of safety and reliability for customers and their data must be the target. As Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager of Manchester United, said “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” #### Risk, rules and resolution An effective control framework ensures you have the appropriate means to manage risk and demonstrates you are meeting your obligations under applicable law. When it comes to the elements of regulatory reporting, the control framework should have relevant tests and procedures to ensure completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of a firm’s reporting. And it should do this for ALL transactions—not just some. Control Frameworks are not just a series of database queries or Excel spreadsheets either. An effective Control Framework ensures that all transactions are verified for accuracy, that patterns in data are analysed, and where outliers or errors are detected they can be resolved as quickly as possible. Ultimately, the ability to demonstrate the effective performance of the control framework through regular testing using live data is critical to maintaining a secure environment. #### Flexibility means strength The tools must be dynamic, this is not a one-time ‘build and forget’ solution. As your business develops and changes, as new regulations come into effect, the framework MUST be adapted. Indeed, business enhancements should be made in partnership with control managers, to ensure a seamless integration into the framework. A strong control framework requires real-time updates and data, plus the output MUST be tailored to the audience. In other words, not all the “actors” with an interest in the information produced by the Control Framework have the same role and responsibility, and it’s vital that data is distilled to be meaningful to those different roles. #### Intelligently tightening your defence MarketAxess has created SensAI, an advanced solution using the latest AI and Machine Learning to help firms with near real-time analysis of their RTS 22 reporting. SensAI uses algorithms to detect errors or anomalies by identifying patterns and predicting errors in your reported data. It not only matches your data to the required regulation but also with other reporting data from across our entire platform. By doing this in near real-time, SensAI reviews ALL your RTS 22 reported transactions on a T+2 basis and becomes a core part of your enhanced Control Framework. Ensuring your firm has an effective control framework and uses solutions like SensAI means you will have a robust and effective solution to control operational risk and prevent reputational damage. 57% of transactions assessed by SensAI had at least one previously undetected error. With European Regulators taking reporting data quality increasingly seriously, YOU need to ensure your firm is controlling that data to a much greater degree than ever before. After all, as the great Jack Welch once said, “Control your own destiny or someone else will.” #### To learn more about SensAI, [visit our product page](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sensai). ### Related Content #### Regulatory reporting inaccuracies—It's better to know than be told [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-inaccuracies-its-better-to-know-than-be-told) #### Regulatory reporting—A view from the SMF “hot” seat [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-a-view-from-the-smf-hot-seat) #### Data is king [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/data-is-king) --- # Corporate bond world set to get first daily Closing Auction Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/corporate-bond-world-set-to-get-first-daily-closing-auction MarketAxess Holdings Inc. is seeking to bring a feature of fast-twitch equity markets to the relatively sedate $9 trillion universe of corporate bonds: the daily closing auction. The electronic trading company plans to launch a daily “closing print” for corporate bonds — the first standardized end-of-day price in a market long defined by opaque, ad hoc quotes. The goal is to deepen liquidity and lower trading costs, but the worry is there’s a tradeoff if it squeezes dealer profits tied to the very inefficiencies it would eliminate. “There are lots of matching sessions in the fixed-income market today,” Chris Concannon, the firm’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “There’s no tradeable true auctions. This is the first.” The closing-auction process — supported by industry titans including BlackRock Inc., State Street Investment Management, AllianceBernstein Holding LP and DWS Group — will match buy and sell interests from dealers and investors to find a single closing price of a bond, according to Concannon. The auction system will be available to clients and dealers in the coming weeks and will initially be available to a select list of highly liquid bonds, including those within major exchange-traded funds and recently issued bonds, he added. MarketAxess also plans to roll out an opening auction. The change to the trading process comes amid rapid structural shifts in the bond market, as traders embrace portfolio trading, fixed-income ETFs and adopt electronic, high-speed strategies — innovations familiar to equity markets. In stocks, major exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange use a daily closing auction to consolidate liquidity and determine an official end-of-day price, providing a reference point for indexes, funds and derivatives. Credit markets, by contrast, have long operated through fragmented and bilateral negotiations with little visibility into where bonds actually trade. The new closing protocol seeks to change that. More price transparency widens the scope of data available for systematic investors — who make fast decisions about corporate bonds to buy and sell using complicated algorithms — and expands their opportunity set, according to Andrew Dassori, chief investment officer at Wavelength Capital Management LLC. “Growing liquidity at market close helps make these trades executable,” said Dassori. The closing price will, over time, become a reference point for companies looking to sell bonds in the primary market, much like how new issues work in other markets, Concannon said. While dealers long accustomed to the profits eked out from the inefficiencies brought about by traditional voice trading and request-for-quote processes may take an initial hit, Concannon views auctions as a new way to provide and profit from liquidity by offsetting multiple clients’ supply and demand imbalances. The auction format will allow dealers to also act as principals while capitalizing on price discrepancies that emerge during concentrated trading windows, he added. “Dealers can exit inventory on an auction or they can be a liquidity provider in an auction,” Concannon said. “So it offers them another trading tool to both be a dealer or to exit inventory positions.” It’s a major shift for a market that has for years relied on dealer runs — or a list of bond prices from dealers — and trades that occurred much earlier in the day rather than on actual closing transactions. That’s made it difficult to find the fair value when looking to buy or sell a bond. “These auctions will improve price discovery and offer investors increased transparency in line with the continued growth of electronic trading,” said Daniel Veiner, head of markets within BlackRock global markets and index investing. Still, success will depend on adoption because without deep participation from dealers and buy-side firms, auction volumes may remain limited, Concannon noted. Ahead, he sees a potential opportunity for a single, market-wide auction that brings together both dealers and buy-side participants to establish a unified close for fixed-income trading that could potentially expand across asset classes. “Auctions will ultimately grow into other areas of the fixed-income market, particularly the US Treasury market,” said Concannon. Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, competes with electronic platforms including MarketAxess and Tradeweb Markets Inc. to offer fixed-income trading, data and information to the financial services industry. — With assistance from Sid Verma Originally published by Bloomberg | November 5, 2025 ### Related content #### MarketAxess unveils fixed income's first Opening & Closing Auctions; designed to improve pricing and liquidity [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Unveils-Fixed-Incomes-First-Opening--Closing-Auctions-Designed-to-Improve-Pricing-and-Liquidity/default.aspx) #### History in the making: A closer look at MarketAxess’ newly launched Opening and Closing Auctions [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/history-in-the-making-a-closer-look-at-marketaxess-newly-launched-opening-and-closing-auctions) #### Unlocking liquidity: How Opening and Closing Auctions are reshaping bond trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-liquidity-how-marketaxess-opening-and-closing-auctions-are-reshaping-bond-trading) --- # CP+™ for ETFs: Improving ETF portfolio management with predictive pricing Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/cp-for-etfs-improving-etf-portfolio-management-with-predictive-pricing Kat Sweeney, Global Head of ETFs and Data Solutions at MarketAxess, sat down with Jeff Lenamon, Head of Portfolio Construction & Senior Portfolio Manager at DWS, to discuss how DWS has improved the performance of their ETFs by integrating CP+ into daily workflows and the create/redeem process. Starting his career in Fixed Income in 1998, Jeff is an industry veteran who has managed Credit ETFs since the 2000’s, including HYG and LQD during the financial crisis. Kat Sweeney: Much has been written about the growth and trading of Fixed Income ETFs, but there is little known about the complexities of actually managing an ETF. I joke, (but it’s true!) that you are one of the “OGs” of the ETF world—so can you set the scene for us? Jeff Lenamon: “Industry veteran” and “OG” makes me sound older than I am. But I was fortunate to be introduced to the asset class in the early stages. Anyway, to your question: To create Fixed Income ETF shares, the ETF Portfolio Managers (PMs) work with Authorized Participants (APs) who provide liquidity in ETF shares to clients. Since most portfolios hold upwards of thousands of bonds, the PMs negotiate optimized creation units called Custom In-Kind Baskets (CIBs) to facilitate the process. This negotiation is an active process between the ETF PM and the AP. While trading of an ETF happens throughout the day at varying prices, a creation is priced at the Net Asset Value (NAV) which is determined by valuing the portfolio at an End of Day Evaluated Price. While the CIB creation process offers many benefits, there are specific challenges an ETF PM faces, largely due to how the fund synthetically buys or sells underlying securities at the Evaluated Price. PMs must evaluate the impact that each CIB will have on the fund, to ensure he or she is not introducing tracking error. “How a fund is marked, isn’t just an internal priority—it’s a competitive necessity.” | Kat: Let’s dig into that a little more. We know that fund managers try to minimize tracking vs. the benchmark, focusing on the “market factor.” What other factors can influence the performance of the fund? Jeff: Yes, that’s right. As you say, fund managers have traditionally focused on trying to minimize tracking vs. their benchmark across issuer, sector, ratings, maturity, and capital structure. However, pricing skew can also play a contributing factor into tracking error and ultimate fund performance. As you know, unlike Equity ETFs, where the NAV is determined by the official closing price of each stock, Fixed Income ETF NAVs are determined by “Evaluated Prices” that are offered by multiple vendors. The complexities of our market and the illiquidity of some bonds can lead to distortions—pricing skew—between the Evaluated Price and where the market is actually trading. Fund managers will routinely “challenge” Evaluated Prices they believe are off market, but this process typically happens only after the prices are published, meaning they don’t pick up the skew intra-day. When I moved into the PM role, we focused on the difficult and complex task of managing the CIB process and monthly rebalances. We realized that the traditional approach to evaluating pricing skew could be addressed effectively by leveraging some of the liquidity and pricing products we used in my prior trading role. This was important—because having confidence in the end-of-day price and being able to adequately gauge bid-ask spread and liquidity estimates of bonds, is fundamental to the successful management of our funds. Kat: …and so enters MarketAxess CP+… Jeff: Yes. We introduced CP+ predictive pricing across our portfolio management, optimization, and trading processes, developing a streamlined “skew assessment” that assesses the discrepancies between the funds’ expected end-of-day prices vs. CP+ throughout the day. This approach helps the team identify outlier bonds, reducing the potential to deliver a “cheap” bond via a creation or a “rich” bond via a redemption. At the fund level, we can use CP+ to determine intraday moves and realistic market execution levels, which provides greater transparency into skew estimates, so our talented PM team potentially reduces tracking errors and ensures NAVs are being marked efficiently. “CP+ provides our funds with a more accurate representation of realistic market execution levels. CP+ is a great tool to help us potentially minimize tracking error and optimize fund performance, which is a great outcome for our clients and could give us a competitive advantage.” | Kat: It’s the perfect example of how the ETF ecosystem is driving innovation in both market mechanics and the data solutions that support them. Innovation that wouldn’t happen without the support and collaboration between you, DWS and MarketAxess, so I do want to say a big thank you to you and your team for your partnership. If you don’t mind, I will conclude briefly: “The bottom line is that ETFs are influencing market structure, and fund managers need to adapt accordingly, integrating new data solutions and technologies into their portfolio construction and management workflows.” | This includes, but is not limited to, better and more accurate evaluated pricing models; real-time predictive pricing; and access to deeper and broader credit liquidity pools. Those who do it successfully, as Jeff has described, will see immediate competitive value for their funds, and will be able to measure, automate and execute against their desired portfolio strategies with confidence. ##### About CP+ and our Evaluated Pricing partnership with S&P Global: CP+ is the MarketAxess award-winning, algorithmic pricing engine which provides nowcast prices, calibrated to reflect trades as closely as possible without introducing bias. Last year, MarketAxess and S&P Global announced a historic pricing partnership where CP+ is ingested into their Evaluated Bond Price (EVB). This partnership bridges the gap between CP+'s predictive price, used for intraday trading decisions, and the Evaluated Price, used to value FI ETF NAVs. To find out more, [click here](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2024/SP-Global-Market-Intelligence-and-MarketAxess-Announce-Strategic-Fixed-Income-Data-Partnership-2024-RkDUQUX-8E/default.aspx). MarketAxess would like to thank Jeff Lenamon and the entire DWS team for their continued support and consultation, so that we can continue to provide best-in-class data solutions for our clients. Opinions expressed herein may differ from the opinions expressed by departments or other divisions or affiliates of DWS. All investments involve risks, including potential loss of principal. DWS and MarketAxess are not affiliated. The brand DWS represents DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA and any of its subsidiaries, such as DWS Distributors, Inc., which offers investment products, or DWS Investment Management Americas Inc. and RREEF America L.L.C., which offer advisory services. Copyright © 2025 DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA. All rights reserved. 106695-1 (7/2026) ### Related content #### AxessPoint: The expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidity) #### The power of data in trading protocol selection [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection) #### AxessPoint: The new era of corporate bond trading for retail investors [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-new-era-of-corporate-bond-trading-for-retail-investors) --- # CP+™ under the hood: How trades and inquiries impact pricing Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/cp-plus-under-the-hood-how-trades-and-inquiries-impact-pricing #### Highlights: - The unique position of MarketAxess as a leading electronic trading platform allows CP+ to leverage insights from both trades and non-traded inquiries. - Our analysis reveals that on-platform trades are more reliable inputs for CP+ than off-platform trades and that even inquiries that Did Not Trade (DNTs) have a significant impact on CP+ pricing, showcasing the algorithm's ability to extract meaningful signals from proprietary data. - Additionally, CP+ demonstrates robust learning capabilities, refining its predictions based on a diverse array of market data and avoiding overfitting to individual trade prices. #### Introduction In the recently published CP+ whitepaper, we discussed how CP+ accuracy is rigorously measured by comparing CP+ levels against institutional-sized trades in the market. This AxessPoint is a direct follow-up in which we dive deeper into the inner workings of CP+. Here, we explore how key inputs like executed trades and platform inquiries drive the movement of CP+, shedding light on the interpretability of the model. The analysis below is done using Q4 2023 data on US Investment Grade (IG) trades and inquiries with a quantity above or equal to $150k #### Comparing CP+ accuracy for on-platform and off-platform trades We show the value of on-platform trades by comparing the CP+ median absolute deviation (MAD) for on-platform versus off-platform trades. The MAD is a robust measure of the variance between a pricing source (CP+ in this case) and actual traded levels, with lower values indicating either better accuracy of the pricing source or less noise in the trades themselves. With CP+ as the common factor in this scenario, comparing the MAD is effectively measuring the consistency of the traded levels on and off platform. In Q4 2023, for US IG bonds, the CP+ MAD was 1.095 bps for on-platform trades and 1.395 bps for off-platform trades. This lower MAD for on-platform trades indicates a higher degree of consistency compared to off-platform trades, making them more reliable inputs for CP+. One key factor contributing to this consistency is the centralized liquidity pool on the MarketAxess platform. In Q4 2023, 96% of US IG client initiated RFQs on the platform went to all liquidity providers via Open Trading®. This broad exposure helps to ensure that the best response back reflects the market's collective view and is less likely to be influenced by idiosyncratic factors or outliers, resulting in more reliable trade data for CP+. #### CP+ Median Absolute Deviation #### Examining the impact of trades and inquries on CP+ While the MAD comparison demonstrates the superior quality of on-platform trades, we can go beyond evaluating prediction accuracy and examine how CP+ adapts its pricing in response to new trade and inquiry data. We define ‘Event Delta’ as the difference between the event level (traded level for trades or best response level for inquiries that didn't trade) and the corresponding CP+ side 15 minutes before the event, such that a positive Event Delta indicates that the event level is more competitive than the prior CP+ side from the liquidity taker's perspective. Similarly, we define 'CP+ Movement' as the change in the CP+ side from 15 minutes before the event to 15 minutes after the event such that a positive CP+ Movement signifies that the CP+ side became more competitive from the liquidity taker’s perspective after the event compared to before the event (see appendix for a more detailed explanation). #### CP+'s robust learning from trade data CP+ does not rely solely on individual trades to determine bond prices. Instead, it considers a wide range of relevant data points, even those that may be less directly related to the current prediction. By incorporating this diverse set of inputs, CP+ can generate more robust and accurate pricing estimates. As a result, when a trade occurs at a level that differs from the CP+ prediction by a certain amount (‘Event Delta’), the subsequent adjustment to the CP+ level will generally be smaller than Event Delta. This is because the algorithm weighs all available features and data points appropriately when updating its predictions, rather than overreacting to a single trade. #### CP+ change after TRACE print The chart above shows the CP+ Movement against the Event Delta in US IG trades. For example, a trade occurring 4bps inside CP+ side leads CP+ to tighten its prediction by 1.24bps in median terms. As expected, the slope of trendline is positive and the CP+ Movement when Event Delta is 0 is close to 0. This direction of movement reflects that CP+ aptly adjusts for market information, and the lower magnitude reflects the robustness of CP+ against overfitting. #### Leveraging the value of the MarketAxess inquiry data The unique access to MarketAxess platform data, including the stack of prices back on each inquiry, allows CP+ to gain valuable information that reflects the market's collective view, enabling it to refine pricing predictions, adapt quickly to changing market conditions, and deliver more precise pricing by leveraging the full context surrounding each request. In Q4 2023, in US IG, the MarketAxess trading platform saw more than 1.6 million firm prices back on DNTs, highlighting the vast amount of data available for CP+ to learn from, even in the absence of executed trades. To demonstrate the value of this proprietary data, we compare the impact on CP+ from three sources of trade events: - Trades executed outside the platform (TRACE off-platform). - Trades executed on the MarketAxess platform (on-platform trades). - Inquiries on the platform that did not result in a trade (DNT). For DNT inquiries, in the below analysis, we consider the best response level as the most relevant reference point. It is important to note however that this is a simplification for illustrative purposes only and that for both trades and DNTs, CP+ has access to the entire stack of response levels back. #### CP+ Impact by source The steeper impact curve for on-platform trades in the above graph illustrates that on-platform trades have the most significant impact on CP+ Movement across all Event Delta buckets. CP+ leverages the additional context available for on-platform trades to better interpret the signal, which is particularly valuable in filtering out noise from duplicate trade reports. When CP+ predicts 2bps inside the traded level for an on-platform trade, it subsequently widens its prediction by 1.54bps in median terms. A reverse pattern is likewise observed when CP+ predicts outside the trade level. Notably, even inquiries that do not result in a trade (DNTs) have a substantial impact on CP+ pricing. When CP+ predicts 5bps inside the best dealer level on a DNT inquiry, it widens its prediction by 1.5bps in median terms. The magnitude of this impact is comparable to that of an off-platform trade. #### Conclusion Our analysis of CP+ spread movements in response to trade and inquiry data provides valuable insights into the algorithm’s adaptive learning capabilities. It also highlights the edge of the unique data that MarketAxess provides to CP+. By knowing all the context surrounding an inquiry, whether it traded or not, CP+ can more effectively distinguish between meaningful price updates and less reliable data points. The ability to refine its predictions in response to platform-specific activity sets CP+ apart from pricing solutions that rely solely on public trade tapes. #### Appendix We define Event Delta from CP+ according to the side of the event, such that a positive number indicates the Event level is more competitive (from the liquidity taker’s perspective) than CP+ side 15 minutes before the event (so the Event level is inside CP+ bid and offer). For US High Grade in Spread Protocol, Event Delta to CP+ is defined as the following: Additionally, we define CP+ Movement according to CP+ side before and after the event, such that a positive number indicates that CP+ 15 minutes after the event is more competitive (from the liquidity taker’s perspective) than CP+ 15 minutes before the event. For US High Grade in Spread Protocol, CP+ Movement is defined as the following: #### Want to learn more about CP+? [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) --- # CP+™ ranks as a top provider in the 2025 SS&C Fixed Income Study Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/cp-ranks-as-a-top-provider-in-the-2025-ss-and-c-fixed-income-study CP+, our award-winning, AI-powered, algorithmic pricing engine for global credit and rates markets -- has once again ranked among the top pricing providers in the [2025 SS&C Benchmark Fixed Income Study](https://www.ssctech.com/resources/form/fixed-income-evaluations-vendor-benchmark-study-2025?utm_campaign=Data+%26+Index-linkedin&utm_content=LinkedIn-linkedin&utm_medium=social-linkedin&utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_tags=-linkedin). Chisom Amalunweze, Senior Manager of Quant Research, explains how CP+ ensures clients have the reliable pricing they need to navigate today’s markets with confidence. “We are delighted to have once again secured a leading position in the SS&C Fixed Income Study. It’s a testament to our unwavering commitment to accurate, intraday pricing, providing an edge in price discovery, transaction cost analysis, and trading strategies.” | #### Can you explain what drives the unparalleled level of accuracy in CP+? It really comes down to the winning combination of advanced artificial intelligence and our proprietary data. CP+ uses a variety of data inputs, both public and proprietary. With data from the MarketAxess platform, CP+ uses the entire stack of inquiry responses sent to the platform by liquidity providers, regardless of whether the bond traded or not. In Q3 of 2025, CP+ saw over 350,000 firm prices back per day. This allows CP+ to gain valuable information that reflects the market's collective view, enabling it to refine pricing predictions and adapt quickly to changing market conditions by leveraging the full context surrounding each inquiry. The AI methodology behind CP+ is built on a suite of robust machine learning algorithms that are meticulously calibrated to maximize accuracy. These algorithms select the optimal approach for pricing each bond based on the market conditions and available data. More information on our methodology is available in our [White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web). #### In addition to accuracy and transparency, to what other factors can CP+ attribute its competitive edge? Beyond accuracy and transparency, CP+ stands out for its frequency and flexibility. It updates pricing every 15 to 60 seconds across the tradable bond universe, covering over 97% of market prints daily, and offers a variety of connection options. Users can access CP+ pricing through the MarketAxess platform, intraday via FIX API, through file deliveries, or through an Excel add-in. For very illiquid bonds, CP+ extends its coverage by [partnering with S&P Global Market Intelligence.](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2024/SP-Global-Market-Intelligence-and-MarketAxess-Announce-Strategic-Fixed-Income-Data-Partnership-2024-RkDUQUX-8E/default.aspx) Through this collaboration, CP+ is incorporated into the End of Day Evaluated Bond Price (EVB). ### 2025 SS&C Valuations Study #### How is CP+ integrated into the full suite of MarketAxess offerings? We leverage the power of CP+ across MarketAxess trading protocols, including portfolio trading, open trading, Auto-X and Axess IQ. It delivers value across the trading lifecycle, for traders, portfolio managers and quants, who use it for critical functions like price discovery, intraday risk monitoring, research analysis and automated trading. #### What services do you offer in support of CP+ as part of the Research team? The research team works closely with clients to incorporate their feedback into product development, creating a cycle of continuous improvement. Additionally, the research team provides standardized and custom analytics using CP+ to empower clients with market insights and visibility into their own trading. ### Related content #### FactSet brings AI-powered fixed income data to investors, first to add MarketAxess CP+ to the desktop [Read the press release](https://investor.factset.com/news-releases/news-release-details/factset-brings-ai-powered-fixed-income-data-investors-first-add) #### AxessPoint: Playing the long game — the best solutions for long duration trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-playing-the-long-game-the-best-solutions-for-long-duration-trading) #### CP+ for ETFs: Improving ETF portfolio management with predictive pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-for-etfs-improving-etf-portfolio-management-with-predictive-pricing) --- # CSDR Settlement Penalties checklist: 5 things to do ahead of implementation Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/csdr-settlement-penalties-checklist Despite a (slightly) misleading name, the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR) is not just a regulation for CSDs. The potential impact will reach every single participant executing securities across Fixed Income, Repo and Equity transactions. Although an exercise which aims to increase the efficiency of securities settlement, it is also a huge opportunity for the industry to come together and drive best practice. Settlement penalties are due to be introduced in February 2022. This will have a global impact for any party failing to settle a transaction in a European CSD, irrespective of where the trading party is domiciled. Unlike some of its predecessors like MiFID II, where the location was the driver to inclusion in scope, this is about where the trade settles. If this happens to be a European depository, then no matter where you are - you will be impacted. So, if you’re in Asia trading with an entity in Australia, but trading a security that settles in Europe, you are in scope. There are plenty of actions you can take now to get ahead. We would urge you to put steps in place today that will help you become more efficient - in the lead up to the implementation, there needs to be a focus on market awareness and post-trade processes. #### 1. Review your current operations Use this time to ensure the appropriate post-trade processing is in place. Do you have automated T+0 confirmations in place? Early capture of exceptions will reduce the impact. Do not rely on >T+1 processing, T+0 in near real-time is key. Addressing your solvable problems now will reduce impact of future penalties. #### 2. Take stock of current settlement efficiency rates The market must be clear on requirements here; any trades that fail will generate a daily penalty until settlement takes place. Use this time to look at settlement rates and close any gaps that you can. You have time to address weaknesses now. #### 3. Review resourcing and technology capabilities Once you have reviewed current processes and have a clear view of post-trade inefficiencies, it is important to reflect on what new systems or controls need to be put in place. New processes will be needed, so make sure you are adequately resourced to do this. Building in the right team and internal processes early on is vital. #### 4. Planning for potential roadblocks Review post-trade processing per client., Consider if there is anything you can do to help address challenges. Could your clients benefit from automation of manual tasks that could increase trade failure? Speak to your clients now. #### 5. Work together as an industry This is arguably the most important part of preparations. Settlement penalties will drive a change in behavior, but we all have a responsibility. Engage with trade associations. Speak to clients. Share experiences with counterparties. Agree a best practice without delay. The whole world settles securities trades in European depositories, and with less than 12 months to go, there is work to do. It’s important firms on both the buy-side and sell-side acknowledge the role they have to play - this should not be viewed as a ‘back office’ regulation as the potential impact of settlement penalties is far-reaching with significant P&L implications. Remember, regulation can drive organizational change that goes beyond just simple compliance and can deliver greater operational efficiency and decrease costs and risks. For questions or follow-up, email Camille McKelvey at [CMcKelvey@marketaxess.com](mailto:CMcKelvey@marketaxess.com). --- # Data is king Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/data-is-king In our previous blog, Its time to start thinking like a regulator, Len talked about regulators increasing focus on the quality of your transaction reporting data and the need for you to start looking and evaluating your data like a regulator would. However, this isn’t as easy as it sounds – the regulatory data sets required under MiFIR, SFTR, EMIR and other G20 regulations are complex. With over 150 fields in a single regulation in some cases and 100s of millions of records reported daily. To fulfil these requirements, data needs to be drawn from multiple different upstream systems within a firm and transformed to meet the specific regulatory need. To further compound the problem, change is constant within organisations and a small alteration to any of the upstream systems can create big problems once the data has fed down into the regulatory report. To effectively analyse and monitor your data requires advanced techniques, a full reporting data set, and smart technology. Unfortunately, individual firms often don’t have these requisite capabilities, and this leaves them vulnerable to fines and reputational damage. The traditional approaches to ensuring regulatory data accuracy are to perform end-to-end reconciliations (a requirement under RTS 22) or periodic sample-based control reviews. On the surface this control framework appears satisfactory, but when you dig a little deeper there are three key inherent weaknesses. The first is context. Without access to the same industry-wide data set as the regulators, these controls become too internally focused and omit key market context. For example, how is everyone else reporting this type of trade? Or are all my counterparties reporting the same trade timestamp as me? The second is coverage. By definition, these controls don’t cover the whole population of reported trades, meaning, at best, it can take between 3-6 months to identify an error, and at worst it’s missed altogether. This can mean a relatively small issue escalates into one that requires a significant amount of back reporting to resolve. The final one is cost. Traditional data quality reviews are often resource intensive, requiring significant manual effort to run or the cost of third-party experts to undertake on your behalf. Cost is also often the enemy of coverage. Considering the backdrop of increased scrutiny from regulators, the techniques they are employing to monitor the market, and deficiencies in traditional models, it’s important to ask how you can improve your data and proactively highlight potential errors. In essence, how can you start employing the same techniques your regulator uses? The answer is simple: with MarketAxess Post-Trade’s latest solution, Sonar. Having listened carefully to how regulators are using their data sets to monitor for accuracy, we realised that we could use our unique industry-wide dataset, powered by our network of 900+ clients, to apply innovative data techniques to help firms undertake the same sorts of checks and address the limitations in existing models. Sonar’s automated approach to monitoring allows it to assess every field of every transaction you report, providing feedback on anomalies before they become issues and giving you the coverage you need. Machines are only as good as the data feeding them and that is where the real value of Sonar lies – in its ability to provide you context. The regulatory reporting data set we have gives us view similar to that of your regulator. This means we can monitor market trends and behaviours to spot outliers in your data that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. If the whole industry is reporting a certain transaction type in a particular way, but you are doing it differently, Sonar will spot that. Finally, Sonar’s highly automated approach to analysis means cost is no longer a prohibitive factor. Sonar is designed to streamline your internal regulatory controls and checks making them more efficient, more accurate, and more consistent. Not to mention helping you avoid the cost of regulatory fines! Sonar is here to help you safely navigate the deep and murky waters of regulatory reporting. Stay tuned for our next blog to learn more about how Sonar works and the innovative techniques it employs to spot outliers. ### Related Content #### It’s time to start thinking like a regulator [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ts-time-to-start-thinking-like-a-regulator) #### The business case for overhauling the back office [Read the article](https://assets.marketaxess.com/2020-05/Waters-Tech_4.2020_MKTX.pdf) #### Countdown to CSDR [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/countdown-to-csdr.pdf) --- # Die Zukunft des Rentenhandels ist intelligente Automatisierung Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/die-zukunft-des-rentenhandels-ist-intelligente-automatisierung MarketAxess hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, Handelsabläufe und technologische Ressourcen zu optimieren, indem wir unsere Auto-X™-Suite von Automatisierungsprotokollen verbessern und erweitern. Die Wirksamkeit unseres klassischen Auto-X RFQ (2018 eingeführt) wird durch das beeindruckende Wachstum des automatisch ausgeführten Handelsvolumens belegt, das Anfang des Jahres die Marke von 1 Billion Handelsvolumen überschritten hat. Wir sehen auch mehr Viele Kunden nutzen Auto-X RFQ regelmäßig für über 90% ihres Handelsvolumens. Händler, die sich frühzeitig für regelbasierte Ansätze entscheiden, sind bestens gerüstet, um die Vorteile unserer innovativen Automatisierungslösungen zu nutzen und bei der Entwicklung des Produkts für die größten Chancen helfen. Unser Ziel ist es, Händlern auch in Zukunft die Arbeit zu erleichtern und ihnen einen Vorsprung vor der Konkurrenz zu verschaffen, während sich die Marktstrukturen weiter entwickeln. Die neueste Ergänzung zur Rationalisierung von Handelsabläufen ist Adaptive Auto-X, ein Smart Order Routing (SOR) System, das mit natürlicher Liquidität und Marktverschiebungen interagiert, um Kunden bei der Umsetzung ihrer Handelsstrategien über eine Reihe von Protokollen zu unterstützen. Adaptive Auto-X fungiert als die Unsere Protokolle, Datenquellen und Liquiditätspools, die den Handel erleichtern, fungieren dabei als Nervenenden. So wie das Gehirn die Funktionen des Körpers koordiniert, setzt Adaptive Auto-X die Auftragsanweisungen eines Händlers zusammen mit unterstützenden Streaming-Kursdaten, Grenzhandelssignalen und kalibrierten risikobasierten Metriken um, um die optimale Handelsstrategie für ein bestimmtes Kundenziel zu bestimmen. So wie das Nervensystem auf äußere Reize reagiert, passt sich Adaptive Auto-X dynamisch an die Volatilität und die sich verändernden Bedingungen auf dem Markt für festverzinsliche Wertpapiere an - dazu gehört auch das Anhalten oder Entfernen von Geschäften aus dem Markt, bis sich die Märkte stabilisieren. Es nutzt eine Vielzahl von Ausführungsalgorithmen, von denen sich einige auf die Suche nach Liquidität konzentrieren, auf die Ausführungssicherheit oder sogar passive Strategien, die sich auf den Handel mit natürlichen Gegenparteien konzentrieren. Adaptive Auto-X ermöglicht es Händlern, ihre eigenen Aufträge über mehrere Protokolle gleichzeitig abzuwickeln, ohne manuell in die einzelnen Protokolle eingreifen zu müssen. So ist es beispielsweise möglich, über Multi-Party-Workup (MPW) und LMM-Live-Markets-Match (LMM)-Sitzungen automatisch an unserem Live-Markets-Orderbuchprotokoll teilzunehmen, ohne dass ein zusätzlicher Aufwand für den Händler. Adaptive Auto-X nutzt bei Bedarf unser Auto-X-RFQ-Protokoll und bucht auch in Live Markets, wenn es dafür in Frage kommt, oder nimmt an einer MPW-Sitzung teil und sendet Signale für alle Versuche zurück, bei denen kein Ergebnis erzielt wird. Auf diese Weise ermöglicht das Tool eine nahtlose Ausführung, indem es die verfügbare Liquidität nutzt, um die bestmöglichen Ergebnisse für die Kunden zu erzielen und gleichzeitig die Opportunitätskosten zu senken. Mit der Weiterentwicklung von Adaptive Auto-X, die sich auf die umfangreichen eigenen und öffentlichen Handelsdaten , wird MarketAxess seine Algorithmen weiter ausbauen, um die Bedürfnisse unserer Kunden zu erfüllen und ihre Best-Execution-Strategien zu unterstützen. #### Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie von Andrew Cameron at [ancameron@marketaxess.com](mailto:ancameron@marketaxess.com ) ### Verwandte Inhalte #### Unlocking the automation suite of technology [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-the-automation-suite-of-technology) #### Introducing Adaptive Auto-X [Learn more](https://vimeo.com/876479881) #### Empowering traders through Auto-X [Watch the interview](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution/trader-tv-june-2023) --- # Earth Month Spotlight: Reforesting Communities in the High Andes and Thailand Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/earth-month-reforesting-communities-in-the-high-andes-and-thailand At MarketAxess we actively seek to build communities through our ESG initiatives and partnerships with organisations that align with our core values. We successfully built our business foundations using this approach, and we firmly believe that communities define our identity and purpose, remaining our North Star. Our Open Trading network is testament to this philosophy and so is the work we do with One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted has been a fantastic partner for us and shares our ethos for helping different communities flourish around the world. Together, in 2020, we launched Trading for Trees, a global initiative whereby 5 trees are planted for every $1M in green bonds traded on our platform. Since inception, over 1.1M trees have been planted. It’s a program that I deeply care about and one that I know resonates with our client community. But what does planting 1.1M trees actually mean? I could tell you that last year we restored almost 350 hectares of land, the equivalent of 2.5 Hyde Park’s, but I’d rather tell you some of the stories of the communities you’ve impacted. Your trading of Green Bonds isn’t just about the number of trees planted, it’s about the environmental initiatives you’ve supported. From the heights of the Andes Mountains in South America to the Jungles of Northern Thailand, this Earth Month lets celebrate these stories. #### Thailand—Hilltribes Forestry and Agroforestry In 2022, your trading activity helped plant over 50,000 trees in support of the Hilltribes Agroforestry Project in Northern Thailand. What you may not know is that these trees have deep community benefits; helping not only to reduce poverty and food insecurity by improving crop yields and regenerating the area, but also by empowering marginalised ethnic minorities in Thailand. On the ground, our partner engages with local farmers and provides education that equips them with the tools and knowledge necessary to support sustainable farming practices. The trees you’ve helped plant will help absorb carbon, decrease pollution, and limit erosion in this beautiful area. By participating in this large-scale project, over 600 families, who call this region home, will benefit from the variety of forest species, including bamboo, rattan, and fish palm trees, that have been planted to restore ecosystems in these subwatersheds. They will enjoy better crop yields over time, as they integrate mixed agroforestry trees on their farms, such as coffee, tea, orange, and mango. #### Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru—High Andes Polylepis Forest On the other side of the globe, in the High Andes Mountain Region, over 7,000 High Andes Polylepis trees have been planted by your trading activity. The impacts the local Andes community will feel are both far-reaching and long term. Deforestation has historically degraded this critical forest type, which serves as “natural water towers” for all of South America — including the Amazon rainforest. These trees are also vital to the high Andes indigenous population, containing plants the locals use for food and medicines as well as playing a prominent role in their cultural belief systems. Your trading efforts are not only helping protect a forest whose very survival is threatened but also the cultural identity of the Andes people. “We are grateful to MarketAxess for their consistent support of reforestation, which has resulted in the planting of over 1.1 million trees since 2020. The trees that have been planted through their successful Trading for Trees initiative are a great example of how an international financial technology company can give back to the planet.” Harry P. Lynch President and CEO, One Tree Planted | At MarketAxess we know it is a powerful thing to be part of a community. By doing your day job you are serving reforestation initiatives like those in the Andes and Thailand; you are helping plant trees that have far greater impact than you can imagine. By trading Green Bonds on MarketAxess you are making a difference to communities across the globe. Read more about our Trading for Trees program and other sustainability initiatives in our 2023 ESG Report. ### Read more about our Trading for Trees program and other sustainability initiatives in our 2023 ESG Report. [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/esg-report-2023) ### Related Content #### Trading for Trees 2023 results [See the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/trading-for-trees_2023-results.pdf) #### MarketAxess and One Tree Planted celebrate 1M trees planted [Watch the video](https://vimeo.com/899222495) --- # Earth Month Spotlight: Aufforstungen in den Hochanden und in Thailand Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/earth-month-spotlight-aufforstungen-in-den-hochanden-und-in-thailand ## Earth Month Spotlight: Aufforstungen in den Hochanden und in Thailand Wir bei MarketAxess sind aktiv bestrebt, durch unsere ESG-Initiativen und Partnerschaften mit Organisationen, die sich an unseren Grundwerten orientieren, Communitys aufzubauen. Mit diesem Ansatz haben wir erfolgreich unsere Geschäftsgrundlagen entwickelt, und wir sind fest davon überzeugt, dass Communitys unsere Identität und unseren Zweck nicht in den Hintergrund rücken lassen und unser Nordstern bleiben. Unser Open-Trading-Netzwerk ist ein Beweis für diese Philosophie – ebenso wie die Arbeit, die wir mit One Tree Planted leisten. One Tree Planted war ein fantastischer Partner für uns und teilt unsere Grundhaltung, die Communitys auf der ganzen Welt zu fördern. Gemeinsam haben wir 2020 Trading for Trees ins Leben gerufen – eine globale Initiative, bei der 5 Bäume für jede 1 Mio. USD an grünen Anleihen gepflanzt werden, die auf unserer Plattform gehandelt werden. Seit der Einführung wurden bereits mehr als 1,1 Millionen Bäume gepflanzt. Es handelt sich hier ein Programm, das mir sehr am Herzen liegt und von dem ich weiß, dass es auch bei unseren Kunden Anklang findet. Doch was bedeutet es eigentlich, 1,1 Millionen Bäume zu pflanzen? Ich könnte Ihnen jetzt sagen, dass wir letztes Jahr fast 350 Hektar Land restauriert haben, das entspricht 2,5x der Größe des Hyde Parks in London. Aber ich möchte Ihnen lieber einige der Geschichten von den Communitys erzählen, in denen Sie mit Ihrer Unterstützung einen Unterschied gemacht haben. Beim Handel mit grünen Anleihen geht es nicht nur um die Anzahl der gepflanzten Bäume, sondern auch um die von Ihnen unterstützten Umweltinitiativen. Von den Höhen der Anden in Südamerika bis hin zu den Dschungeln in Nordthailand – anlässlich des diesjährigen Earth Month werden diese Geschichten gefeiert. #### Thailand – Hilltribes Forestry and Agroforestry: eon Projekt von One Tree Planted Im Jahr 2022 haben Ihre Transaktionen dazu beigetragen, dass mehr als 50.000 Bäume zur Unterstützung des Hilltribes Agroforestry Projekts in Nordthailand gepflanzt wurden. Vielleicht wissen Sie nicht, dass diese Bäume wesentliche Vorteile für die Community haben. Sie helfen nicht nur, Armut und Ernährungsunsicherheit zu reduzieren, indem sie die Ernteerträge verbessern und das Gebiet regenerieren, sie stärken zudem marginalisierte ethnische Minderheiten in Thailand. Vor Ort arbeitet unser Partner mit den Landwirten zusammen und vermittelt ihnen die Werkzeuge und das Wissen, damit sie nachhaltige Anbaumethoden unterstützen können. Die Bäume, die mit Ihrer Hilfe gepflanzt wurden, helfen Kohlenstoff zu absorbieren, Verschmutzung zu reduzieren und die Erosion in dieser schönen Gegend einzugrenzen. Mit der Teilnahme an diesem Großprojekt profitieren mehr als 600 Familien, die diese Region ihr Zuhause nennen, von der Vielfalt der Waldarten, zu denen Bambus, Rattan und Sh-Palmen zählen, die gepflanzt wurden, um die Ökosysteme in diesen Wassereinzugsgebieten wiederherzustellen. Im Laufe der Zeit werden zudem bessere Ernteerträge erzielt, da auf den Farmen gemischte Agroforstbäume wie Kaffee, Tee, Orange und Mango integriert werden können. #### Argentinien, Bolivien, Chile, Ecuador, Peru – Polylepis-Wald in den Hochanden Auf der anderen Seite des Globus, in der Gebirgsregion der Hochanden, wurden durch die Transaktionen unserer Kunden mehr als 7.000 Polylepis-Bäume gepflanzt. Die Auswirkungen auf die lokale Andengegend sind sowohl weitreichend als auch langfristig. Die Entwaldung hat diesem kritischen Waldtyp, der als „natürlicher Wasserturm“ für ganz Südamerika dient — und dazu zählt auch der Amazonas — auf historische Art und Weise geschadet. Diese Bäume sind auch für die zahlreichen indigenen Gruppen in den Anden von entscheidender Bedeutung. Sie liefern ein Pflanzengut, das die Einheimischen für Lebensmittel und Medikamente verwenden, und sie spielen eine herausragende Rolle in ihren kulturellen Glaubenssystemen. Ihre Transaktionen tragen also nicht nur zum Schutz eines bedrohten Waldes bei, sie helfen auch der kulturellen Identität der Anden. “Wir sind MarketAxess für die konsequente Unterstützung der Wiederaufforstung dankbar, die seit 2020 zur Pflanzung von mehr als 1,1 Millionen Bäumen geführt hat. Die Bäume, die durch die erfolgreiche Initiative „Trading for Trees“ gepflanzt wurden, sind ein wunderbares Beispiel dafür, wie ein internationales Finanztechnologieunternehmen unserem Planeten etwas zurückgeben kann.” Harry P. Lynch Präsident und Geschäftsführer von One Tree Planted | Wir bei MarketAxess wissen, dass Teil einer Gemeinschaft zu sein, ein wichtiger Aspekt ist. Mit Ihrer täglichen Arbeit unterstützen Sie Wiederaufforstungsinitiativen wie in den Anden und Thailand. Sie helfen, Bäume zu pflanzen, die eine weitaus größere Wirkung haben, als Sie sich vorstellen können. Durch den Handel auf MarketAxess mit grünen Anleihen machen Sie für Communitys auf der ganzen Welt einen Unterschied. Informieren Sie sich über unser Programm „Trading for Trees“ und andere Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen in unserem ESG-Bericht 2023. ### Informieren Sie sich über unser Programm „Trading for Trees“ und andere Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen in unserem ESG-Bericht 2023. [Bericht Lesen](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/esg-report-2023) ### Verwandte Inhalte #### Trading for Trees 2023 – Ergebnisse [INFOGRAFIK EINBLENDEN](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/trading-for-trees_2023-results.pdf) #### MarketAxess und One Tree Planted feiern die Pflanzung von 1 Mio. Bäumen [VIDEO ANSEHEN](https://vimeo.com/899222495) --- # Eine Geschichte Aus Zwei Markten Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/eine-geschichte-aus-zwei-markten ### Ein Markt und zwei Realitäten Im vergangenen Jahr kannten Anleihenmärkte nur eine Richtung. Aggressive Leitzinserhöhungen führten zu einer stark negativen Performance. Die Devise war klar: „alles muss raus. Fragen kann man hinterher stellen“. Im ersten Quartal diesen Jahres war genau das Gegenteil der Fall. Jetzt wollen alle nur noch Anleihen kaufen, dabei sind Neuemissionen ganz besonders gefragt. Nach dem enttäuschenden 2022 sind heute festverzinsliche Wertpapiere plötzlich wieder sehr interessant. Die derzeitig enormen Zuflüsse in den Anleihenmarkt sollten deshalb nur die wenigsten überraschen. Die Zukunft vorhersagen zu wollen, ist natürlich vergebliche Mühe. Doch man sollte immer auf alles vorbereitet sein. Wir bei MarketAxess setzen auf einen datengetriebenen Ansatz, um den Anleihenmarkt in Echtzeit zu analysieren. Die Plattform bietet einen globalen Marktzugang und hat sich bereits bei einer ganzen Generation von Händlern bewährt. Und nach der jüngsten Liquiditätsverknappung sehen wir eine kräftige Erholung. Ganz besonders aufgefallen ist die Nachfrage nach US-Investment-Grade-Unternehmensanleihen aus Asien, einschließlich Japan. Um einen Trader zu zitieren: „Ich kann der hohen Nachfrage nach Walmart-Anleihen kaum nachkommen. Meine Kunden lieben Walmart bei 5 %!“ Der gleiche Trend ist in Europa zu beobachten. Dank diesem Feedback haben wir eine Technologie entwickelt, um den Handel mit Investment-Grade-Anleihen auf Preisbasis, statt Spread zu US-Treasury Anleihen, noch mehr zu erleichtern. Was mir darüber hinaus aufgefallen ist, wir haben einen Markt und zwei Realitäten: Einerseits erleben wir bei MarketAxess hohe Handelsvolumina und enorm hohe Liquidität – mit neuen Höchstständen, die von den Händlern auf Open Trading erzielt werden, und auch Situationen, in denen Händler proaktiv Liquidität annehmen. Die Anzahl der von MarketAxess abgewickelten Transaktionen hat Rekordstände erreicht, unter anderem in High-Yield- und Hybrid-Anleihen. Auch die Transaktionsgrößen nehmen zu, sodass die Durchschnittsgrößen der Blocks über 5 Mio. US-Dollar nun ca. 10,1 Mio. US-Dollar betragen. Doch was noch wichtiger ist: die Transaktionen über 10 Mio. US-Dollar betragen nun im Durchschnitt 16,3 Mio. US-Dollar – im Vergleich zu den durchschnittlichen Blocktransaktionsgrößen von 11,4 Mio. US-Dollar auf TRACE – dem verpflichtenden US-Reporting-System für Anleihentransaktionen. Andererseits trifft dies auf viele Kunden einfach nicht zu. Stattdessen klagen sie über fehlende Liquidität, wie im vergangenen Jahr. Was ist der Grund dafür? Meiner Ansicht nach kommt es darauf an, wie man an den Markt herangeht. Wenn es eine große Veränderung im Markt gibt, dann muss man über die richtigen Werkzeuge verfügen, um von dieser Veränderung zu profitieren – egal, ob es sich um Zuflüsse oder Abflüsse handelt. Vom RFQ zu Portfoliotransaktionen zu den Live-Märkten – es gibt eine Reihe von Ansätzen für verschiedene Marktbedingungen. Doch bevor Sie diese Werkzeuge einsetzen, müssen Sie auch sicher sein, dass sie funktionieren. Es ist eine Henne-Ei-Situation: Die Werkzeuge können sich erst dann bewähren, wenn man sie verwendet. Ich sage zu den Tradern: „Ich werde Ihnen jemanden vom Vertrieb zur Seite stellen. Doch diese ‚Person‘ wird Sie nicht anrufen.“ Stattdessen stelle ich eine „Watchlist“ für Transaktionen über 3 Mio. US-Dollar zusammen. Die neue „Vertriebsperson“ ist in Wirklichkeit ein MarketAxess-Popup das Benachrichtigungen generiert: „Sie haben diese Anleihe im Bestand. Möchten Sie für die Geldseite in 5 Mio. US-Dollar ein Angebot abgeben?“ Oder: „Es werden 10 Mio. US-Dollar angeboten. Möchten Sie kaufen?“ Alle Informationen, die Einfluss auf die Portfolios und potenzielle Performance der Trader haben, werden in Echtzeit angezeigt. Das bedeutet, dass man ohne Zeitverlust Entscheidungen fällen kann. Man muss dem Markt nicht mehr hinterherjagen, sondern befindet sich mittendrin. Niemand möchte ständig kontaktiert werden. Und es kostet praktisch nichts, den Markt in Echtzeit zu verfolgen. Und wenn man sich für eine Transaktion entscheidet, ist sie bei Open Trading völlig anonym. [Niemand weiß, was ein bestimmter Trader macht. Sie können 500 Millionen US-Dollar in Anleihen kaufen oder verkaufen, und niemand würde sich Gedanken darüber machen.] Wenn der Markt sehr aktiv ist, dann besteht das größte Risiko darin, nicht vollständig involviert zu sein. Mit der richtigen Technologie gibt es eigentlich nichts mehr, was Trader und Portfolio-Manager aufhalten sollte. --- # Electronic bond trading expanding to match MENA markets rapid growth Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/electronic-bond-trading-expanding-to-match-mena-markets-rapid-growth Bond markets in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region have seen primary and secondary activity surging in 2025, reflecting individual country’s sovereign strengths, regional corporate expansion, and greater international investor appetite, positioning the region as a growing hub for global fixed-income investors. Bond issuance across the broader Middle East and Africa regions as tracked by Dealogic has hit a record US$223 billion in 2025 year-to-date. This marks a 30% year-on-year increase across sovereign and corporate bond issuers, who are tapping global capital markets to diversify their funding sources amid shifting local- and macro-economic conditions. Of that, Sovereign, Supranational and Agency (SSA) constitutes US$122 billion, investment grade (IG) US$82 billion and high yield (HY) US$16.5 billion. Within the Middle East specifically, the London Stock Exchange Group reported issuance of US$125.9 by September, with Saudi Arabia offering US$67.6 billion of bonds and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) placing the second largest offerings of $32.7 billion. Israel issued US$27 billion of fixed rate bonds and US$13 billion of CPI linked bonds. “We expect publicly listed corporates’ annual capex needs will reach about $85 billion-$95 billion over 2025-2027, translating into an increase in corporate lending demand and cross-border issuance,” S&P Global analysts noted in in a paper in mid-November. The higher levels of primary market activity supported liquidity in the secondary markets as well. MarketAxess has seen MENA credit volumes increase by 7% overall in 2025, with a 23% increase in MENA corporate volumes. “When we look at the breakdown of clients who are trading the sector, we see 70% of all volume being traded by Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) based clients and 26% from North American clients,” Dan Burke, global head of emerging markets “Volumes are relatively even between e-trading and voice enquiries, but clearly the voice enquiries can be extremely large, particularly when the larger local accounts are involved,” noted one Tier 1 dealer. Although smaller trades are more commonly executed electronically, block trades are also being increasingly facilitated by electronic protocols. These allow dealers to support direct execution with specific clients, while managing larger rebalances using portfolio trades and all-to-all trading to reduce information leakage. “Electronic trading of MENA sovereign blocks for US$5 million or greater increased 9% this year,” says Burke. “When we look at the universe of MENA trades on the platform this year, trades using our all-to-all trading protocol Open Trading made up 47% of total MENA volume, an increase of 23% year over year.” This growth is likely to increase as global investors are explicitly sought out by local issuers to support their financing. Market confidence had been weakened by the threat of expanding regional conflicts and wildly unpredictable US trade policies, but nevertheless investor appetite remained strong this year, supported by oil revenues, sovereign surpluses, and rating upgrades in countries like Oman, Morocco and Tunisia. Confidence also rose in Egypt as it returned to the international debt markets, successfully drawing in Gulf State foreign direct investment (FDI), including an US$18.5 billion deal to support tourism from Saudi Arabian and Emirati investors. The S&P analysts noted, “Large Saudi corporates are strategically diversifying their funding base by reaching out to global investors, while extending their maturity profiles. We view these developments as credit supportive but will monitor whether the accumulation of debt from these investments outpaces earnings generation.” ©Markets Media Europe 2025 ### Related content #### The rapid rise – and risks – of EM e-trading for dealers Originally published on The DESK | December 5, 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-rapid-rise-and-risks-of-em-e-trading-for-dealers) #### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets Originally published on GlobalCapital | 9 July 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-awards-2025-article) #### Shaping tomorrow’s fixed-income landscape with Targeted RFQ On-air with Riad Chowdhury and Dan Burke [Listen to the podcast](https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/shaping-tomorrows-fixed-income-landscape-with-targeted-rfq) --- # Elektronischer Handel und die Renovierung eines Landhauses – ein Vergleich Die Verwaltung von Ressourcen und Vorbereitung auf das Unvorhersehbare Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/elektronischer-handel-und-die-renovierung-eines-landhauses Die Renovierung eines englischen Landhauses und der elektronische Handel haben mehr gemeinsam, als Sie vielleicht denken. Für beide Projekte müssen Sie begrenzte Ressourcen verwalten, die Reihenfolge der Aufgaben anhand ihrer relativen Bedeutung und Komplexität priorisieren und Marktereignisse wie Zinserhöhungen einplanen, die Sie mit schwerwiegenden Folgen überraschen könnten! Bevor Sie Geld ausgeben, müssen Sie Maßnahmen ergreifen, um sicherzustellen, dass Sie vollständig vorbereitet sind und alle Werkzeuge haben, die regulatorischen Anforderungen verstehen und eine grobe Strategie für die Ausführung haben. Sie können einen Auftragnehmer beauftragen, der das Projekt überwacht, anstatt die Details selbst zu überprüfen. Um auf dem richtigen Kurs zu bleiben, sollten Sie im Idealfall regelmäßig das Budget für Arbeits- und Materialkosten (bzw. im Falle eines elektronischen Handels Personal und Technologie) überprüfen. Sie müssten alle Hindernisse einplanen, auf die Sie stoßen könnten. Sie ganz zu vermeiden, wäre natürlich ideal. Die gleichen Grundsätze gelten für den Handel auf der MarketAxess-Plattform. Sie müssen auf jeden Fall, ob aufwendig oder nicht, ob High-Touch oder nicht, vollständig vorbereitet sein. Und Sie sollten mit allen Handelsoptionen vertraut sein. Unabhängig von Ihrer Erfahrung könnten Sie sich in diesen sich ständig ändernden, volatilen Märkten um technische Anleitung bemühen, um Ihre Handelsentscheidungen zu optimieren. Während der elektronische Handel mit Anleihen insbesondere in schwierigen Liquiditätssituationen entmutigend sein kann, bringt MarketAxess seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten Gegenparteien zusammen. Wir bieten unseren Kunden ein vollständiges Paket mit Daten, Protokollen und einem vielfältigen Pool globaler Liquiditätsanbieter, damit jeder Kunde in jedem Marktumfeld so handeln kann, wie er es will. Wir wissen, dass die Kundenbedürfnisse genau wie bei der Gestaltung des idealen Zuhauses für jede Person weitreichend und ganz speziell sind – es gibt keinen einheitlichen Ansatz für den Handel auf unserer Plattform. Die MarketAxess-Plattform bietet überzeugende Funktionen für jeden Handelsstil. Für Low-Touch-Aufträge, bei denen es eine Gelegenheit gibt, Kosten zu sparen, indem man sich auf die betriebliche Effizienz stützt, haben wir Auto-X™. Man könnte dies mit dem Einsatz von Elektrowerkzeugen zur Erledigung einer arbeitsintensiven Aufgabe vergleichen. Wenn viele sich wiederholende Arbeiten zu erledigen sind, ist es sinnvoll, in Ausrüstung zu investieren, um den Arbeitsaufwand zu reduzieren und die Ausführung zu beschleunigen. Obwohl die anfängliche Anzahlung heftig sein könnte, bereuen die meisten Menschen den Kauf eines Bohrers oder Elektroschraubers nicht. Auto-X ermöglicht Trading Desks den Ausbau ihrer Kapazitäten im RFQ-Prozess mit datengesteuerten Entscheidungen. Sie stellen einfach die Parameter ein und lassen die Funktion für Sie arbeiten. In einem denkmalgeschützten Haus wird es jedoch immer einen Aspekt geben, der einen aufwendigeren Ansatz erfordert. Es sind ggf. Aufmerksamkeit, Fachwissen, oder auch ein gutes Verständnis der Geschichte des Gebäudes erforderlich, und in diesem Fall wären Elektrowerkzeuge (oder Auto-X) nicht angemessen. Wir bei MarketAxess wissen, dass Technologie dazu beitragen kann, diese Aspekte auf eine andere Art und Weise anzugehen, und auch dass sie wahrscheinlich komplexer sind – wir bemühen uns daher, eine andere Art von Unterstützung anzubieten. Wir können aufwendige Bestellungen in drei Kategorien einordnen und somit vereinfachen: - Wie sollte ich handeln? Proprietäre MarketAxess-Daten bieten Einblicke in plattformunabhängige Handelsaktivitäten, die bei der Entscheidung helfen, welches Protokoll für ein Geschäft geeignet ist (nutzen Sie unsere marktführenden Analysen und unser Team von Produktspezialisten, Quant Researcher oder unsere Pre-Trade-Berichte). - Wo ist die gewünschte Liquidität? Händlerdaten gepaart mit algorithmischen leistungsgewichteten Auswahlinstrumenten helfen den Kunden bei der Entscheidung, mit welchem Liquiditätsanbieter sie zusammenarbeiten sollen (Axe-Daten, Smart Dealer Selection-Tools). - Wie bekomme ich die beste Umsetzung? Starke Liquidität! Im dritten Quartal 2023 gab es durchschnittlich sechs Antworten für Trades mit einem Umfang von mehr als 5 Millionen US-Dollar in der europäischen IG, die mit der preisgekrönten CP+™ Referenzpreisanalyse verglichen werden konnten. Genau wie ein Entwurf notwendig ist, um Ihre Renovierungspläne voranzutreiben, stellt MarketAxess seinen Benutzern Daten zur Verfügung, die Sie zu den bestmöglichen Ergebnissen für den High-Touch-Handel führen. Wir haben festgestellt, dass Ihnen der elektronische Handel mit größeren Aufträgen Geld sparen und bessere Ergebnisse liefern kann. Mit unseren geschützten Daten, datengesteuerter Unterstützung bei der offenen Händlerauswahl und einer Vielzahl von High-Touch-Handelsprotokollen führt unsere Plattform Sie auf den richtigen Weg zu Ihrem Ziel. Unabhängig vom Handel begleitet MarketAxess Sie auf jedem Schritt durch Daten sowie die Protokoll- und Händlerauswahl. Mit den richtigen Prozessen und Protokollen können Sie wirklich mehr tun, als Sie denken! Um mehr darüber zu erfahren, wie Sie die MarketAxess-Daten und High-Touch-Funktionalität verwenden können, um Ihre Handelsbedürfnisse zu optimieren, bleiben Sie dran für den nächsten Blog, in dem wir uns mit unseren Tools zur Händlerauswahl beschäftigen. #### UBS-AM Case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study#page=1) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # The Network Effect: Creating new opportunities for Emerging Markets bond traders Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/em-network-effect Today’s emerging market (EM) traders are different to just a few years ago, with an increasing need for information, access and liquidity across a broader spectrum of emerging markets to meet the investment profile of portfolios. Electronic trading has created liquidity and information opportunities for those trading EM debt, in both hard and local currency. Billions of data points, combined with innovation, enable dealers and investors to be connected like never before, combining liquidity from both domestic and international participants interacting with each other daily to uncover more liquidity. While large international investors remain critical to global EM debt flows, a network of on-and-offshore investors underpins the ability to maximise liquidity and minimise trading cost by centralising what was commonly seen as a distributed liquidity landscape. MarketAxess has been at the forefront of this change. As one of the leading venues for trading emerging market debt, it sees much of the growth going on in this asset class. $562 billion was traded globally in EM across MarketAxess in 2020, distributed across hard currency and 26 local debt markets—our EM business has grown at 31% CAGR over the last five years. This momentum will continue over the next few years, with key market challenges (fragmented liquidity, efficient execution and increased automation) through technology innovation. #### Piecing together fragmented liquidity Inventory is increasingly shifting into the hands of traditional investors and domestic participants, a symptom of an asset class which has grown 200% in ten years at a time when regulators have constrained bank balance sheets globally, creating a liquidity challenge. MarketAxess has systematically built a marketplace underpinned by a network. This marketplace encompasses the broadest range of emerging market debt, with streaming liquidity from 26 local EM currencies across LATAM, CEEMEA and APAC—currently with over 1,600 EM trading participants, both buy- and sell-side. Unpredictable and rapid changes in liquidity conditions cause challenges. That’s why solutions that help traders make intelligent decisions, across the deepest liquidity pool, empower their investment process. Solutions, like Smart Select, take a data-driven approach to help buyside investors select the “optimal” set of dealers, for their liquidity needs. #### Levelling the playing field Covering these markets on our platform isn’t the only thing that’s important. Also critical is building and supporting an infrastructure, with a breadth of trading protocols and a global marketplace that fosters liquidity and drives a more efficient and active market. [Open Trading™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) is the world’s largest fixed income all-to-all marketplace, allowing market participants access to liquidity globally outside of their usual dealer-dealer channels. A local bank or buyside investor in Thailand can anonymously transact with any one of the 1,800 participants on our Open Trading network. Through this innovation, we routinely see traders in Cape Town transacting with dealers in Mexico City or Lagos with Mumbai. Innovation is levelling the playing field for participants, and Open Trading represented 45% of emerging markets hard currency volume last year for MarketAxess. It brings significant cost savings versus the next best price from a traditional liquidity provider, bringing back alpha to the investment funds of our clients. Another innovation is Request-for-Market (RFM), a 2-way market at the fingertips of our users. The fastest growing protocol in the emerging market debt landscape in recent years, which has made the transition from emerging market rates, to emerging market credit. RFM has allowed traders to risk transfer large block orders electronically, keeping their intended trading side discrete, enabling true and fair price formation on a competitive landscape while benefiting from all the efficiencies of electronic trading. Switch Trading is another solution where we have seen immediate momentum in H2 2020 where you can simultaneously buy and sell short and long durations in 26 local currencies. Not only will you save valuable time by making only a single trade, you’ll experience improved pricing from a wider variety of participants in the broadest global liquidity pool. We have seen increasing demand across all local emerging market jurisdictions. #### A complete toolkit The ability to cater for the diverse liquidity and strategy needs of market participants is essential, and we have developed our offering according to the demands of sophisticated traders globally. There is huge global momentum within automation, and this has been widely adopted in emerging markets in the past 12 months for orders requiring a lower-touch approach. In 2020 we saw a rise of 159% in trades being submitted using auto-execution protocols. Through better pricing and tools that automate trading flows, investors are now able to reach more deeply and broadly into emerging markets. #### A new era for Emerging Markets It is a new era where emerging markets debt isn’t just traded exclusively out of New York, and London, but directly by onshore participants. Last year we saw more trading activity done from locations such as Cairo, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg and Warsaw. The number of regional onshore participants trading local debt has exploded by 50% this past year, supporting the move to electronic trading domestically. In APAC, we saw a 90% increase in trading volume YoY in 2020, and a 13% rise in the number of APAC-based firms using our platform. All of this is a sign of things to come. With the right tools and the network, there is a newfound potential to transact with every corner of the world. --- # Emerging Asian local markets slowdown halted in Q3 amid signs of recovery Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/emerging-asian-local-markets-slowdown-halted-in-q3-amid-signs-of-recovery Asian local fixed income markets in the third quarter halted a brief slowdown that had begun towards the end of the first-half, as concerns eased over US inflation and early withdrawal of pandemic-related support policies, prompting investors to return to the region. Data gathered by our platform shows a nearly across-the-region rebound in local currency trading activities from the previous quarter. Malaysian Ringgit (MYR), our second-largest Asian local currency market, led the recovery with a 11.4% increase in volume compared with the second quarter. It was followed by Korean Won (KRW) and Singapore Dollars (SGD), which rose 11.2% and 9.2% respectively. The reversal is particularly remarkable, given MYR and SGD had both lost more than 30% in the second quarter. The rally came as both inflationary worries and concerns about earlier-than-expected Fed tapering eased. A speech by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in August reassured the market there would unlikely be any surprise in its schedule to pare back asset purchases, while the weak US job number and lower-than-expected inflationary print in September further supported this view. Nevertheless, the pace of recovery for Asian emerging market debt still faced plenty of headwind, given the spot depreciation of the region’s currencies relative to the US dollar. Philippine Peso (PHP) and Thai Bhat (THB), the two currencies whose exchange rates have been lagging compared to their Asian peers this year, posted more moderate growth in trading activities, advancing 5.1% and 2.9% respectively. Both countries have been roiled by economic and political uncertainties. The Philippine economy is still plagued by a high COVID-19 case load and high inflation, which limited its abilities to cut interest rates. Thailand is struggling to boost its tourism industry as travellers remain cautious, while the government in September raised its public debt ceiling to fund fiscal deficit. The swift return by global funds to the region supports our view that long term demand for Asian emerging local market bonds will continue to grow. For the year-to-date, total trading volume for Asia on our platform is still up 60% year-on-year, while the number of active participants trading emerging market debt in the region has grown to more than 160 during the third quarter, surpassing the previous record. In fact, our conversations with many clients confirm that global investors now consider exposure to Asian bonds to be crucial, as they offer relatively attractive yields over similarly-rated bonds in developed markets. As we remain confident that Asian debt will continue to attract interest from global investors, as an innovator, we have also been constantly investing in technological upgrades and delivering breakthrough products to our users. In November, we announced the addition of Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), along with two other currencies, to our global local market offering, meaning that clients can now trade emerging markets debt denominated in 28 currencies on our platform. The November announcement also came just a few weeks after we launched a new, simpler trading channel that gives users access to China’s $17.5-trillion onshore debt market through the Bond Connect and CIBM Direct schemes. In a recent interview with the AsianInvestor publication, we noted the inclusion of the world’s second-largest bond market on our platform was a transformational development that will accelerate the velocity of trading into Asia. As we continue to expand in the region, we will remain focused on helping Asia’s bond markets to innovate, improve workflow efficiency and attract greater global client participation while bringing more liquidity and cost-savings to our users. ### Learn more about Asia Local Markets [Read More](https://back.mktxwebsite.io/trade/asia-local-markets) ### Related Content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # En quoi la négociation électronique s’apparente à la rénovation d’un cottage : gérer les ressources et prévoir les imprévus Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/en-quoi-la-n-gociation-lectronique-s-apparente-la-r-novation-d-un-cottage Il y a plus de points communs qu’on ne le pense entre la rénovation d’un cottage anglais et la négociation électronique. Dans les deux cas, vous devez faire face à une réserve de ressources limitée, établir des priorités dans l’ordre d’exécution des tâches en fonction de leur importance et de leur complexité relatives, et prévoir les aléas du marché, comme les hausses de taux d’intérêt, qui peuvent vous prendre au dépourvu et avoir des conséquences désastreuses ! Avant toute dépense, il est crucial de se préparer en rassemblant tous les outils nécessaires, en comprenant les contraintes réglementaires et en définissant une ébauche de stratégie pour la mise en œuvre. Vous pouvez choisir de faire appel à un prestataire pour superviser le projet plutôt que de vous occuper vous-même des détails. Il vous faudra de préférence examiner régulièrement le budget consacré à la main-d’œuvre et aux matériaux (ou aux effectifs et à la technologie dans le cas de la négociation) si vous voulez éviter les dérapages. Et dans l’idéal, il vous faudra anticiper les éventuels obstacles que vous pourriez rencontrer. Ces mêmes principes prévalent pour les transactions effectuées sur la plateforme MarketAxess. Vous devez être parfaitement préparé à tous les cas de figure, quelle que soit leur ampleur, qu’ils nécessitent une forte intervention humaine ou au contraire une faible intervention humaine, et vous devez connaître toutes les options de négociation qui s’offrent à vous. Que vous soyez expérimenté ou non, face à l’évolution constante et à la volatilité des marchés, vous pourriez chercher à obtenir des conseils techniques afin de vous aider à optimiser vos décisions de négociation. Si la négociation électronique d’obligations peut donner du fil à retordre, en particulier dans un contexte de liquidité complexe, MarketAxess rapproche les contreparties depuis plus de vingt ans. Nous mettons à la disposition de nos clients un ensemble complet de données, de protocoles et une réserve diversifiée de fournisseurs de liquidité à l’échelle mondiale pour leur permettre de négocier comme ils l’entendent dans n’importe quel environnement de marché. Tout comme la conception de votre maison idéale, nous comprenons que les besoins de chaque client sont variés et uniques : sur notre plateforme, il n’y a pas d’approche unique pour négocier. La plateforme de MarketAxess propose de solides fonctionnalités pour tous les types de transactions. Pour les ordres à faible intervention humaine, où il est possible de réduire les coûts en misant sur l’efficacité opérationnelle, nous disposons d’Auto-X™. On pourrait comparer cela à l’utilisation d’outils électriques pour accomplir une tâche laborieuse. Lorsqu’il s’agit de réaliser un grand nombre de tâches répétitives, il est judicieux d’investir dans des équipements permettant de réduire la main-d’œuvre nécessaire et d’accélérer l’exécution. Même si la mise de fonds initiale peut être importante, la plupart des gens ne regrettent pas d’avoir acheté telle perceuse ou tel tournevis électrique pour terminer la tâche. Grâce à Auto-X, les comptoirs de négociation peuvent renforcer leur efficacité dans le processus de demande de cotation en prenant des décisions fondées sur des données. Il vous suffit de définir les paramètres et de laisser la fonctionnalité travailler pour vous. Cependant, il y aura toujours une particularité historique dans une maison classée qui exigera une approche plus fine. Une tâche qui peut demander de l’attention, des compétences spécialisées, voire une bonne connaissance de l’histoire du bâtiment, et où l’utilisation d’outils électriques (ou Auto-X) ne serait pas adéquate dans ce contexte. Chez MarketAxess, nous sommes conscients que la technologie peut aider à exécuter ces transactions de manière différente, et étant donné leur complexité accrue, nous nous engageons à offrir un soutien adapté à ces besoins spécifiques. Nous pouvons simplifier les ordres à forte intervention humaine en trois étapes: - Comment dois-je négocier ? Les données exclusives de MarketAxess renseignent sur l’activité de négociation indépendamment de la plateforme, ce qui permet de déterminer le protocole le mieux adapté à la transaction (en s’appuyant sur nos analyses de pointe du marché, notre équipe de spécialistes produits, nos chercheurs quantitatifs ou nos rapports de prénégociation). - Où trouver la liquidité souhaitée ? Grâce aux données sur les courtiers associées aux outils algorithmiques de sélection pondérée en fonction de la performance, les clients peuvent déterminer avec quel fournisseur de liquidité ils doivent s’engager (outils pour les données d’axe et pour la sélection intelligente des courtiers). - Comment obtenir la meilleure exécution ? Une liquidité plus importante ! Au cours du troisième trimestre de 2023, il y a eu en moyenne six réponses pour les transactions de plus de 5 millions de dollars dans l’Investment Grade européen. Ces réponses ont pu être comparées aux analyses primées de tarification de référence CP+™. De la même manière qu’un plan est nécessaire pour faire avancer vos projets de rénovation, MarketAxess fournit à ses utilisateurs des données qui les guident vers les meilleurs résultats possible en matière de négociation à forte intervention humaine. Nous avons remarqué que les transactions électroniques impliquant des ordres plus importants peuvent vous faire économiser de l’argent tout en améliorant vos résultats. Grâce à nos données exclusives, notre assistance fondée sur les données pour la sélection divulguée des courtiers et notre éventail de protocoles de négociation à forte intervention humaine, notre plateforme vous accompagne efficacement pour vous aider à atteindre vos objectifs. Quelle que soit la transaction, MarketAxess vous accompagne à chaque étape du processus en vous fournissant des données, ainsi qu’en sélectionnant des protocoles et des courtiers. Avec les bons processus et protocoles en place, vous pouvez vraiment aller plus loin que vous ne le pensez ! Pour découvrir comment tirer parti des données de MarketAxess et des fonctionnalités à forte intervention humaine pour optimiser vos besoins en matière de négociation, ne manquez pas le prochain article de blog où nous nous pencherons en détail sur les outils de sélection des courtiers. #### UBS-AM case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study#page=1) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # Enhancing data usability and market visibility under new regulatory changes Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/enhancing-data-usability-and-market-visibility-under-new-regulatory-changes Europe’s transparency reforms promised consolidation; instead, they are delivering choice. As the UK (FCA) and EU (ESMA) shorten deferral periods and two different bond CTPs (Consolidated Tape Providers) enter the market at different times, firms are navigating a more complex landscape of transparency data — where usability, not availability, is the real differentiator. The question is no longer whether data is available, but whether it can be trusted enough and used to make good trading decisions. #### Why this matters now Recent FCA and ESMA transparency reforms have increased the real-time publication of corporate bond prices to an estimated 80–90% of all transactions, up from around 30% previously, according to MarketAxess TraX®, our executed global fixed income data. While this marks a significant step forward for market transparency, several structural challenges remain. - Deferral frameworks are complex. The two regimes apply different deferral frameworks, resulting in 68 distinct deferral scenarios across corporate and sovereign bonds. That number will increase from 4th May, when ESMA’s supplementary sovereign bond deferrals come into force, adding additional volume‑masking rules for liquid sovereign instruments. Our analysis suggests that around 15% of investment-grade corporate bond volume will still be subject to the longest deferral in reporting — three months under FCA rules and four weeks under ESMA. This means the timing of trade publication will vary materially depending on the reporting regime, trade size, and instrument— adding complexity for firms attempting to interpret transparency data across both regimes. - Deferred volumes hide meaningful volume. The practical impact of these deferrals became clear when the FCA transparency regime changes took effect in December 2025. While APA’s (Approved Publication Arrangements) delayed publication of approximately 75% of volumes, TraX captured the underlying trades in real time, allowing us to quantify exactly how much market activity was missing from the public view. ##### Impacts of the FCA deferral regime By the close of trading each day during the first week of December 2025, TraX revealed approximately €80bn of clean, visible investment-grade corporate bond volume — compared with an estimated €32bn that would have been observable through combined FCA and ESMA public reporting alone. ##### Total clean volume published in Corp-IG at deferral period TraX was able to reveal volumes much closer to true market size, delivered via our curated TraX Volume service. TraX Volume aggregates trading data from a network of more than 50 dealers and clients, applying carefully agreed size thresholds and caps to balance transparency with market protection. Participants contribute their data as subscribers to our services, and in exchange for access to TraX and our market data products. - Data usability Alongside completeness, usability and reliability of pricing remain key concerns. Our analysis from July 2025 – see [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight), shows that nearly 40% of published trades from the top 10 APAs are not immediately usable, most commonly due to duplication, and require additional processing. ##### Percentage of clean trades in the top 10 APAs† †Output from TraX proprietary data-cleansing algorithms on trade data published by the top 10 APAs, covering all fixed income market activity in Q1 2025. For firms, this means transparency often comes with a hidden cost: cleansing and normalising data before it can support accurate pricing, liquidity assessment, trading decisions, or analysis. #### A different way to approach transparency Transparency is not just a question of how much data is published, but whether that data presents a clear, clean and representative picture of market activity. If you can consolidate data early, de-duplicate it at source, and enrich it with context, you can deliver a more usable “tape” than stitching together raw public outputs. #### Introducing: TraX Tape TraX Tape is designed to be a single, consolidated data feed that provides a clean, standardised view of all global bond market activity. The aim is simple: provide decision-grade data so trading desks can interpret true market activity faster, with less internal data processing, and with more context than raw inputs alone can provide. It applies UK and EU transparency rules to TraX, supplemented by additional real-time transparency for small and medium-sized trades, as agreed following consultation with our contributor community. Trades are processed through our proprietary cleansing algorithm, refined for over 20 years, and enriched with proprietary insights — including trade direction and our award-winning pricing engine CP+™. That means clients can see whether moves are being driven by client buying, client selling, or inter-dealer activity, and assess pricing and execution quality with a far richer context than a plain trade print. The result is a more complete and reliable representation of market activity than standalone APA feeds, or future CTP outputs, can provide on their own — without forcing firms to build and maintain the same cleansing and normalisation stack internally. #### How it will work #### Why TraX Tape is different - Directional clarity: client-buy, client-sell and inter-dealer indicators on every trade print, making it easier to distinguish genuine market momentum from noise. - Cleaner data: a holistic view of all trading activity enables superior de-duplication and cleansing, reducing the hidden cost of reconciling, normalising, and validating fragmented public outputs. - Broader coverage: In January 2026, TraX captured and published 233,342 unique trades that would not have been published under ESMA or FCA transparency regimes, driven by unique contributions from global EM markets and non-European activity — helping firms build a more representative picture of true market liquidity and flow. - Earlier volume insight: aggregated volumes are available by end of day, ahead of public deferrals sourced from our contributor community and trading platform — so analysis is driven by what traded today, not what becomes visible weeks or months later. - Calcs: bond-level analytics applied to each trade, including yield and spread calculations supporting faster relative-value analysis and more consistent downstream analytics. - One connection: one consolidated connection providing access to all underlying data sources lowering operational complexity versus stitching together multiple feeds. #### What this enables - Clear directional market sentiment in real time — so teams can see what’s actually driving moves. - Faster, more consistent price and liquidity context on each print via CP+ and analytics — supporting TCA-style insights into execution quality. - Earlier access to meaningful market activity than public deferrals alone allow — reducing reliance on delayed, stale tape data. - Outsourced data cleaning and consolidation — removing operational complexity and freeing teams to focus on decisioning and strategy. #### TraX data In action The market reaction to US intervention in Venezuela illustrates the value of enriched transparency. Using TraX data, clients were able to see trade direction on every transaction — insight that is not available under either the FCA or ESMA regimes. In the 5-year Venezuelan government bond (VENZ 11.950 8/5/31), client sell-offs on Monday afternoon were followed by renewed buying on Tuesday, closely mirroring sharp price movements as the news unfolded. In addition, TraX captured activity that never became publicly visible, with 17% of Venezuelan bond trades unique to TraX in the week following the intervention. Crucially, this data was cleaned and de-duplicated in real time, allowing users to observe true market behaviour as it happened, rather than reconstruct it after the fact. ##### How the market reacted to the 2026 US intervention in Venezuela #### What comes next TraX Tape1 is currently being tested with our largest clients and contributors, reflecting our long-standing approach of building products in close partnership with the market. The roadmap is clear: delivery via CSV and API, followed by a graphical interface shortly thereafter. But this is just the starting point: because TraX Tape is built on proprietary data and analytics, we can continue to enhance fields, calculations, and datasets on a commercial cadence as client needs evolve. Our ambition is to evolve TraX Tape into a truly global data source by incorporating public CTP data1 and US data sources to deliver a consistent, enriched single view of market activity across all regions. In parallel, we expect to make longer-run historical time series available, enabling back-testing and more advanced quantitative research against a dataset that extends beyond what new public tapes can offer. As firms seek usable transparency now, rather than fragmented data or uncertain future solutions, we continue to work closely with clients to help shape the next phase of transparency. #### The direction of travel: an enriched public bond tape The EU & the UK are moving towards public consolidated bond tapes — but experience from the US shows the end state is rarely “raw tape only”. Since the introduction of TRACE, the most sophisticated firms have increasingly relied on enriched TRACE products to improve usability, provide better context, and reduce internal processing. The same landscape is emerging in Europe: two baseline public bond tapes, and a growing requirement for consolidated, cleaned, and enriched data that trading desks can actually use. TraX Tape is built for that end state — delivering the benefits of consolidation while adding the quality, coverage, and context that institutions need. We have used this model with TraX for over 20 years: with contributor-led inputs, designed around market needs, and continuously refined as usage patterns evolve. 1Our intent is to include CTP data from both the EU and UK CTPs; however, this is subject to the final terms and conditions imposed by each CTP. ### Related content #### Total clean volume published in Corp-IG at deferral period [View the QuickTake](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marketaxess_how-much-uk-eu-bond-trading-volume-is-hidden-activity-7408878910072999936-ldjd?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAABfEk70BgyGnw28ZtAJMeviy_twXwruO09M) #### Total clean volume published in EM at deferral period [View the QuickTake](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marketaxess_when-do-emerging-market-trades-really-become-activity-7416497858792783872-dpwl/?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAABfEk70BgyGnw28ZtAJMeviy_twXwruO09M) #### Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight) --- # AxessPoint: ETF Arbitrage and Inquiry Volume Skewness Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/etf-arbitrage-and-inquiry-volume-skewness #### Highlights - In 2022, LQD and HYG constituents generated 61% of the inquiry volume seen by Open Trading® in US IG & HY on MarketAxess - The proportion of buy inquiry volume on Open trading in US IG & HY increases when the corresponding ETF is trading at a premium according to CP+™. #### Introduction Corporate bond exchange traded fund (ETF) trading has become a popular strategy in fixed income markets. In this paper, we look into two of the largest ETFs - iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) and High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) which have US$35 billion and US$14 billion in assets under management, respectively, as of May 2023. LQD constituents generated 48% of the Open Trading inquiry volume in US investment grade (US IG) on MarketAxess whereas HYG constituents generated 74% of the Open Trading inquiry volume in US high yield (US HY) on MarketAxess in 2022. #### CP+ NAV and Stock Price Logic explanation ##### LQD Stock Price vs. CP+ NAV We use our CP+ pricing tick data to calculate the value of the ETF constituents. When the ETF price is higher than the CP+ Offer for these constituents, the ETF is trading at a premium. This generates more buying inquiries on the platform as market participants seek to buy bonds cheaply in order to assemble creation units that are exchanged for ETF shares. Conversely when the ETF price is cheaper than CP+ Bid for the constituent bonds, it trades at a discount, which leads to an increase in sell volume on the platform. #### USD HY/HG Volume Skew and ETF Arbitrage Taking the above dynamics into account, we can look at the relationship between platform volume skewness in US IG and US HY when LQD and HYG indices have arbitrage opportunities. We focus on 2022 MarketAxess Open Trading inquiry volumes for LQD and HYG constituents. ##### Daily MarketAxess Open Trading Volume US HY and IG We observe a strong correlation between ETF arbitrage opportunities and volume skewness in the underlying market as presented in Figure 2. When the corresponding ETF stock price is at a premium according to CP+ valuation, the daily buy inquiry volume share increased, and peaked at 90% in US HY and at 75% in US IG during 2022. By contrast, average daily inquiry buy volume in US IG and HY during 2022 was 53% and 51%, respectively. CP+ is MarketAxess’ proprietary AI powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 33,000 instruments globally. Updated every 15 to 60 seconds, the engine generates nearly 30 million levels per day covering 90-95% of trading activity in its markets. #### For questions or follow-up, email our data scientists: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### How are innovation and collaboration shaping the Chinese bond market? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) --- # Europe's Bond Trading enters a new evolution Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/europe-s-bond-trading-enters-a-new-evolution Christophe Roupie, our Head of Europe and Asia, discusses the new evolution of bond trading in Europe. --- # Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight It’s no secret that the launch of the US Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) over twenty years ago was a great leap forward for bond markets. Now, UK and European markets are catching up, with regulators set to roll out their latest takes on post-trade transparency. For financial institutions, this is an opportunity to assess the emerging transparency landscape and ensure their data strategies are optimised as the trading environment evolves. The centrepiece of UK (FCA) and EU (ESMA) transparency efforts is a complete overhaul of the rules governing when transactional data, currently being collected by Approved Publication Arrangements (APAs), can be made available publicly1. This promises a clearer view of market dynamics—an estimated 80-90 percent of corporate bond trades are expected to be published in real time—but also presents challenges for interpretation. While the two frameworks are similar, the differences mean that the price and volume information for the same bond trade could be transmitted to the market at different times, dependent on the reporting entity (Figure 1). While ESMA is broadly more transparent—with maximum deferral times of four weeks compared to the FCA’s three months—there is still no shortage of complexity. A total of 68 different deferral scenarios have been devised for corporate and sovereign bonds across both regimes2. Figure 1: A comparison of deferral times for corporate bonds under the new transparency regimes. The trade size boundaries are defined to help with comparison. 1An APA is a regulated entity that publishes trade reports on behalf of an investment firm. 2See Table 8 of FCA Policy Statement PS24/14 and tables on pages 45, 46, 49, 50, and 52 in MiFIR review Final Report ESMA74-2134169708-7775. The introduction of Consolidated Tape Providers (CTPs) for each regulatory regime will go some way to mitigating this complexity, by reducing the number of data sources. This will change from 18 different APAs and dozens of other reporting mechanism to two consolidated feeds. However, market participants will still need not only to assess how best to consume the new datasets available (as well as understand the complexities of the reported data they provide) but also how valuable they are to their organization. As the leading provider of data to EU and global fixed income markets over the last decade, we’re used to advising clients on how best to determine that value. We know that 3 key factors affect decisions on data consumption and use—quality, coverage and timeliness. In the paragraphs that follow, we take a look at these criteria, examining them in the context of TraX®, our unique source of executed global fixed income data. #### Taking the lead on data quality A comprehensive focus on market transparency means market participants will be required to pay much closer attention to data quality; we know this as a consequence of our continued development of TraX. The breadth and historical scale of the data set—containing 85% of the European and sizeable proportions of the APAC, CEEMEA and other fixed income markets—has provided us with extensive opportunities to continually refine and test its data-cleansing algorithms. Similarly, our users’ pursuit of ever-higher levels of real-time transparency, combined with the robust community of buy- and sell-side clients consuming the data, has helped provide the feedback needed to optimise the testing—and hence the quality. As a simple comparison, we recently applied these techniques to a population of fixed income trades published by the top 10 APAs and found that almost 40 percent were not usable as-is, requiring extra processing (Figure 2). #### Percentage of Clean Trades in the Top 10 APA's Figure 2: Output from TraX proprietary data-cleansing algorithms on trade data published by the top 10 APAs, covering all fixed income market activity in Q1 2025. As UK and European trading desks formulate their data strategies, they will need to consider how to balance the potential of regulatory offerings against the work needed to ensure data quality and integrity. With upstream challenges likely to persist, institutions should consider solutions that offer a track record of producing clean, actionable data tailored to market needs. #### Getting the most out of coverage In today’s globalised markets, the deeper and broader the datasets, the more valuable they are. Multiple interconnected markets and trading strategies require a holistic, global view of transaction data. That plays to our strengths as a global trading platform: Our enriched TRACE offering covers the US market, and when combined with the TraX product suite, that completes the global picture. The combined dataset is inclusive of contributions received around the clock, across markets in Europe, APAC, the Americas and beyond (Figure 3). #### Corporates by issuer region Q1 2025 v 2024 #### Sovereigns by issuer region Q1 2025 v 2024 Figure 3: Total volumes collected by the TraX data set in Q1 2025 compared with 2024 across corporate and sovereign bonds. TraX data is available through a number of live and end-of-day data products. Axess All Prints, our real-time transacted price service and most akin to a TRACE-like offering, publishes daily price prints on over 50,000 executed trades across over 13,000 unique instruments. It has expanded its coverage more than three-fold since launching in 2022, and the team has remained focused on continuously improving the offering. The most recent update to Axess All Prints added clean, real-time pricing for sterling corporates and EM local markets as well as trade direction on every print, increasing average daily trade count coverage by ~15%. We believe the overlay of the new transparency rules will super-charge the relevancy of our products, allowing for a level of detail on the underlying transactions not previously achievable, all within the regulatory framework. And, with TraX’s contributor-led model, the ability to evolve the product-set in concert with the markets will only further help users to cut through the noise and get precise insights on both primary and secondary markets. #### Case Study 1: TraX data to see the full picture Consider two illustrations: - In March 2025, as German Bunds moved sharply following news on the country’s fiscal policy, secondary trading volumes spiked as market prices fell. At the time, clients using our TraX Volume data were able to filter out primary market volumes to focus on secondary market trends, as well as understand the client-buy skew in long-term securities. - In the UK, a continuing news story about the fate of Thames Water linked to controversies over its environmental record and financial viability dominated headlines. TraX users were able to view historical and real-time bond market reactions to these events, not just the total trading volume but also the direction of those flows. Global, clean, and timely data offers clients a competitive advantage in complex and volatile markets, underscoring the need for a complete data set. #### The importance of timeliness Just as important as what data is available is when it is available. In the both the EU and the UK, regulators have imposed deferral periods for many bond trades. Indeed, some larger trades on less liquid bonds will have to wait to be reported to the market for as long as three months3. TraX, by contrast, receives data directly from (primarily) the dealer community, allowing for a real-time decision on not just when, but how the information should be transmitted4. 3Maximum deferral time under the FCA regime is 3 months, whereas under ESMA it is 4 weeks. Broadly speaking EU reported transactions will be available before the equivalent FCA reported transactions. Deferrals are the responsibility of the transaction reporter. 4TraX receives over 95% of trades in real-time or close to it. One widely used TraX product is Axess All®, our intra-day trade tape, that provides aggregated & anonymised volume and pricing information for the most actively traded bonds on a 15-minute delay. This innovative approach to transparency means that users can get a more complete view of the actual market dynamics—without the potentially market-moving consequences of publishing the full economics of the most impactful trades. Once again, our approach allows for the continual refinement and adapts to the evolving needs of market participants. In a world in which information is at a premium, speedier publication can offer market participants a clear advantage. #### In summary As electronic trading continues to expand globally and the regulatory backdrop evolves, the relative performance of different data solutions will feature high on decision makers’ agendas. Their task in the coming months will be to identify products that do the best job of enhancing their trading strategies. In that context, key considerations will include levels of data quality, coverage and timeliness, as well as the presence of value-adds such as extra data fields and customised market intelligence. We believe TraX and its various derived products offer the best of all worlds—quality, coverage and timeliness in easily-to-consume and ready-packaged solutions designed to meet multiple and various use cases for the data, from front to back office. #### Learn more by visiting our product pages: [TraX](https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data)® [Axess All](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all)® ### Related content #### AxessPoint: Portfolio Trading and price discovery in US IG and HY markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-portfolio-trading-and-price-discovery-in-us-ig-and-hy-markets) #### The power of data in trading protocol selection [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection) --- # Fed-day dynamics in a post-forward guidance era Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/fed-day-dynamics-in-a-post-forward-guidance-era #### Introduction At its last meeting, the Federal Reserve announced a meaningful change to its communication strategy: the removal of forward guidance. For over two decades, forward guidance helped markets form a view on the likely path of interest rates before the decision hit. With that guidance now pulled back, the market may need to place more weight on the 2:00 pm decision itself and on the trading conditions that follow. There is no clean “before” and “after” for a world without forward guidance; the policy pre-dates even the creation of TRACE. The closest recent proxy for a volatile Fed is the 2022–23 hiking cycle, when meeting outcomes were far less certain, and the market absorbed larger policy surprises. We compare that period with the calmer, better-telegraphed post-hiking regime of 2024–26, using MarketAxess data to examine how US high grade and high yield activity behaves around the 2:00 pm decision and 2:30 pm press conference. #### Highlights: - Inquiry activity always dips leading up to the 2:00 pm release. In the 2022–23 hiking era, it returns immediately in the 2:00–2:30 pm release window. In recent years, it peaks after 3:00 pm when the rate decision has less surprise and more focus is placed on the press conference comments around forward guidance. - Response quality has improved significantly in 2024–26. Execution costs have barely increased compared to a normal Wednesday – a return to a volatile Fed without forward guidance could see them rise again. - Quantity of responses remains consistent in both eras with only a slight dip during the release window - The share of trades won by an Open Trading® response has increased in recent years, and remained consistent compared to a normal Wednesday even during the volatile 2022–23 hiking cycle. #### Inquiry activity dips before the print, its return varies in each era We first looked at how MarketAxess platform activity in US credit behaves in the minutes around a Fed decision under both regimes. We focus on client-initiated Request-For-Quote (RFQ) and Portfolio Trading activity in US high grade and high yield credit. Ahead of the print, notional inquired dips in each era, especially compared to a normal Wednesday in the same period. After the print, activity comes back, but the path back depends on how much uncertainty went into the print or the comments after. In the 2022–23 hiking cycle, inquiry rises in the half hour after a very volatile release (2:00–2:30 pm) and remains at the same levels the rest of the trading day. In recent years, activity also increases after the 2:00 pm release, but it keeps rising into the 2:30 pm press conference until it finally peaks after 3:00 pm. These releases had well-telegraphed guidance and an expected rate outcome, shifting more focus to Powell’s comments in the presser, where more clarification around forward guidance is delivered. #### Fed-day inquiry notional under each era A lull ahead of the 2 pm statement compared to normal Wednesdays, then different post-decision behavior Takeaway: The market will wait for the print regardless of the Fed regime. When the re-engagement arrives and for how long will increasingly depend on the uncertainty of the 2:00 pm rate decision in a post-forward guidance world. #### Execution quality improves in recent, less volatile meetings When Fed meetings concentrate risk in a small window, it’s expected that transaction costs will rise. They do, but only marginally in recent years. We measure the median of US high grade spread trades against the corresponding CP+™ side at the time of the inquiry. A positive value means the client traded better than the CP+ side (the offer on a buy trade and bid on a sell trade). On a normal Wednesday in both eras, clients execute a few tenths of a basis point better than the CP+ side all afternoon long. In aggregate, dealers and liquidity providers are consistently improving their responses versus where CP+ estimates they should be. On Fed release days in the 2022-23 hiking cycle, dealers still improve upon CP+ by 0.1 to 0.4 basis points leading into the release. For just 30 minutes immediately following the release, this flips to not even 0.2 bps worse, and fully recovers by the time of the press conference in the hour following 2:30 pm. In the post-hiking regime, the rise in transaction costs is a fraction of that. Median execution remains a few tenths of a basis point better than the CP+ side early in the afternoon, then hovers right at the CP+ side before the release, and dips not even a tenth of a basis point worse immediately after the 2:00 pm release. Compared to a normal Wednesday, there is less than a 0.2 bp difference in transaction costs during the entire afternoon. #### Execution vs corresponding CP+ side US High Grade (spread)—median client RFQ trades vs CP+ side Takeaway: Recent Fed releases have barely increased transaction costs. The 2022–23 hiking cycle suggests the potential for almost half a basis point of additional friction in the release window, if removing forward guidance reintroduces volatility around the release. #### Open Trading fills liquidity gaps during Fed releases A common assumption is that electronic liquidity, particularly all-to-all protocols, might retreat during periods of uncertainty. Even if dealers turn cautious, clients reach the broader liquidity pool that Open Trading (OT) provides. In the 2022-23 hiking cycle, Open Trading’s share of done trades remained within a percent or two of a normal Wednesday’s share. In the 2024–26 period, Open Trading’s share of won trades jumps to just under 30% immediately after a Fed release, compared to 23% on a normal Wednesday. It remains elevated throughout the press conference: around two to three percentage points above a normal Wednesday’s share. #### Won trades tilt to Open Trading through recent Fed decisions US credit (HG+HY)—OT counterparty share of executed client RFQ trades by count Takeaway: Clients increasingly have their RFQs won by an OT response in recent Fed releases. Even in volatile releases during the 2022–23 hiking cycle, OT as a share of winning responses remained consistent with normal days. #### Number of dealer responses strong in both eras Even as activity lulls, RFQs stay competitive: responses per inquiry dip only slightly into 2:00 pm. In the calmer regime, the decline is modest: only one fewer quote out of 10–12 on a normal Wednesday for most of the announcement, and two fewer quotes during the 2:00–2:30 pm window. The 2022–23 cycle saw a slightly larger dip: down to about seven responses from 10, consistent with a genuinely more uncertain backdrop. #### Average dealer responses during Fed releases US credit (HG+HY)—average number of responses per client RFQ dips at 2 pm, then recover Takeaway: Regardless of era, clients still receive deep, multi-dealer competition even during pivotal policy announcements. For recent meetings, the number and quality of responses have barely budged. #### What this means for a market with less guidance If pulling forward guidance shifts meetings back toward the 2022–23 "less certain" profile, traders should expect a familiar pattern around the decision: a deeper pre-print lull, a tiny wobble in execution quality, a lean on OT liquidity, and dealer competition that remains robust. Each of those frictions was visible last cycle, and each was absorbed on-platform: execution stays within a fraction of a basis point of CP+, Open Trading supplies incremental liquidity, and RFQs maintain a steady number of responses. ### Related content #### More block trades are going electronic [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-block-trades-are-going-electronic) #### AI in fixed income: from fragmentation to intelligent execution [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ai-in-fixed-income-from-fragmentation-to-intelligent-execution) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) --- # Financial technology innovation in the world’s biggest wealth management hub Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/financial-technology-innovation-in-the-worlds-biggest-wealth-management-hub As the world’s leading wealth management and private banking hub, Switzerland is no stranger to innovative financial technology. Every year there is plenty of funding going into the development of technology solutions to help raise the standard of services and operations in the industry. A study released by Lucerne University in March found that 70% of the country’s 382 FinTech companies are working on solutions in the product areas of investment management and banking infrastructure.¹ The presence of global banking giants like Credit Suisse and UBS allows universities and institutes such as ETH Zurich to regularly collaborate with banks and technology companies on research projects. This ensures the abundant supply of computer engineering and data science students who are already familiar with the financial services industry when they graduate. Such talent pool is key to the country’s reputation as a breeding ground for fintech startup ventures. The Lucerne University study placed Zurich and Geneva just second and third on its global FinTech hub ranking, behind Singapore.² Digitization is an example of technology with widespread implications for how financial services companies operate. It allows firms to identify new ways to serve clients, such as pioneering new relationship management channels that target millennials, and leverage data and technology to drive investment decision-making processes. Another example, and one that I have witnessed first-hand in my current role at MarketAxess, is how innovation in electronic trading helped transform the fixed income investment and trading workflow for private banks and wealth managers. Here I’ll sum up my observations into three key areas. #### Data The migration of bond trading from phones to electronic venues has led to an explosion of market data volume. While this helps increase price transparency, it also makes identifying the important signals from the pile even more difficult. To address this challenge, some Swiss banks started to use advanced technologies like artificial intelligence to help wealth advisors sort through thousands of data points and make recommendations to clients. After clients agree to a high-level investment idea, advisors and product specialists need to identify securities that fit these criteria. Sometimes, they run into another challenge: the selected bonds are not liquid enough or the price does not meet clients’ expectations, rendering the investment idea inexecutable. Combining the availability of high-quality data (covering price and liquidity information) throughout the entire investment decision process and machine learning tools can help address this challenge by narrowing the pool of bonds to those that meet both the required price level and are adequately liquid. #### Efficiency A unique feature of private banks is that traders often need to deal with a diverse mix of block and smaller retail orders. This is in contrast to their larger asset management peers whose orders are mostly blocks. To improve efficiency, many of them are now adopting full automation for processing orders that do not need human intervention or control, freeing up traders to focus on more complicated transactions that require their skill set, subsequently enhancing the efficiency and performance level of the desk as a whole. Today, automation is being successfully used across much foreign exchange and equity trading desks. The pace of adoption for fixed income, given its more complex liquidity structure, has been slower but we expect it to gradually pick up in the future with many Swiss financial firms leading the way. #### Liquidity Any great investment advice and decision can only generate a return for the client if the trading desk, who is responsible for executing the orders in the market, has access to a trading venue with superior liquidity and price-quality. Electronic trading solutions such as our Request for Quote (RFQ) protocol in combination with [Open Trading™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) (our “all-to-all” liquidity pool) are helping to solve this problem by allowing more and more buyers and sellers to find one another. Without access to a wider liquidity pool and better pricing, execution costs may eat up the clients’ alpha in the form of price premiums. On the other hand, cost savings from better execution prices can help increase their return. At MarketAxess we have a range of products that can help private banks and wealth managers address these challenges. Through [Composite+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus), traders can access predictive pricing information that is highly accurate. Combining Composite+ with Liquidity Score allows wealth advisors to narrow their recommendation list to a pool of bonds that are liquid enough to trade and also meet the price level required by clients. Axess IQ, which I have introduced in detail in a [previous article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axess-iq-our-smart-execution-tool-designed-for-private-banks-and-wealth-managers), is a one-stop-trading-shop tailored specifically for the unique needs of private banks’ trading desks to help them manage and automate their order execution workflow and improve execution efficiency. Finally, Open Trading, our electronic “all-to-all” marketplace that lets all market participants trade more efficiently through unrestricted connectivity, provides the venue for traders to source liquidity from a bigger pool of fixed income participants while saving on transaction costs. ### Learn more about Axess IQ [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/axess-iq-switzerland) --- # Fireside Friday with MarketAxess’ Riad Chowdhury and Paulo Costa Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/fireside-friday-with-marketaxess-riad-chowdhury-and-paulo-costa #### Why is data transparency so important for trading fixed income in APAC? Costa: The emergence of algo automation trading that we’ve seen over the last few years in Europe, in the US, and now increasingly seen in Asia is a key driver to this. There’s now a lot more process-focused pieces and what drives all of those processes and automation is data. And not just any data – it must be reliable, good quality, and dependable. At the moment, what we’re seeing is a big swing from voice to electronic training, but with that we’re also seeing a huge, even bigger dependence on the data points to drive it, such as: quality, pricing, liquidity measurement, and the understanding of the context behind those. It’s becoming more a story of migrating towards an almost no touch, low touch piece in larger sizes. There will still remain some higher touch dependency, but for the most part, if you counted by number of tickets, the swing would dictate that most is done automatically through a trading platform. Thinking about when it comes to where automation’s limit is, that boundary is being tested right now. A few years back, maybe people would draw the line at anything larger than a million size for certain asset classes and that’s now being pushed, particularly in credit markets. You’re now seeing the emergence of larger block trading activity going through the platform and a larger number of portfolio trades – both things are hugely dependent on the quality of the data behind them. Chowdhury: Notably, similarly to many other industries, what we are increasingly seeing from clients across both the buy- and sell-side is that they are having to process more trades with less or the same number of people. When you can’t scale your business with people, you need technology. On the buy-side, you’ll hear the terms low touch and high touch consistently, and small trades and very liquid bonds are now not needing the attention, it’s all about spending time on the higher touch business of more complex trades. Recently, especially in the last 12 months, there’s been a dramatic change in sentiment from the buy-side in particular. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation, where they need efficiency but don’t know how to get it, so we’ve seen an uptick in conversations now around automation. There’s also been a shift in the desk set-up at these firms. An area like fixed income trading has been historically fairly specialist, but is now being covered along with other asset classes such as commodities, FX and equities, as buy-side firms are not able to increase headcounts. In that same vein, if you as a small team are handling various different assets, you need to automate as much as you can. Because of these reasons I would say the conversations have really accelerated in the last year. #### What are the challenges when it comes to data transparency in the APAC region specifically? Costa: The truth is, Asia is just too vast and so disparate that it’s impossible to put an idea like TRACE, or the equivalent in Europe, in place in Asia. What we’ve found is that our clients have an absolute craving for transparency but potentially not their own. We’ve always handled that in a controlled and measured approach – looking to protect the contributor and also give use to the market and the users. So, whilst you can’t depend on regulation to drive an Asia transparency model, you can achieve that through implementation of an industry-led solution such as a “give-to-get” model. What that means is to receive certain services, but they would also need to contribute their own data. Our “give back” is to make sure that the data is treated carefully Everything would be published in aggregate and anonymously, but incredibly be more colourful and transparent than what we’ve seen over the last few years in the Asia market. Chowdhury: I always say there’s no Asia. Just thinking about the contrast between Northeast and Southeast Asia, the types of fixed income products and the types of investors that operate there are very different. Each of these markets have their own nuances and so it’s important to really look at it at a market level. However, what we’ve seen over the course of the last few decades is that transparency generally leads to better outcomes for the fixed income market. On the buy-side, data is central to help with the transaction cost analysis they are doing to understand if they got good execution on trades. Equally on the sell-side, they’re in the business of recycling risk so they need to know where the market is trading. They’re thinking to themselves, ‘if a buy side client just sold me some bonds, I need to sell these things back. What is a reasonable price, where I should sell it, and am I losing money?’ Data has simply become critical in terms of how the market operates on a daily basis. #### Can you tell us more about data use cases in fixed income specifically? Chowdhury: When it comes to data, many algorithmic traders on the dealer side would want to just consume the raw data and use it however their algos need it. But the other factor which is coming into play more and more is generating insights from data. Data adds a rich layer of context for players interpreting market signals—but unless you step back and view it from a broader perspective, it’s easy to miss the bigger picture. These insights, which can inform trading and investment decisions, are becoming a key focus of discussion. While the data conversation still largely centres on raw inputs—think of an algorithm as a data-hungry monster, always wanting more—there’s a growing appreciation for the narrative side of data: the stories and insights it reveals. Costa: Traditional buy-side firms are becoming more sophisticated and they’re leveraging data more and more. You’ve seen the emergence of a lot more EMS’s coming to the market to support that process and to help their infrastructure. In the same vein, systematics and ETFs have a role to play. At MarketAxess we’re seeing the emergence of more these types of firms looking to launch credit strategies into the APAC region and that has further enhanced the adoption of electronic trading across the region. These guys are so data hungry, data-focused and data-driven, that it’s almost forced the more traditional parts of firms to keep pace with it. All of that plays into why the hot word at the moment everyone is about: transparency, transparency, transparency. Originally published on The TRADE | July 11, 2025 ### Related content #### SP Global Market Intelligence MarketAxess collaborate [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/sp-global-market-intelligence-marketaxess-collaborate) #### The power of data in trading protocol selection [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection) #### Pre-Trade data strategy: Optimizing protocol selection in European Credit [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/pre-trade-data-strategy-optimizing-protocol-selection-in-european-credit) --- # From fringe to familiar: The automation frontier in trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/from-fringe-to-familiar-the-automation-frontier-in-trading What is the current landscape in the use of automation and algorithms for credit trading? Since the launch of our first automation tool, Auto-X RFQ in 2018, we've witnessed not only a sharp increase in its adoption but also a transformation in how clients and traders are leveraging it. We can see that on the client side, utilization rates have surged dramatically. Today, our most advanced automation clients show a 92% Auto-X RFQ utilization rate in US High Grade and 74% in US High Yield - a remarkable leap from 32% and 9% in 2018. ##### Auto-X RFQ utilization rate surges: A closer look at client automation growth Smaller lot sizes led the early wave of automation, but the momentum has now decisively moved into larger block sizes. In US High Grade, power users placing orders under 500m are now almost fully automated, while trades above 2mm - once thought too complex (too risky) - now see 39% execution. A similar trend is unfolding in US High Yield: lots of 250m and below are automated at a striking 69%, and even trades over 500m have advanced to 54%. These trends underscore how automation is no longer limited to smaller trades - it's becoming a trusted tool for handling increasingly larger transactions alongside deeper control and governance options that we discuss below. ##### US High Grade clients scale up automation ##### US High Yield clients scale up automation Why has Auto-X RFQ quickly become an essential tool for clients? Client trading objectives are clear: maximize efficiency, reduce execution costs, and unlock opportunities for price improvement. Auto-X RFQ delivers on all three fronts. It is a powerful, intelligent, yet simple to use rules-based tool that enables clients to achieve these goals by automating all or part of the trading execution workflow. The advantages Auto-X RFQ are twofold. First, is the unparalleled sophistication it delivers for data-driven decision-making. It is powered by CP+™, an Al-powered pricing engine for global credit and rate markets. By combining the extensive data from the MarketAxess trading platform with public TRACE and proprietary TraX inputs, CP+ equips clients with unmatched accuracy in price discovery, transaction cost analysis, and algorithmic strategies. Complementing this is the relative liquidity score, which provides a precise measure of a bond's tradability and market depth. Second, is its dynamic waterfall approach to rule setting. Automation criteria can be set and refined using simple variables such as trade size, price, number of respondents and more. With our parameter modeling tool, clients can use their historical data to assess and predict the likely impact of automation and its effect on overall performance. This flexibility enables higher automation rates, greater efficiency in larger trades—including blocks—and the ability to deploy multiple custom rule sets across markets. What does this look like from the dealer perspective? Dealer pricing algorithms are gaining ground in block trades, with the strongest growth seen in the 2mm-5mm bucket range. Not only are dealer algos responding more, but they're also winning more - moving from a 10% win rate in 2023 to 25% in 2025 for credit block inquiries. ##### Dealer pricing algorithms gain ground in block trades *We are defining block trades 5mm+ for IG and 2mm+ for HY *YTD 2025 is including Q1-Q3 Coverage has expanded as well. In 2023, dealer algos were primarily involved in the more liquid bonds. By 2025, they are responding to a broader set of CUSIPs and handing larger trade sizes. For US High Grade, algo wins in low liquidity bonds rose from 17.2% in 2023 to 25.3% in 2025. In US High Yield, wins increased from 12.6% to 18.9% over the same period. The result: clients are increasingly likely to find a dealer algorithm on the other side of their trade. ##### Dealer pricing algorithms expand and widen their reach in coverage Q1-Q3 2025 1. We removed outliers from the population 2. YTD 2025 is including Q1-Q3 3. For the CUSIP universe, we only included 144a To what can this overall growth in size and range be attributed? The expansion is driven by Open Trading®, the MarketAxess global all-to-all electronic marketplace. By tapping into the world's deepest liquidity pool for corporate credit, traders achieve real price improvements and broaden their reach. ##### Unlock price improvement via Open Trading Q1-Q3 2025 2. OT Win Rate: Open Trading Trades/Number of RFQs with a response from Open Trading. Open Trading enables smarter trading, greater capacity, and workflow innovation. Combined with automation tools that allow clients to predefine, customize, and parameterize workflows, trading desks can tailor execution to their specific needs - resulting in higher-quality outcomes and more efficient performance. What’s next for automation in credit trading? The data shows a clear trajectory: as dealer algos grow more sophisticated, clients are evolving alongside them - moving from rigid, single-rule setups toward dynamic waterfall and model-based approaches powered by MarketAxess. The automation suite now includes Adaptive Auto-X, launched in 2023, which represents the next stage in automated trading. Adaptive Auto-X uses smart order routing to integrate matching, responding, posting, and requesting across multiple execution protocols and liquidity pools. This creates customized workflows aligned with specific trading objectives, all connected through Open Trading. Looking ahead, we expect aIgo usage in credit trading to continue its exponential growth. At the same time, adoption of our original automation protocols - Auto-X RFQ and Auto-X Responder - remains strong, particularly among clients beginning their automation journey. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive suite of tools that deliver the deepest liquidity, most competitive pricing, and the most efficient workflows supporting clients at every stage of their automation evolution. ### Related content #### Automated Trading—Why the sum is greater than the value of individual parts [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/automated-trading-why-the-sum-is-greater-than-the-value-of-individual-parts) #### The Future of Fixed Income Trading is Intelligent Automation [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-future-of-fixed-income-trading-is-intelligent-automation) #### Unlocking the automation suite of technology [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-the-automation-suite-of-technology) --- # From high-touch to low-touch: The evolution of fixed income e-trading in APAC Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/from-high-touch-to-low-touch-the-evolution-of-fixed-income-e-trading-in-apac Kai Chang, Head of Trading Hong Kong at Ninety One, speaks with Tricia Chan, our Senior Sales Relationship Manager, about how e-trading has become an essential toolkit for their desk—from low- and high-touch trading to the expanding role of data. --- # From macro signals to execution edge in fixed income Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/from-macro-signals-to-execution-edge-in-fixed-income For much of the last decade, fixed income investors operated in a market environment heavily influenced by central bank policy, quantitative easing, and clear forward guidance. Today, that backdrop has shifted materially. While inflation has moderated from its peaks, real yields remain elevated, financial conditions are still relatively tight, and growth outcomes are diverging across regions. At the same time, fiscal deficits, increased bond issuance, and a more data-dependent policy framework are creating a more complex and less predictable investment landscape. These changes are prompting investors to rethink how they build portfolios and manage risk. Rather than positioning around a single macro outcome, market participants are increasingly focused on creating resilient portfolios capable of navigating a wider range of economic scenarios. In the recent 2026 Global Fixed Income & FinTech Institutional Leaders Summit on 25 June, MarketAxess, together with senior panelists from across various financial institutions offered insights on how to navigate the current fixed income landscape. Roheet Shah, Head of Dealer Sales, APAC and Head of Hong Kong, explored the macro forces reshaping bond markets, while Cathy Cai, China Business Lead, examined how technology and market structure are helping institutions remain agile in an increasingly complex trading environment. #### Navigating a macro-led structural reset for fixed income Even as inflation eases, real yields remain structurally elevated, indicating a tight financial condition. The new Fed leadership adds another layer of complexity by turning away from forward-looking guidance toward greater reliance on data. This points to a market where liquidity is more fragmented and timing matters more. Simultaneously, bond markets are shifting from a monetary-dominated regime to one driven by fiscal deficits and heavy issuance, particularly at the long end. The debate is whether term premium is resetting structurally higher or remains cyclical and likely to compress once issuance stabilises. Either way, fiscal and supply dynamics now compete directly with monetary signals for influence over where yields settle. This backdrop raises a consequential question for Asia. Can the region meaningfully decouple from the US rate cycle? Historically, the US has anchored global rates through its economy, yield curve, and the dollar. This cycle shows more visible divergence, but a hawkish US path or a stronger dollar could still dominate outcomes. Decoupling is conditional rather than guaranteed, depending on how much domestic factors can take over from the US cycle. In the centre of the picture sits China. Instead of a growth engine, the country serves as an anchor with broadly stable growth, measured policy support, even as the recovery stays uneven and questions persist around domestic demand transmission. However, investors remain cautious about whether China is moving to a genuine reflation or settling into a more stable and lower growth environment. “The macroeconomic context holds paramount importance for fixed income markets in the current era. Not only does it influence yields, but it also shapes market dynamics in a liquidity-constrained environment where timing has become a critical factor. Such change emphasises the importance of electronic trading platforms such as MarketAxess, which can help clients access broader liquidity, improve execution efficiency, and make better trading decisions with sufficient data while managing risk in a more complex market landscape.” Roheet Shah Head of Dealer Sales, APAC & Head of Hong Kong | #### A consistent evolution of institutional resilience through technology and execution The fixed income industry is entering a new phase of evolution. Today, the focus has expanded from electronification to liquidity access, data intelligence, workflow integration, and increasingly, artificial intelligence. Future competitive advantage will not only come from any single tool or technology, but an institution's ability to combine trading, data, AI, and investment processes into a unified decision-making framework. Execution quality is increasingly becoming a source of alpha. As liquidity fragments across protocols, venues, and counterparties, execution desks are no longer operating just as an execution function. With the rise of anonymous trading, portfolio trading, automated execution, and alternative liquidity pools, these solutions have fundamentally changed how investors interact with the market. The strongest trading teams with an edge are those overseeing the workflow – from executing orders, uncovering opportunities, managing liquidity risks, and working closely with portfolio managers to improve trading outcomes. If the last decade was defined by electronification, the next is being shaped by data, where it now provides an edge to users to make better investment decisions. Liquidity forecasting, credit intelligence, relative value identification, and portfolio-level analytics are some of the key areas where data value-adds. With the improvement of market transparency, firms that will emerge as winners are those with a stronger analytical framework and decision-support capabilities, rather than those simply accumulating larger datasets. While enthusiasm around AI remains strong, especially in relation to improving productivity in workflows, many organizations are first using AI to help with information processing, increasing investment research and operational efficiency. But its impact on actual investment decision-making remains gradual. Decision makers emphasized that successful AI adoption is not just a technology challenge – data governance, explainability, validation frameworks, risk management, and organizational readiness are also key determinants of success. To arm fixed income professionals with the research so that they can work more efficiently, MarketAxess has partnered with AIQ Markets to enable users to search bond data, compare relative value, and construct portfolios through natural language. By providing auditable answers with transparent sourcing and governance controls through AIQ Insight™, MarketAxess will pilot an exclusive version of its new tool that leverages proprietary data feeds such as CP+™ pricing information and Tradability scores. Beyond AI, the convergence of primary, grey, and secondary markets is also essential in tackling fragmentation challenges. The partnership between MarketAxess and DirectBooks is helping bridge the gap between primary issuance, grey-market activity, and secondary trading. Shared clients can view new issue announcements, submit interest, and receive allocations in a streamlined and seamless workflow. This reflects a broader industry shift toward managing investment opportunities holistically rather than as separate stages of the investment process. #### The defining edge Portfolio resilience means letting go of an outdated rate paradigm, recognising Asia's growing independence, and building genuine cross-border flexibility. Institutional resilience means execution sophistication, robust data infrastructure, carefully governed AI, and connectivity across the bond lifecycle. In a market where market conditions are tighter, liquidity is more fragmented, and timing matters more, resilience is no longer about avoiding disruption. It is about having the regional awareness to see where the market is heading, and the institutional capability to act on it faster than the market changes. MarketAxess’ data, AI capabilities, and its integrated access to primary, grey and secondary markets, is the defining edge that enables traders the ability to stay competitive amidst the rapidly changing macroeconomic landscape. #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### AI in fixed income: from fragmentation to intelligent execution [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ai-in-fixed-income-from-fragmentation-to-intelligent-execution) #### Opportunities for global investors as China further opens its cross-border bond market [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/opportunities-for-global-investors-as-china-further-opens-its-cross-border-bond-market) --- # Greater Investor Access to Emerging Markets will Fuel their Recovery Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/greater-investor-access-to-emerging-markets It’s impossible to look back at the past 18 months and not compare the stark contrast between the impact and response to the pandemic in developed and emerging markets. The vaccination programs that are well underway in most of the western world, and the billions of dollars being pledged by developed countries for vaccine programmes in developing markets are evidence enough of the two-tier recovery that could emerge. You see this divergence playing out in bond bid/ask spreads. Our data this summer has shown that in global corporate credit overall, spreads have broadly narrowed to pre-crisis conditions, indicating a return to normality. But within emerging markets, the recovery picture has been very mixed, with most developing economies behind the curve in their own recoveries. This has translated to impacts on the fixed income market. Our bid/ask spread data showed that for USD denominated emerging market bonds spreads are still 23% wider than pre-pandemic, while in Asia names they are +47% wider for corporates and 88% for sovereign bonds – indicating that the slow recovery, and concerns on short term containment and fiscal outlook, is being priced in. Foreign investors will play an important part in fuelling the recovery of these important, but fragile, economies. In large part, that will be through the secondary bond markets where emerging market debt changes hands and drives capital funding in these regions. Therefore, ease of access to these secondary markets is obviously important. Electronic trading has become essential in this respect, creating easier connections for investors through which to trade emerging markets. A prime example of this is our recent connection to the Chinese onshore bond market through our partnership with CFETS and Bond Connect, which will give global investors access to this hugely important fixed income market. But even more important is the broader indexation of emerging markets. Emerging market specialist Ashmore conducted research1 last year that showed only 13% of the nearly $30tn of outstanding emerging market bonds are included in major global bond indices. Wider inclusion in the main indices would drive much more interest in emerging market debt, with the asset class becoming more standardized and accessible to both the larger institutional asset management firms and pension funds, and also to smaller niche investors keen to specialize and reap the rewards of investing in these markets. We’ve already seen something of an investor vote of confidence in emerging market debt as they have reaped the rewards of entering new markets despite a challenging yield environment throughout this Spring. Recent data from the Institute of International Finance showed sizeable net inflows for EM bonds for 11 consecutive months, the longest spell like this since 2018 and one that could indicate a return to pre-pandemic levels.2 We’ve also seen more investors trading frontier markets, including Serbia, Vietnam and Nigeria. The tremors in US Treasury yields earlier this year has only pushed investors to look further for a rates-agnostic trade, with frontier markets clearly capable of delivering that. What this tells me is that if the opportunity is right, and investors understand the market and have the ability to connect to liquidity and transact, then they will move on the opportunity. The effect that this behavioural shift will have on much needed capital flowing into emerging and frontier markets will be significant as these countries and their firms start to recover and rebuild. On a closing note, central banks around the world are starting to signal the end of pandemic-era monetary stimulus. To consider the impact of tapering on emerging markets, all you need to do is hark back to 2013 and the negative impact of the “Taper Tantrum”. My view is that the situation is luckily different today. With an improving outlook for local-currency EM debt, and on the whole more shock protection built in, the potential for a sustained recovery is possible even when the central bankers tighten up the taps. What will send these economies on their way will be access to a wider and more diverse pool of external capital as they look to refinance and rebuild. If ease of access is one leg that will do this, and viability of the asset class as an investment case another, then wider index inclusion is the third leg that will give developing economies a solid platform to grow. 1 Source: [https://www.ft.com/content/9792d6f8-2423-4c04-9a65-31d8b0b4b5a8](https://www.ft.com/content/9792d6f8-2423-4c04-9a65-31d8b0b4b5a8) 2 Source: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-20/emerging-market-investors-pile-into-bonds-as-delta-spreads](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-20/emerging-market-investors-pile-into-bonds-as-delta-spreads) --- # Helping Asia bond investors navigate market volatility Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/helping-asia-bond-investors-navigate-market-volatility Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific (RC) Erik Tham, Head of Global Private Banking Product (ET) MarketAxess has been named Best Trading and Execution Platform at the Technology Awards for the 2nd consecutive year. What do you think makes MarketAxess an increasingly indispensable tool for fixed income trading in the Asian private bank industry? RC: Our goal has always been to address the needs of our Asian private banks and wealth management clients to increase their operational efficiency, extend their reach into new pools of liquidity, improve their abilily to execute at best price, and to access highly accurate and transparent pricing data. These features have been more important than ever in the past year when a meltdown across the region's high-yield issuers prompted an evaporation of liquidity. As in the past, we demonstrated we were more than up to the task during crisis periods. Our order and execution workflow solution Axess IQ®, which has rolled out to Asia clients in 2021, helped private banks in the region to better manage high-order volumes during market tumult. Among the features that proved valuable to their bond trading desks were the ability to monitor queues of open orders and to automatically process and prioritise certain orders, as well as aggregating liquidity and market data into a single view. Can you tell us more about Axess IQ? In what ways does it help improve traders' workflow? ET: Axess IQ is essentially a one-stop trading shop tailored specifically for the unique needs of private banks' trading desks. It is an interface that provides a range of functionalities for fixed income traders, including the order management and execution capabilities they need to fundamentally reorganize their workflow to be more effective. Axess IQ is fully integrated with Open Trading® (OT), our all-to-all network, that allows all dealers and investors to trade directly with one another anonymously. In Q2 2022, the number of unique client firms that have executed an OT transaction reached a record 1,748. The combination of Axess IQ and Open Trading allows users to source new liquidity in different market conditions and at the same time automate the execution of their numerous smaller orders, freeing up time so traders can focus on larger or more complex trades. Axess IQ also includes proprietary MarketAxess data and analytics that deliver accurate pre-trade prices for a broader universe of corporate bonds than any other platform. This unique data is also available to Relationship Managers, who can use Axess IQ as a highly efficient communication channel to their trading desk for sharing real-time market insight and order information. What is the role of automation in fixed income trading for private banks at the moment and where do you see things going? ET: Currently, automation is being widely adopted across many foreign exchange and equity desks. The pace of adoption for fixed income, given its more complex liquidity structure, has been slower. But with many global private banks and wealth management firms leading the way, auto-execution has now become a standard tool on most fixed income trading desks and we may see the transformation to further accelerate soon. We continue to see growth in trade automation across the board despite increase in volatility - in Q2 2022 we saw a record $57.6 billion in Auto-X (our automation solution) volume, up 39% from 2021. Private banks have clear incentives, as one of their unique features is that trading desks often have to handle a diverse mix of small and large block orders. As such, many of them are already adopting automation for transactions that require less human intervention. This has hugely improved efficiency as it frees up traders to focus on the more complicated tickets. Can you tell us more about the growth of your Asian private banking business? And what is the plan for the region moving forward? RC: The volume of trades executed via the MarketAxess platform by regional private bank clients grew by double digits in 2021, easily outstripping the equivalent number for the global business. This demonstrated how our business in this area has kept going from strength to strength. On the product front, with growing global interest in the region's debt markets, we have also significantly bolstered our local currency offerings. In September 2021, we also added Bond Connect and CIBM Direct schemes to our platform, allowing private banking and wealth management clients to trade onshore Chinese debt with onshore market makers. The overall picture for MarketAxess in the region remains very positive, in fact, in Q2 2022 the platform saw a record $27.3 billion in APAC emerging markets trading volume, up 59%. We already have clients across the Asia-Pacific region trading actively on our platform across a wide range of global fixed income markets and we will continue to expand and grow our team. On the product side, innovation is the cornerstone of our business and we will continue to invest in product design and development in partnership with our clients, exactly as we have been doing for the last 22 years. Visit [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/private-banking?utm_source=APB%20article&utm_medium=advertising&utm_campaign=APAC%20PB) to learn more. Originally published on Asian Private Banker | August 22, 2022 --- # History in the making: A closer look at MarketAxess’ newly launched Opening and Closing Auctions Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/history-in-the-making-a-closer-look-at-marketaxess-newly-launched-opening-and-closing-auctions MarketAxess’ new ‘Opening and Closing Auctions’ – a first for the fixed income market – is aimed at improving price discovery and providing access to unique liquidity for trading US credit through a standardised market-wide auction protocol. With the launch having occurred in November, The TRADE decided to take a closer look at the new offering, delving into both the strategy itself and the potential for real market structure change as a result. Liquidity paramount The protocol combines real-time pricing and auction matching expertise from Pragma, an algorithmic trading solutions provider acquired by MarketAxess in 2023, resulting in a liquid end of day event, focused on hedging efficiency and solving inefficiencies in bond pricing. Speaking to The TRADE, Kat Sweeney, global head of data and ETF solutions for MarketAxess, asserts that the new protocol addresses a “major market gap”, with the long-term vision being for the auction to become dominant in end of day credit trading. “This is a way for asset managers, hedge funds, dealers to have a central point – same time, same place, same bonds – knowing when and how they can find liquidity.” This, of course, requires industry buy-in – something at the fore of the firm’s planning, with a collaborative design having been developed with the market in order to ensure efficacy and compliance. This has been key to the development of the auction protocol, with crucial input from the buy-side and sell-side over the past three years. These discussions span all corners of the industry and have shaped the protocol design to align with market needs. MarketAxess’ advisory group includes names such as: BlackRock, DWS, State Street Investment Management, and AllianceBernstein. “As the US Credit market grows, it is vital that participants innovate and deliver new liquidity solutions to investors. The auction protocol represents a step forward in advancing market structure and puts the public bond market on its front-foot in competing with other capital markets,” George Catrambone, head of fixed Income Americas at DWS Group, tells The TRADE. Speaking to how the offering is set to impact fixed income markets, Sweeney highlights how equities activity shaped plans for the fixed income sphere. “We have seen this before in the equity markets – the growth of indexation and ETFs coupled with the growth of systematic market makers saw a move on trading towards the close. Now the closing auction in equities is about 10% of total trading volume [and] the auction plays an important role for both the buy- and sell-side of the market. “In credit, we are facing the same backdrop just at an earlier stage in the cycle. ETFs and credit futures are becoming a larger part of the market, and we are seeing more systematic liquidity provision from the traditional dealers and market making community.” The protocol integrates diverse liquidity sources, aligning with client trading patterns and improving benchmark tracking, however when it comes to the markets’ biggest concern, Sweeney confirms that completion is front of mind. “We have to make sure the auction is a liquid event […] Benchmarks are changing and more trading is going toward the close. Traders are keeping flow open later because that’s where they benchmark. “If traders have a high degree of confidence on completion and knowing where end of day values will be set, they are willing to make larger markets across ETFs, cash credit and futures. I call this the bands of arbitrage.” Looking ahead Delving further, Sweeney explains that there is a wealth of benefits which could come from addressing what the credit market lacks – a universal closing price for the cash bonds that would then be used for all macro products, like ETFs and futures. “The data from a closing auction can be used by end of day evaluators, like S&P Global, to set the end of day price or be a significant input into setting the price. That would be so powerful and would improve the overall market liquidity.” She further adds: “This can be used as a price for internal crossing […] every single asset manager brought it up without me even prompting them.” Speaking about the launch of this new auction protocol recently, Daniel Veiner, head of markets at BlackRock, affirmed that the offering “represents a meaningful advancement in the modernisation of the bond market.” He added: “These auctions will improve price discovery and offer investors increased transparency in-line with the continued growth of electronic trading. As fixed income markets continue to evolve, we’re committed to supporting solutions that better serve investors.” Addressing the industry on the MarketAxess earnings call in November 2025, Chris Concannon, chief executive, emphasised that the most important aspect of the strategy around the auction protocol is to support the growing indexation of the fixed income market – and is subsequently the key talking point with the firm’s client partners. “In US investment grade volumes, the last hour of the last day of the month, 25% of that day’s volume is done in that last hour. So, we’re seeing aggregation of activity moving to closer to the close. “On a normal trading day, we’re now seeing almost 15% of total volume within the last hour of the close as well. There’s been a clear trend line where much of the bond market is moving closer and closer to the closing time of the day.” Looking toward the future, Sweeney concludes that as more and more systematic credit comes to market, the players in this sphere are set to appreciate an auction – equal footing for all. “Within the next couple of years, this could be the dominant protocol in the market. We want to make this not just a protocol on our platform, but something that’s market-structure changing, and the wheels are already in motion. It can start slow, but we’re now in the beginning of the snowball phase.” Offered at the beginning and end of the trading day, the protocol specifically relates to US high-grade and high-yield bonds on MarketAxess’s X-Pro trading platform. Originally published by The TRADE on December 15th 2025 ### Related content #### MarketAxess unveils fixed income's first Opening & Closing Auctions; designed to improve pricing and liquidity [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Unveils-Fixed-Incomes-First-Opening--Closing-Auctions-Designed-to-Improve-Pricing-and-Liquidity/default.aspx) #### Corporate bond world set to get first daily Closing Auction [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/corporate-bond-world-set-to-get-first-daily-closing-auction) #### Unlocking liquidity: How Opening and Closing Auctions are reshaping bond trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-liquidity-how-marketaxess-opening-and-closing-auctions-are-reshaping-bond-trading) --- # How automation is reshaping private bank trading in Asia Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-automation-is-reshaping-private-bank-trading-in-asia The momentum for private banks’ shift from manual, voice-based workflows to electronic, data-driven execution is gathering pace. In FY2025, APAC private banking volumes on the MarketAxess platform rose 76% and trade count climbed 93%, nearly double that of 2024, while 86% of private bank trades were automated, reflecting a shift for a region where desks not long ago ran predominantly on voice and chat. One key driver for that is the need for greater efficiency to generate alpha in a complex market environment of tighter regulations and cost constraints. Against this backdrop, MarketAxess hosted a Private Banking Lunch & Learn in Singapore for representatives from leading APAC private banks to take stock of how that shift is playing out and where it needs to go. This piece distils the themes that resonated most with the traders in attendance, including the forces reshaping wealth management in the region, the depth of liquidity and data now available during Asian trading hours, and how the best-performing desks are combining automation, data and human expertise to do more for clients. #### Macro tailwinds reshaping wealth management industry Three structural forces are reshaping the APAC wealth management landscape, with each having a direct impact on the fixed income execution desk. First, a new generation of digital-first clients expects real-time interaction across every channel, making reliable, end-to-end data central to the desk while being able to support a consistent client experience from investment decision through to trade execution. Second, AI has moved from novelty to structural force, augmenting rather than replacing human judgment and turning automation into a competitive edge that lets a desk handle more orders without adding headcount. Third, as banks extend from UHNW and HNW into affluent and retail audiences, they must scale without sacrificing service, therefore putting a premium on efficiency, electronification, and front-to-back straight-through processing, which automates transactions electronically with no manual intervention, streamlining the process and reducing errors. “When I started out at MarketAxess in 2018, the average ticket size from private banks on our platform was around US$350,000; today we see far more odd- and micro lots and the average ticket size has more than halved while total volumes from private banks continue to grow. As technology matures and banks cater to new segments of investors, the number of orders and trades is increasing significantly and the average trade sizes are becoming smaller, a clear sign that retail flow is moving into a space once reserved for HNW or UHNW clients, and that makes automation absolutely essential rather than optional.” Erik Tham Head of Product Management, Global Private Banking | Together, these trends reflect the growing demand for an end-to-end electronic value chain, from the RM’s device through order management and trading to post-trade settlement. #### The growth story: APAC private banking momentum As the region’s wealth ecosystem matures, the pressure on private banks to trade fixed income more efficiently only intensifies, and their confidence in doing so electronically is growing. Average block sizes on the platform have risen materially, with desks moving beyond small robo flow to entrust electronic execution with larger, higher-conviction trades, while trading volumes on Axess IQ among APAC private banks grew 30% over the year. “For a liquid trade under a million dollars, there often isn’t a person on the other side anymore as the pricing is now done through an algorithm. What is just as striking is that private banks in Asia are no longer confined to small, automated flows. Today, we are increasingly seeing them put some of the larger tickets on the platform which is a clear sign that private banks are embracing electronification at an accelerating pace.” Andre Cherbonnier, Head of Client Sales, Singapore | #### Empowering private banks and traders with depth, liquidity and trusted data As more private banks adopt electronic trading, MarketAxess provides desks and relationship managers access to deep liquidity and reliable data during Asian trading hours. Within the platform, desks can reach around 30 active liquidity providers in US investment grade and 27 in Asia credit; for liquid trades under US$1 million, pricing from seven banks in US IG and eight in Asia credit is fully automated, so a price often comes back instantly with no need for manual intervention. The bigger shift is in how trades get matched. Through Open Trading — MarketAxess’s all-to-all marketplace, built into Axess IQ — investors and dealers have the option to trade anonymously rather than relying solely on their usual dealer relationships, opening up more counterparties, tighter pricing, and real cost savings. Today, Open Trading accounts for around 20% of activity in most products on the platform, with measurable savings of more than 20 cents on US high yield and emerging market credit across time zones. #### How the best desks operate and the tools behind it What sets the highest-performing private bank desks apart is how completely they weave data, automation, and people into one workflow. Transparent pricing sits at the core, where CP+, MarketAxess's award-winning AI-powered pricing engine, prices 80% more bonds than public sources alone and is now embedded in core systems and RM- and robo-advisory tools, sharply cutting calls to the desk and freeing traders for higher-value work. Routine tickets are largely automated, with dealer selection driven by data and trade size, while high, low and zero-touch workflows sit side by side on one screen, so trades pass seamlessly from automated to hands-on. Orders are captured electronically from the RM via their OMS or Axess IQ Connect, checked against limits in real time, and run straight through to execution and post-trade processing. The payoff reaches the end client, and for retail and affluent investors, buying a bond increasingly resembles trading a stock, with near-executable prices on screen, limit orders and automated processing behind the scenes. Two MarketAxess tools sit at the heart of this. Axess IQ is the desk's one-stop execution and order-workflow platform, bringing order management, liquidity, data, limit monitoring and automation onto a single screen across the full spectrum from high-touch to zero-touch. Its built-in Smart Dealer Select feature draws on proprietary, real-time trade data to guide dealer selection on more delicate inquiries, helping create trading opportunities and minimise information leakage. The platform's strengths were recognised again this year, when Axess IQ was named Asian Private Banker's 'Best Trading and Execution Solution' for the sixth consecutive year. Axess IQ Connect extends the same data to relationship managers: a device-agnostic web app with live CP+ pricing, watch lists, desk-to-RM alerts and one-click order submission, wherever the RM is sitting with a client. Because it plugs into existing systems, there is no rip-and-replace, and the link between RMs and the trading desk tightens as a result. Erik added, “If people asked me ten years ago whether automation in fixed income could get past 20 or 30%, I would have said no. Last year, 86% of APAC private bank trades on our platform were automated, a figure I’m genuinely proud of, and one that shows how far the region has come.” #### Automation is here to stay As AI, automation and data become embedded in workflows, the question is no longer whether to electronify, but how quickly and how well. Private banks require a platform that embodies this shift, one that pairs deep liquidity, trusted data, and a tailored execution toolkit with the human expertise to put them to work. MarketAxess is here to deliver exactly that. The payoff is ultimately human: by handling the routine, the right infrastructure frees people to focus on the strategy and client relationships that technology alone cannot replace. ### Related content #### More block trades are going electronic [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-block-trades-are-going-electronic) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### Asia Credit’s structural shift: What’s powering the market’s evolution [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/asia-credit-s-structural-shift-what-s-powering-the-market-s-evolution) --- # How electronic trading is like renovating a cottage: Managing resources and planning for the unexpected Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-electronic-trading-is-like-renovating-a-cottage-managing-resources-and-planning-for-the-unexpected Renovating an English cottage and electronic trading have more in common than you may think. For both projects, you need to manage a limited resource pool, prioritise the order in which to complete tasks based on their relative importance and complexity, and plan for market events such as interest rate hikes which can catch you off guard with dire consequences! Before spending any money, you will need to take steps to make sure you’re fully prepared with all the necessary tools, understand the regulatory requirements, and have a rough strategy for execution. You may choose to hire a contractor to oversee the project versus reviewing the details yourself. To stay on track, ideally you’d regularly review the budget for labour and materials (or headcount and technology in the case of trading). While it’s ideal to avoid, you’d need to plan for any obstacles you might encounter. The same principles apply when trading on the MarketAxess platform. You need to be fully prepared for every instance, big or small, high or low touch, and you want to be aware of all your trading options. Regardless of your experience, in these ever-changing, volatile markets, you might seek out some technical guidance to help optimize your trading decisions along the way. While trading bonds electronically may be daunting, especially in challenging liquidity environments, MarketAxess has been bringing counterparties together for more than two decades. We provide our clients with a full toolkit of data, protocols, and a diverse pool of global liquidity providers to help clients trade the way they want in any market backdrop. Just like designing your ideal home, we know that client needs are vast and unique to each person—there is no one-size-fits-all approach to trading on our platform. The MarketAxess platform offers strong functionality for every style of trade. For low touch orders, where there is a cost-saving opportunity by leaning into operational efficiency, we have Auto-X™. This could be compared to using power tools to complete a labour-intensive task. When there’s a large amount of repetitive work to be achieved, it makes sense to invest in equipment to reduce labour and speed up execution. Although the initial down payment might be heavy, most people don’t regret buying that drill or electric screwdriver to complete the task. Auto-X enables trading desks to expand their capacity in the RFQ process with data driven decision-making. You simply set the parameters and let the functionality work for you. However, there will always be that listed feature in a heritage home which requires a high touch approach. It might require attention, specialist knowledge, perhaps a good understanding of the history of the building, and in this case, power tools (or Auto-X) would not be appropriate. At MarketAxess, we recognise that technology can help to execute these trades in a different way and that they are likely more complex—we strive to provide a different type of support. We can simplify high touch orders into three stages: - How should I trade? Proprietary Marketaxess data provides insights into platform-agnostic trading activity, which helps to decide which protocol is right for the trade (leverage our market leading analytics, team of product specialists, quant researchers or pre-trade reports). - Where is the desired liquidity? Dealer data paired with algorithmic performance weighted selection tools help clients determine which liquidity provider to engage with (Axe data, Smart Dealer Selection tools). - How do I get the best execution? Strong liquidity! In third quarter 2023, there was an average of six responses for trades larger than $5mm in size in European IG, which could be benchmarked against award winning CP+™ reference pricing analytics. Just like a blueprint is necessary to drive forward with your renovation plans, MarketAxess provides its users with data to guide you towards the best possible outcomes for high touch trading. We’ve found that trading larger orders electronically can save you money and yield better outcomes. With our proprietary data, data driven assistance for disclosed dealer selection and variety of high touch trading protocols, our platform guides you on the right path to help you achieve your goals. Regardless of the trade, MarketAxess guides you every step of the way via data, protocol selection and dealer selection. With the right processes and protocols in place, you really can do more than you think! To learn more about how you can use MarketAxess data and high touch functionality to optimise your trading needs, stay tuned for the next blog where we deep dive into dealer selection tools. ### Related content #### UBS-AM case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # How Fed policies shape the APAC local currency bond market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-fed-policies-shape-the-apac-local-currency-bond-market #### The impact of Federal Reserve's decisions on Asia-Pacific local currency bonds reflects in interest rates. The transmission of Fed policies to local currency bonds in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region unfolds through two primary channels: global interest rates and currency valuations, according to trading platform MarketAxess. According to Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific at MarketAxess, the Fed's decisions directly influence global interest rates, thereby making APAC bonds more or less appealing compared to US dollar-denominated assets, such as US Treasuries. For instance, a potential cut in US interest rates may lead to a weaker dollar, enhancing the attractiveness of APAC local currency bonds to investors. This dynamic, Chowdhury explained, can lead to increased buying activity in these bonds, highlighting the integral role of yield and currency appreciation or depreciation in investment decisions. "The way the Fed policy influences local currency bonds is really two ways. One is what investors referred to as duration... And the other is FX." He said that investor behaviour towards APAC local currency bonds varies, with some investors dedicated solely to these markets, while others evaluate their attractiveness relative to other regions. Despite differing investment mandates, MarketAxess has observed significant growth in the trading of APAC local currency bonds on its platform. "In 2023, the volume traded of Asia, local currency bonds on our platform increased by 42% over the previous year" Chowdhury revealed, noting that these bonds now account for a substantial portion of global trading volume. | The diverging monetary policies across regions also impact cross-border wealth management strategies in Asia. Wealth management, particularly through private banks in Asia, has seen a shift in investment activity. Historically focused on high-yield bonds in Asia, there is now a noticeable pivot towards US investment-grade bonds, which currently offer higher ratings and attractive yields in dollar terms. "We have definitely seen the impact of Fed policy decisions in the wealth management sector as well..." Chowdhury observed, underscoring the significant influence of US monetary policies on investment patterns within the APAC region. [Listen to the full interview](https://player.vimeo.com/video/913612184) Originally published on Asian Banking & Finance | 21 February 2024 #### What 2023 taught us about the APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-2023-taught-us-about-the-APAC-bond-markets) #### Navigating volatility in APAC bond markets with sharpe ratio and liquidity [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/navigating-volatility-in-apac-bond-markets-with-sharpe-ratio-and-liquidity) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) --- # How is electronic trading transforming the Japanese bond market? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-is-electronic-trading-transforming-the-japanese-bond-market [この記事を日本語で読む](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-is-electronic-trading-transforming-the-japanese-bond-market-japanese) As the global financial landscape evolves, Japan's bond market stands at a pivotal crossroads. Our recent partnership with Coalition Greenwich to launch the whitepaper, ["The Evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan"](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper), reveals a market in transition, driven by rising demand for fixed income assets and the transformative power of technology. In this article, I’ll delve into the key insights from our research and summarize some key takeaways that can serve as guidance for Japanese investors considering electronic trading (e-trading). #### The growing demand for fixed income assets Global demand for fixed income assets has surged in recent years, fueled by rising yields as major economies combat inflation. Japanese investors, in particular, are increasingly turning to government and corporate bonds from developed and emerging markets, seeking higher yields with minimal additional risk. This trend has led to a significant uptick in trading volumes across various fixed income products, presenting both challenges and opportunities for investment managers. #### Technology’s role in modern trading While human expertise and relationships remain foundational to the fixed income markets, technology is reshaping the landscape. E-trading tools are now essential for managing the complexities of modern trading, from handling higher volumes to leveraging data for better decision-making, efficiency, and price discovery. Benefits and advantages of e-trading are immense, including improved transparency, faster execution, reduced transaction costs preventing human errors, and enhanced liquidity access. Based on a Coalition Greenwich survey in 2023, at least 63% of Asia-based asset managers traded at least some of their fixed income electronically, up from 36% in 2013. Although Japan’s adoption of e-trading has been slower compared to other developed markets, a notable shift is underway as local investors seek greater liquidity both domestically and internationally. #### Market dynamics and protocol innovation The report highlights that electronic bond trading venues have developed a variety of trading protocols to accommodate nearly all bonds, from the most liquid to the least. Asian fixed income investors anticipate increasing not only their usage of e-trading via disclosed Request-for-Quotes (RFQs), but also all-to-all and anonymous RFQ tools (such as MarketAxess’ Open Trading®) for credit bonds. The Request for Market (RFM) protocol, where dealers quote both the bid and offer, is today one of the most popular tools for trading local Emerging Market rates products in Japan, notably for its ability to reduce information leakage and allow for more secure pricing information. From conversations with Japanese asset managers, it is also evident that more investors are leveraging data-driven tools to optimize trading times and reduce opportunity costs. Traders who have leveraged our AI price discovery tool, CP+™, and liquidity metric, Relative Liquidity Score, have shared how they have transformed their trading strategies and achieve notable transaction cost savings. #### Execution Channels and Protocols* *Expect use to increase Note: Numbers in parenthesis represent number of respondents. Source: Coalition Greenwich Voice of Client—Asia (ex. Japan) Fixed-Income Investors Study #### Adapting to change The pandemic, regulatory shifts, and advancements in AI and algorithms have accelerated the adoption of electronic trading among Japan's largest players. Platforms like MarketAxess are enhancing the trading experience, especially in corporate and Emerging Market bonds. In 2023, 56% of Asian investors utilized e-trading across all assets, a significant increase from 36% a decade ago. This growth is driven by cost efficiencies, transparency, and easy access to liquidity that e-trading provides. Investors who have traded on MarketAxess have reported the efficiency that e-trading can provide. Today, we’ve seen some of our Japan-based clients evolve from trading single Request-for-Quotes (RFQs) to automating up to 70% of all their trades on the platform. Once they overcome the initial hurdle of trade electronically, they can understand its benefits and begin exploring more advanced uses, such as trade scheduling and automation. In contrast, we’ve also seen many traders who are more hesitant to adopt e-trading tend to stick with its more basic and manual workflow. This has resulted in a significant gap in how e-trading for fixed income is utilized in Japan, highlighting the varying levels of adoption and sophistication within the market. #### OMS integration Integrating e-trading tools with order management systems (OMS) can drastically improve workflows and trading outcomes by integrating order details, compliance requirements, real-time execution data, pricing, and liquidity metrics into a single view. MarketAxess platform has been integrated with most OMSs in the global market, and earlier in 2024, we had successfully integrated with Nomura Research Institute (NRI)’s securities order management system, SmartBridge Advance (SBA). With this integration, Japanese investors using an OMS can now leverage the full breadth of our e-trading and data suite, from Open Trading to auto-execution. Systematic trading workflows can dramatically reduce human errors as well. Analytical tools, like transaction cost analysis (TCA), can help traders identify opportunities for cost savings and provide them with more robust data to enhance their communications and presentations to their own clients and investors. #### Impact on dealer relationships Japanese bond dealers have historically been hesitant to fully embrace the electronic shift, stemming in part from a cultural preference for relationship-based trading. According to Coalition Greenwich research, 41% of Japan credit flow is allocated based on the sales relationship, compared to 27% that is executed based on execution quality. Despite initial concerns, e-trading has not diminished the importance of dealer relationships. From the conversation with both the buy- and sell-side in Japan, it’s clear that additional distribution capabilities and workflow efficiencies that is offered by e-trading allow trading desks to operate better, which ultimately, improve dealer relationships over time. #### Overcoming challenges and identifying opportunities Japanese investors are the largest holders of U.S. Treasury securities, with investments totaling $1.1 trillion at the end of 2023. Despite this, only 27% of Japanese investors trade non-yen government bonds electronically, with 26% of notional volume executed on the screen–indicating a significant room for growth in e-trading adoption. Cultural preferences: While Japanese bond dealers gravitate towards relationship-based trading, e-trading can enhance these relationships by allowing traders to focus more on market insights and less on manual order negotiations, as seen in the U.S. and Europe. By utilizing data and algo-driven pre-trade tools, clients have more ways to evaluate which bonds to be traded manually or electrically at ease, both clients and dealers can allocate their time more effectively. Onboarding costs: Onboarding and integration remain significant hurdles, but the benefits of electronification are clear. Enhanced workflow efficiency and the ability to trade large orders quickly and cost-effectively are major advantages. While the cost of onboarding onto electronic trading can vary depending on the complexity of the systems involved, the long-term benefits often outweigh these initial investments. Regulatory environment: Additional regulatory clarity could help accelerate adoption. While regulatory bodies in the U.S. and Europe actively pursue policies focused on best execution and transparency, Japan's regulatory environment is still evolving. Increased engagement with investors, bond dealers, and trading venues could foster a more conducive environment for e-trading. The fixed income market in Japan is on the cusp of significant transformation. As demand grows and technology advances, the opportunities for investors are vast. Our white paper, "The Evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan," offers valuable insights into these changes and the potential they hold. I encourage you to explore the full report to gain a deeper understanding of these trends. [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper) ### Learn how MarketAxess can support you. [Discover How](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia) ### Related Content #### White paper: The Evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) --- # 債券市場とイノベーション Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-is-electronic-trading-transforming-the-japanese-bond-market-japanese [Read this article in English](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-is-electronic-trading-transforming-the-japanese-bond-market) 世界の金融情勢が進化する中、日本の債券市場は重要な岐路に立っています。最近、Coalition Greenwich とのパートナーシップにより、ホワイトペーパー「[The Evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper)（日本におけるグローバル債券取引の進化）」を発表しましたが、債券資産に対する需要の高まりとテクノロジーの変革力によって、市場が転換期を迎えていることは明らかとなりました。この記事では、我々のリサーチから得られた重要なポイントを掘り下げ、電子取引を検討している日本の投資家にとってガイドとなるポイントを要約いたします。 #### 債券資産の需要の高まり ここ数年、主要国のインフレ対策による利回りの上昇を背景に、債券資産に対する世界的な需要が急増しています。特に日本の投資家は、リスクを最小限に抑えながら高い利回りを求め、先進国や新興国の国債や社債に投資する傾向が強まっており、この傾向は、様々な債券商品の取引量の大幅な増加につながり、投資家および運用会社に課題と好機会の両方をもたらしています。 #### 現代のトレーディングにおけるテクノロジーの役割 債券市場では、人的な専門知識や人間関係が依然として基盤となっている一方で、テクノロジーはその姿を変えつつあります。電子取引のツールは、より大きな取引の約定から、より良い意思決定、効率性、より良いプライスを見つけるためのデータ活用まで、現代の複雑な取引を扱うために不可欠なものとなっています。情報の透明性や実行スピードの向上、ヒューマンエラーを防ぐ、取引コストの削減、流動性へのアクセス強化など、電子取引のメリットは計り知れません。2023 年 の Coalition Greenwich の調査によると、アジアを拠点とする資産運用会社の少なくとも 63％ が債券取引の一部を電子で取引しており、2013 年の 36％ から増加しています。日本の電子取引導入は他の先進国市場に比べて遅れてはいますが、国内投資家が国内外に流動性の拡大を求める中、顕著な変化が起こりつつあると言えます。 #### 市場ダイナミクスとプロトコルのイノベーション 本レポートでは、債券の電子取引市場が、流動性の高いものから低いものまで、ほぼすべての債券に対応できるよう、さまざまな取引プロトコルを開発していることを紹介しています。アジアの債券投資家は、基本となる Request-for-Quote（RFQs）を介した電子取引の利用だけでなく、クレジット債の all-to-all MarketAxess の Open Trading® など）や匿名 RFQ ツールの利用も増加すると予想しています。Request-for-Market（RFM）プロトコルは、ディーラーがビッドとオファーの両方を提示するもので、情報漏洩を減らし、より安全な価格情報を提供できることから、今日、日本におけるエマージングマーケット債のブロック取引において最も人気のある取引方法の一つとなっています。 日本のアセットマネージャーとの会話から、より多くの投資家がデータ主導のツールを活用して取引を最適な時間に行うことによりコストを削減していることも明らかになっています（機会コストの削減）。当社のAIを駆使したプライスディスカバリーツール CP+™ と流動性指標を示す Relative Liquidity Score を活用しているトレーダーは、取引戦略をどのように変革し、大幅な取引コスト削減を成し遂げたかをシェアしています。 #### 取引チャネルとプロトコル* *使用増加予測 Note: Numbers in parenthesis represent number of respondents. Source: Coalition Greenwich Voice of Client—Asia (ex. Japan) Fixed-Income Investors Study #### 変化への対応 パンデミック、規制の変化、AI やアルゴリズムの進歩により、日本の大手金融機関では電子取引の導入が加速し、MarketAxess のようなプラットフォームは、特にグローバルの社債やエマージングマーケット債の取引実績を向上させています。 2023 年には、アジアの投資家の 56% がすべての資産で電子取引を利用し、10 年前の 36% から大幅に増加しており、この成長は電子取引が提供するコスト効率、情報の透明性、流動性への容易なアクセスが原動力となっています。 現在、日本を拠点とするお客様の中には、一件ごとの Request-for-Quotes（RFQs）の取引から、プラットフォーム上で全取引の約 70% を自動化するまでに発展したケースも見られます。電子取引という最初のハードルを越えると、その利点を理解し、取引のスケジューリングや自動化など、より高度な使い方を模索し始めます。これとは対照的に、電子取引の導入をためらう多くのトレーダーは、より基本的でマニュアル的なワークフローに固執する傾向があることも分かっています。その結果、日本における債券の電子取引の活用には大きな隔たりが生じており、市場内での電子取引の導入レベルと洗練度の差が浮き彫りになっています。 #### OMSとの統合 電子取引ツールを注文管理システム（OMS）と統合することで、注文の詳細、コンプライアンス要件、リアルタイムの約定データ、プライス、流動性指標を一つのビューに統合し、ワークフローと取引結果を劇的に改善することができます。 MarketAxess プラットフォームは、グローバル市場のほとんどの OMS と統合されていますが 2024 年の初めには野村総合研究所（NRI）の有価証券の受発注管理システム SmartBridge Advance（SBA）との統合に成功しました。今回の統合により、この OMS を利用している日本の投資家も Open Trading から自動執行まで、当社の電子取引およびデータパッケージをフルに活用できるようになりました。 システム化された取引ワークフローは、人為的なミスも劇的に減らすことができます。取引コスト分析 (TCA) のような分析ツールは、トレーダーがコスト削減の機会を特定するのに役立ち、自社の顧客や投資家に対するコミュニケーションやプレゼンテーションを強化するための、より強固なデータを提供することができます。 #### ディーラーとのリレーションシップへの影響 日本の債券ディーラーは人間関係に基づく取引を好む文化的背景もあり、電子化を受け入れることを躊躇してきました。Coalition Greenwich の調査によると、日本のクレジット・フローの取引の決定要因は 41% がディーラーとのリレーションシップを決定要因に選び、約定の質に基づいて決定するとの回答は 27% という結果でした。 しかし、当初の懸念にもかかわらず、電子取引はディーラーとの関係の重要性を低下させているわけではありません。日本のバイサイドとセルサイド両者との会話から、電子取引が提供する新たな選択機能とワークフローの効率化によって、トレーディング・デスクがより良い業務を行えるようになり、最終的にディーラーとの関係がより良いものになることが明らかになりました。 #### 課題の克服と好機の特定 日本の投資家は米国債の最大の保有者であり、2023 年末の投資総額は 1.1 兆ドルに達しています。それにもかかわらず、外貨建て国債を電子的に取引している日本の投資家はわずか 27% に過ぎず、想定元本の 26% が画面上で実行されており、電子取引の導入には大きな成長の余地があることを示しています。 • 文化的な理由： 日本の債券ディーラーはリレーションシップを重視した取引を好みますが、米国や欧州で見られるように電子取引はトレーダーが市場の洞察に集中しマニュアルによる注文交渉を減らすことでリレーションシップを強化することができます。データやアルゴを活用したプレトレード・ツールを利用することで、顧客はマニュアル（ボイス）または電子および自動で取引する債券を簡単に振り分けることができるようになり、顧客もディーラーも時間をより効果的に配分できるようになります。 • オンボーディング・コスト： オンボーディングとインテグレーションは依然として大きなハードルがありますが、電子化のメリットは明らかです。ワークフロー効率の向上や、大口注文を迅速かつ効率よく取引できることは大きなメリットですし、電子取引へのオンボーディングにかかるコストは、関係するシステムおよびその複雑さによって異なりますが、長期的なメリットはこれらの初期投資を上回り、変化の速いテクノロジーの進歩にあわせ常により安全で良いシステム環境を模索しているケースがほとんどです。 • 規制環境： 規制のさらなる明確化が導入の加速につながる可能性があります。欧米の規制当局が最良執行と情報の透明性に焦点を当てた規制を積極的に推進している一方、日本の規制環境はまだ発展途上にあります。投資家、 債券ディーラー、取引所との連携を強化することで、 電子取引を促進する環境が整う可能性が十分にあります。 日本の債券市場は大きな変革の時を迎え、需要の高まりとテクノロジーの進歩に伴い、投資家にとっての機会は大きく広がっています。当社のホワイトペーパー「The Evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan（日本におけるグローバル債券取引の進化）」は、こうした変化とその可能性について貴重な洞察を提供しています。 このような時勢をより深く理解するために、ぜひレポート全文をご覧ください。 [ホワイトペーパーを読む](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper-japanese) #### MarketAxessがどのようにお客様をサポートできるかをご紹介いたします。 [コンタクト](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia) [コンタクト](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia) ### Related content #### White paper: The Evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) --- # How trades move markets: a data driven exploration of market impact Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-trades-move-markets-a-data-driven-exploration-of-market-impact #### Executive Summary - Market impact is measurable and manageable. It is driven by liquidity, size, and execution choice. - Median post-trade impact is 13% of the bid-ask spread in US HG and 11% in EUR IG. - Liquidity matters most: low-liquidity US HG bonds show nearly twice the median impact of high-liquidity bonds. - Size matters but not indefinitely: impact rises up to about $2 million, then largely plateaus. - When market interest aligns with the trade, post-trade price impact tends to be amplified; when it runs counter, the impact is often muted. - All-to-all trading such as Open Trading®, does not incur the information leakage cost many assume; broader liquidity access does not appear to drive a proportionate increase in market impact. #### Introduction Market impact is commonly seen as the unavoidable cost of revealing trading intent. Every trade signals information to the market, and that signal helps form the next price. The assumption is that the more broadly a trade is distributed, the more the market learns, the more prices are expected to move. It suggests a trade-off between access to liquidity, price competition, and information leakage. This shapes how traders think about counterparty selection, potentially confining how widely they send inquiries and how much competition they invite. But analyzing the data more comprehensively tells a different story. It shows that market impact is not primarily determined by information leakage associated with broader distribution. It is driven first by liquidity, then by trade size, and finally by execution choice, with prevailing market conditions such as market skew further influencing outcomes. Additionally, the penalty for broader distribution is often smaller than traditionally expected. In many cases, expanding access to liquidity, including through Open Trading, does not meaningfully increase post-trade price movement. Counterparty selection, then, need not be constrained. It can be used as an important tool to balance competition and the dissemination of trading interest. #### Methodology To measure impact, we need a benchmark that updates frequently and reflects where the market is trading in real time. We use CP+™, our AI-driven pricing model, because it provides 99% coverage across the relevant universe and refreshes every 15 seconds on average. Our measure looks at the move in CP+ mid spread in the minutes after each trade, 30 minutes unless otherwise noted. We isolate the price component of spread changes so the result reflects the effect of the trade itself rather than broader benchmark moves. We then sign the move so a positive value represents movement in the direction of the trade, tightening for buys and widening for sells. I = (Spread+n − Spread0) * −DV010 Bid_Ask_Spread0 * Sign The sample includes 186,000 US High Grade trades and 52,000 EUR Investment Grade trades executed on MarketAxess in H2 2025. It covers notional sizes from $150,000 to $25 million and only includes trades executed within one bid-ask spread of CP+ (see Appendix for additional details). #### Measuring impact Trades do move markets. In the 30 minutes before a trade, prices can move by as much as 33% of bid-ask spread, but the median move is 0%. After the trade, the distribution shifts meaningfully: post-trade moves reach 76% in US HG and 62% in EUR IG, with median moves of 13% and 11%, respectively. The takeaway: post-trade repricing is real, measurable, and distinct from normal market noise. How to Read: The visual below displays the median impact of trades relative to their trade time. The bands represent the middle 45th to 55th, 35th to 65th, 25th to 75th, 15th to 85th and 5th to 95th percentile of trade impact outcomes. Collectively, they represent the distribution of post-trade price movements by timestamp. ##### US HG median impact relative to trade time ##### EUR IG median impact relative to trade time How to Read: Rows show trade outcome percentiles; columns indicate time relative to execution. For example, 5% at +30m means 5% of trades move more than 34% against the trade in 30 minutes, while 95% shows 5% move more than 76% in favor. ##### US HG | -30m | -15m | Trade time | +15m | +30m | 5% | -36% | -25% | 0% | -30% | -34% | 25% | -10% | -7% | 0% | -4% | -5% | 50% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 13% | 75% | 9% | 6% | 0% | 32% | 35% | 95% | 32% | 22% | 0% | 72% | 76% | ##### EUR IG | -30m | -15m | Trade time | +15m | +30m | 5% | -35% | -28% | 0% | -23% | -28% | 25% | -9% | -7% | 0% | -2% | -2% | 50% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 10% | 11% | 75% | 7% | 6% | 0% | 24% | 27% | 95% | 32% | 25% | 0% | 53% | 59% | #### Liquidity Liquidity is the strongest predictor of market impact. When the bond is harder to trade, the market moves more to absorb the transaction. In US HG, bonds with a low Relative Liquidity Score of 1-3 show a median impact of 19% of bid-ask spread, versus 11% for bonds with a high score of 8-10. In EUR IG, the gap is smaller but still visible at 12% versus 10%. The same pattern appears even more clearly in Tradability, our AI-driven response count prediction solution: bonds expected to receive fewer than five responses show a median impact of 18% in US HG and 12% in EUR IG, while bonds likely to receive more than ten prices back show 10% and 9%, respectively. The difference is more pronounced in US HG because the liquidity spread between the easiest and hardest bonds to trade is wider. In US HG, bonds with a liquidity score of 1 have a median CP+ bid-ask spread that's 10.9x wider than those with a score of 10. In EUR IG, that gap is 3.7x. How to Read: The charts below illustrate the median impact (as a percentage of bid ask spread) by liquidity profile across different time deltas. ##### US HG median impact relative to trade time by RLS bucket ##### EUR IG median impact relative to trade time by RLS bucket ##### US HG median impact relative to trade time by tradability bucket ##### EUR IG median impact relative to trade time by tradability bucket #### Trade size Trade size plays a significant role in market impact, with larger deals typically causing greater disruption. However, this effect diminishes in transactions above $2 million in notional size. Trades with less than $500,000 in notional volume typically have a median impact of 13% of the bid-ask spread (10% in EUR IG). For trades between $1 million and $2 million, the median impact increases to 16% (13% in EUR IG). Transactions exceeding $2 million see an impact of 19% in US HG (13% in EUR IG), which remains consistent for larger trade sizes. This plateau can be partially attributed to what information about trades are revealed to the entire market. US HG trades are reported to TRACE, meaning the market (CP+ included), receives trade information from this source. US HG trades are capped at $5 million notional in TRACE. This results in all trades over $5 million having the same informational footprint from the TRACE tape, except to the parties invited to the inquiry. However, the minimal difference in impact between $2 million and $5 million trades, where the true size of the trade is disclosed, indicates that increasing volumes beyond $2 million do not substantially increase market disruption. In EUR IG, trade tapes are not as common, resulting in less transparency around trade volume. This is likely to contribute to the reduced variation in market impact across volume in EUR IG. In summary, while larger trade sizes do tend to have more influence, their effect may be less significant than anticipated. ##### US HG median impact relative to trade volume by volume bucket ##### EUR IG median impact relative to trade volume by volume bucket #### Market skew Execution quality depends not just on bond liquidity, but on which side of the market already shows interest. Market impact increases when one side shows strong interest, as measured by our Tradability skew, the gap between bid and offer predictions. When a trade aligns with the prevailing skew, indicating strong interest from one side, the average effect rises to around 17% of the bid-ask spread in US HG and 13% in EUR IG. In the absence of skew, the average impact drops to 13% in US HG and 11% in EUR IG. Conversely, trades executed against the skew experience a reduced average impact of 8% in both US HG and EUR IG. When the market is already leaning one way, trading into that imbalance is materially more expensive than trading against it. ##### US HG median impact by tradability skew and trade side ##### EUR IG median impact by tradability skew and trade side #### Counterparty selection Broader distribution does not appear to carry the market impact penalty many investors assume. Counterparty selection is a real execution lever because it shapes the trade-off between price competition and information leakage. But the trade-off is not binary. The data suggests traders can often widen access to liquidity without paying a proportionate cost in post-trade repricing. On average, adding three counterparties is associated with roughly 1% of bid-ask spread in extra price improvement, which means broader distribution can create real competitive value. Just as important, the impact cost remains contained. In US HG, including the Open Trading liquidity pool on an inquiry already being sent to a list of disclosed dealers produces roughly the same median post-trade price movement as sending it to just a disclosed dealer list. In EUR IG, the pattern is similar: median post-trade movement is about 10% of bid-ask spread when sent to fewer than 10 disclosed dealers, and about 13% when sent to more than 10 dealers — the same 13% observed when Open Trading is included. The takeaway: access to all-to-all liquidity is not the market impact penalty box. For many trades, it can expand competition without meaningfully changing the repricing outcome. ##### US HG median impact relative to trade time by OT/DD status & invited dealers ##### EUR IG median impact relative to trade time by OT/DD status & invited dealers #### Conclusion Market impact is real, but it is hierarchical. Using CP+ as a high-frequency benchmark, this analysis demonstrates a consistent post-trade drift in the direction of the liquidity taker. It is driven first by liquidity, then by size, and then by execution choice, with the information leakage cost of all-to-all trading smaller than commonly assumed. That matters because liquidity and size are observable before a trade happens. Traders can use liquidity signals such as our Relative Liquidity Score and Tradability to better judge where impact is likely to be highest, how broadly to distribute an inquiry, and when stronger competition is worth the risk of signaling intent. Execution strategy should adapt to the expected impact profile of the trade. Smaller and more liquid trades can often support broader competition. Larger and less liquid trades may still call for more selective distribution. The takeaway is clear: worries around information leakage should not deter traders from accessing all-to-all price competitiveness. Ultimately, market impact is primarily driven by liquidity, trade size, and market conditions with the size of the liquidity pool being less of a concern. #### Research note Using CP+ as a benchmark does have an important limitation. The model incorporates the traded level into its next prediction, so wide trades tend to pull the estimate wider and tight trades tend to pull it tighter. [CP+ Under the Hood](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-plus-under-the-hood-how-trades-and-inquiries-impact-pricing) explains this in more detail. In practice, trades still tend to push pricing in the direction of the transaction, even when they print tighter than CP+, validating our findings. Wide trades show a stronger effect because the model signal and the market signal reinforce each other, while tight trades create a conflicting signal. To isolate the market-driven effect rather than CP+ model adjustments, we filtered our sample only on trades where CP+ was within one bid-ask spread of the traded level. That helps ensure the moves we observe are driven more by market activity than by the model adjusting to atypical prints. ##### US HG impact by trade delta ##### EUR IG impact by trade delta The dataset, like CP+ as a whole, shows no bias towards wide or tight predictions, with both outcomes occurring equally often. This validates our methodology, as the CP+ features that adapt to traded levels respond similarly to widening and tightening across samples. We conducted this analysis on both US HG and EUR IG CP+ models, demonstrating that our results are consistent across markets and models. ### Related content #### Sourcing liquidity through a connected ecosystem [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/sourcing-liquidity-through-a-connected-ecosystem) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### AxessPoint: Tradability deep dive—insights powered by an enhanced liquidity metric [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-tradability-deep-dive-insights-powered-by-an-enhanced-liquidity-metric) --- # How US regulation can support evolving fixed income market structure Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/how-us-regulation-can-support-evolving-fixed-income-market-structure The following piece is a compilation of takeaways from our team based on discussions at the recent US FILS conference, where regulatory change and shifting market dynamics were leading topics. #### Highlights - Multi-protocol electronic trading is reshaping execution choice and reinforcing the need for a modern best execution framework. - Richer data and streaming prices are enabling greater buy-side participation in price formation, challenging rules designed for traditional liquidity providers. - Public and private credit convergence is driving demand for consistent pricing, valuation and disclosure frameworks. - Derivatives, tokenization and AI are testing regulatory boundaries and reinforcing the need for strong investor protection. - Targeted regulatory updates can reduce friction and improve efficiency while preserving market integrity. Technology and structural innovation have expanded what is possible in fixed income for the buy-side. Electronic trading, richer data and greater visibility are enabling asset managers, institutional investors and hedge funds to transform from price-taking, buy-and-hold investors into proactive liquidity providers. With daily fixed income trading volumes roughly twice those of equities, performance is consequential, and regulation is taking a more active part in the conversation. US policymakers are examining a wide range of issues, from Treasury clearing and private credit to transparency requirements and emerging technologies. The regulatory task is to stay at pace with evolution, focusing on targeted interventions that remove friction and improve outcomes where it matters most. The question for the buy side is: where can regulation evolve to support more efficient, transparent and resilient fixed income markets? #### In support of the price-making investor The buy side has historically played the role of price taker rather than price maker in fixed income. Institutional investors today use limit orders in approximately 70% of equity trading activity, actively contributing prices. In fixed income, however, that figure remains below 5%, indicating minimal price making. To help bring more buy-side firms directly into the pricing process, both the US Treasury and the SEC have encouraged all-to-all protocols that broaden participation in liquidity provision, particularly in less liquid conditions. Continued support for these models will be important as the market evolves. At MarketAxess, in addition to the use of our Open Trading all-to-all protocol, we are seeing some sizeable institutional investors use our pricing tools and data to express prices directly. A key driver behind this trend is that price is becoming data. Real-time feeds and continuous data consumption are now common in credit, providing an infrastructure to assess value, evaluate liquidity, and contribute prices. Investors who can see conditions more clearly are better positioned to participate in it more actively. #### Best execution frameworks need to reflect a multi-protocol environment Today's fixed income landscape spans portfolio trading, RFQ, all-to-all trading and single-dealer workflows, each playing a distinct role in liquidity access. That breadth of choice is changing how buy-side firms pursue and demonstrate best execution as part of their overarching fiduciary duties. Existing regulatory frameworks were built around a dealer-centric RFQ model, where outcomes were assessed through a relatively narrow set of price comparisons and dealer interactions. In a multi-protocol environment, execution quality is shaped by streaming prices, trade analytics, and highly distributed liquidity sources. As market data becomes more embedded in execution workflows, best execution is becoming more measurable and more data-driven. This creates an opportunity to revisit how execution quality is assessed and evidenced, so that regulatory standards better reflect the tools, data and execution protocols available to buy-side traders today. #### Affiliate cross rule modernization could reduce unnecessary costs Affiliate cross rules are a clear example of where legacy structure no longer matches reality. Many asset managers operate multiple funds with different investment mandates. When a bond is downgraded from investment grade to high yield, current requirements force those transactions out into the open market, even though they could simply be moved to another fund within the same complex. This can increase trading costs and operational complexity, with firms effectively paying the spread twice despite the availability of pricing data and valuation tools that could support fair internal crosses. Affiliate cross modernization is a high-impact, targeted change that could materially reduce transaction costs while using the transparency and pricing infrastructure that already exists. #### Public and private credit convergence Private credit has grown into a major asset class, with many buy-side trading desks now managing both public and private credit exposures. The two segments are converging through investment vehicles such as ETFs and closed-end funds that incorporate private assets alongside publicly traded securities. Industry participants and regulators are focused on developing appropriate frameworks for pricing private assets, determining valuation frequency and disclosing holdings in ways that protect investors while supporting broader access to private assets. The municipal bond sector offers a useful parallel. Although many municipal securities trade infrequently and can be difficult to value, we have developed robust pricing methodologies that support trading and investment activity. Similar advances in data, pricing models, public-market proxies and arbitrage relationships could help address transparency and valuation challenges in private credit. For regulators, the opportunity is to enable consistent disclosure and scalable pricing frameworks that support integration across public and private markets without constraining product development. #### Defining regulatory boundaries for new product innovations Recent developments in derivatives, such as the approval of bitcoin perpetual futures, have intensified discussion around how far these structures could extend into broader capital markets, including fixed income. Fixed income is fundamentally different from crypto in its role as core instruments for savings, funding and portfolio construction. Extending similar instruments into securities-linked products would raise important questions about leverage, suitability and retail participation. The core issue is retail exposure. Highly leveraged, continuously funded products sit uncomfortably close to gambling-style behavior when combined with 24/7 access and seamless distribution. That creates a clear regulatory fault line around suitability and investor protection. Regulation should ensure that innovation in product design does not move ahead of the protections that underpin investor confidence and market integrity. #### AI is accelerating innovation while testing existing regulatory frameworks AI is being embedded across fixed income trading and investment workflows, enabling new opportunities for automation, analysis and decision support. Regulators are becoming more comfortable with certain applications where firms can clearly explain how the technology operates and how outcomes are governed. With the use of AI moving closer to investment recommendations and client-facing activities, questions are emerging around accountability and fiduciary responsibility. Regulators and industry participants alike should assess how established standards of care and oversight apply. Firms adopting AI must ensure sensitive, proprietary and material non-public information is appropriately protected. The tools may be evolving, but expectations around data protection, confidentiality and responsible use should continue to apply. #### Looking ahead As fixed income evolves, regulation has to stay focused on what actually moves outcomes. The most effective regulatory updates are targeted and practical: modernized best execution standards, sensible reforms to the affiliate cross rule and continued support for buy-side participation in price formation. The goal is to keep friction out of the parts of the system where it no longer serves a purpose, and stay firm where investor protection depends on it. ### Related content #### Fed-day dynamics in a post-forward guidance era [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/fed-day-dynamics-in-a-post-forward-guidance-era) #### Sourcing liquidity through a connected ecosystem [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/sourcing-liquidity-through-a-connected-ecosystem) #### AI in fixed income: from fragmentation to intelligent execution [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ai-in-fixed-income-from-fragmentation-to-intelligent-execution) --- # Illiquidity Meets Intelligence: AI-Driven Price Discovery in Corporate Bonds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/illiquidity-meets-intelligence-ai-driven-price-discovery-in-corporate-bonds ## Illiquidity Meets Intelligence: AI-Driven Price Discovery in Corporate Bonds --- # Insights into Private Banking in Asia Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/insights-into-private-banking-in-asia We were recently awarded ‘[Best Trading and Execution Solution](https://asianprivatebanker.com/awards/technology-awards-2022/best-trading-and-execution-solution/)' at the Asian Private Banker Technology Awards 2023, and behind this great achievement is a tale of technological innovation, unwavering dedication, and customer-centricity. To understand more about our success, Erik Tham, Head of Product Management, Global Private Banking, and Nirav Doshi, Senior Sales Relationship Manager for Private Banks, delve into what this win signifies, explore trends within private banks and wealth managers in Asia, discuss the challenges they face, and share our strategies to support their growth. What are the key factors that have contributed to this achievement? Nirav Doshi: In essence, our success pivots on three pillars – liquidity, data, and efficiency. Our vast global credit fixed income liquidity pool and high-quality data have been crucial in empowering our clients' trading decisions, while our scalable workflow supports growth in the rapidly evolving financial landscape. How is MarketAxess meeting the growing demand for trading automation solutions? Erik Tham: Client trading automation objectives are clear–improving operational efficiency, reducing execution costs, systemizing opportunities for price improvement, and staying competitive in a sophisticated market. In response to the increasing demand for automation solutions, we help our clients leverage pricing and liquidity data with our AI-powered pricing engine [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) and integration into client order management systems. How will our latest enhancements influence users? Nirav Doshi: Each enhancement we introduce aims to improve user experience and trading results. For instance, our [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) all-to-all marketplace helps with liquidity discovery and cost-savings, [Axess-All®](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) Prints offering provides real-time price discovery, and the [Auto-X™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) tool enable traders to automate all or part of their trading execution workflow. What are some challenges faced by private banks in Asia, and how are we addressing these? Nirav Doshi: One notable challenge for private banking execution desks is the constant back and forth for information with relationship managers on where bonds are trading and the progress of an order. To help with this, we have pre-trade price discovery tools such as Axess All – a real-time intraday market data feed that provides aggregated volume and pricing for the most actively traded fixed income instruments in Europe and Asia – and [BondTicker®](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/bond-ticker) – which provides real-time secondary market data sourced from FINRA TRACE, [TraX®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data) and unique data from the MarketAxess platform. Erik Tham: Adding to Nirav’s point, our key solution for private banks, [Axess IQ®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/private-banking), has become their Swiss Army Knife in the world of trading. Much like a Swiss Army Knife, Axess IQ brings together a variety of tools necessary for modern trading into one compact, user-friendly interface. It can manage everything from pre-trade analytics to post-trade reporting, making it a comprehensive solution for private banking operations. By consolidating multiple execution tools into a single platform, we've also simplified the communication between relationship managers and trading desks, enabling client orders to be handled more efficiently than ever. This efficiency is more than just about speed; it's about giving our clients back their time. Nirav Doshi: Indeed, the beauty of Axess IQ is not just in its comprehensive nature, but also in its ability to save precious time. In our industry, time is more than a commodity—it's an invaluable asset. Every second spent navigating through different systems or waiting for updates is a second not spent on strategizing, advising clients, or developing the business. Axess IQ is not just a tool; it's a strategic asset that optimizes one's most precious resource – time. Want to learn more about our Private Banking solutions? [Talk to the team today](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/private-banking-axess-iq-contact-us). ### Related Content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Introducing DealerAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/introducing-dealeraxess #### Combining the best of liquidity and white glove service. After 25 years of working for traditional IDBs and in sales trading roles, I had a front-row seat to the inefficiencies in the dealer-to-dealer markets. Why aren’t dealers interacting with each other the way they do with the buy-side? Why hasn’t electronification reached the same levels of the dealer-to-client models? In this blog series, I’ll explain why I left the IDB world for electronic trading, and I’ll discuss the benefits it unlocks for the global dealer community. I’ll start by looking at liquidity. As I started to see liquidity move away from traditional avenues of voice trading via IDBs, I knew the next step in my career was to join the revolution and move to a leading electronic platform. I’m pleased to be a part of the newly formed DealerAxess team at MarketAxess. The purpose of the DealerAxess team is to help you tap into larger pools of liquidity than with your IDBs. Through anonymous RFQs and mid-price matching sessions you can unlock liquidity and save money. Our DealerAxess team works closely with our Open Trading® and Dealer Sales desks to help you understand how to get more out of our dealer liquidity protocols. Our two flagship dealer protocols are Dealer RFQ (DRFQ) and Mid-X. Dealer RFQ is an agile way of offloading unwanted risk and finding new opportunities in the market and connects you to our unique Open Trading liquidity pool—the world’s largest for corporate credit. This network is larger and more diverse than traditional IDB networks. In addition to including the traditional interdealer network you’re familiar with, Open Trading enhances this liquidity pool with the addition of non-dealer counterparties. This additional liquidity is game-changing as 25% of trades are executed with a non-dealer counterparty. This diversity of choice leads to better prices and liquidity, even when markets are volatile. Mid-X is our session matching protocol that runs on our award-winning predictive pricing engine, CP+™. By running through the Open Trading network, Mid-X brings together a large community of sell-side and ETF liquidity providers to participate in the session and intelligently optimises for matching possibilities. Mid-X gives you an alternate liquidity channel and its anonymity means there will be no information leakage. There are lots of exciting developments coming exclusively for our dealer community. In the next blog, I will discuss how the DealerAxess team provides a hands-on service for dealers. ### Want to learn more about how you can trade more competitively? [Contact us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Related Content #### More than just a platform [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-than-just-a-platform) #### Delivering value for Dealers [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/dealers) #### Your digital trading partner [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-dealer-axess-brochure-web) --- # Investor appetite for Asia local markets bonds sets to grow in 2022 amid yield and stable outlook Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/investor-appetite-for-asia-local-markets-bonds-sets-to-grow-in-2022-amid-yield-and-stable-outlook The story for emerging Asia local market debt in 2021 was one of ups and downs. After a brief hiatus in 2020, yield-hunting investors poured into the region for most of the first half as concern about the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. Yet towards the end of the second quarter, such optimism gave way to renewed uncertainties over a resurgence of cases and their potential impact on regional governments’ fiscal and monetary policies. To add to the gloom, since July the Chinese credit market has been rocked by the debt crisis at one of the nation’s largest developers, leading to investor worry that it may spill over to the rest of the property market or even drag down the entire economy. Despite the bumpy ride, on the whole Asia local currency bonds recorded a solid growth year in trading volume in 2021. Data gathered by the MarketAxess platform shows that those markets with more stable economic outlook and fiscal positions have remained attractive to global investors. Korean Won (KRW) was the top gainer among all Asian local currencies on our platform with a 254% jump in volume for the full year. Singapore Dollars (SGD), another relatively stable currency, has overtaken Thai Bhat (THB) as the third-biggest Asian local market with an 86% YoY increase. Malaysia Ringgits (MYR) remained our biggest market, having expanded 36%. Thailand was the laggard with a comparatively modest 5.7% gain, as the reliance on international tourism made its economy more susceptible to pandemic-related travel restrictions and social distancing rules. Looking ahead at 2022, we expect trading activities of Asian local currency bonds will gradually shift back to their pre-pandemic patterns. Our data from Q4 of 2021 seems to support this view - other than Thailand, all our major Asian emerging markets posted at least 20% YoY growth, shrugging off concerns over the Omicron variant. Preliminary numbers gathered from the first few weeks of this year also resembled those of a typical January, which is often characterized by a flurry of activities as traders return to work from the holiday season. On the other hand, what is likely to dominate the agenda of emerging Asian market investors this year is the increasing expectation of aggressive policy tightening by the U.S Federal Reserve, and how that may weaken the prospect of local currencies and strain regional governments’ ability to borrow. Looking at the Renminbi (RMB), reports in January suggested that the People’s Bank of China has been stepping up effort to avert a messy collapse of Evergrande, the once mighty Chinese developer which has been on life support for months. The central bank in mid-January trimmed its key lending rate for the second time in a month after the Chinese government announced weak fourth-quarter economic data. With the prospect of a prolonged period of monetary easing, RMB bonds will likely remain attractive to foreign fund flows, especially as the U.S. Fed takes the opposite path. In fact, aside from a slight dip in March, foreign holdings of domestic Chinese bonds have expanded in every month of 2021, reaching 4 trillion RMB (US$632 billion) in December, according to Bond Connect data. As we wrote in this same blog series last year, global investors are now considering exposure to Asian bonds to be crucial, because of their relatively attractive yields and also the region’s more stable economic outlook compared to other emerging markets. As an innovator in trading technology, we will continue to invest in new solutions to help Asia attract greater global fixed income investor participation. Our launch last year of Bond Connect and CIBM Direct to access China’s onshore debt market was a major step for us towards building an even more comprehensive local markets’ product offering for our users – we now cover 28 local markets globally and there’s more to come. Stay tuned. Please note that this article was written before the events that are currently unfolding in Ukraine. The author notes that these events will certainly play a significant part in the shape of EM markets through 2022, including Asia local markets. We would expect to update our outlook accordingly early in the second quarter. ### Learn more about Asia Local Markets [Read More](https://back.mktxwebsite.io/trade/asia-local-markets) ### Related content #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) --- # It’s time to start thinking like a regulator Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/its-time-to-start-thinking-like-a-regulator In financial markets, asymmetry of information is commonplace. With banking regulations like Brexit, CSDR, and SFTR all in the rear-view mirror, European National Competent Authorities (NCAs) are turning their attention to increasing regulatory scrutiny over data quality of regulatory reporting. When it comes to evaluating the quality of your reported data, NCAs have a distinct information advantage – they have access to every firm’s reporting data; you only have access to yours. Regulators can benchmark the quality of your reporting against your peers, meaning they can spot potential errors you didn’t know you were making. Data quality and accuracy have always been a hot topic for regulators since MiFID I in 2008, but recently they have started making more noise about it. In the last few weeks, Luxembourg’s CSSF published their wide-ranging review into Article 26 reporting1 , and in the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently announced they have allocated £3.5m to find better techniques to evaluate reporting data – not long after they invited Regtech/Suptech firms into their offices for several “showcase days”2. What does this focus on data quality mean for you? In short, it means regulators will get smarter about analysing reporting data and, with this increased scrutiny, will likely find new errors not discoverable by typical front-to-back controls. Persistent errors risk creating a two-fold impact for firms: first, they are expensive (monetarily and reputationally); and second, with the introduction of the Senior Managers Certification Regime, they can impact you individually. Senior managers now need to have utmost confidence they have adequate controls in place to catch errors. There is no doubt that regulatory scrutiny is growing, and while this is good collectively for the market, for individual actors it poses a continued challenge. To meet that challenge, firms need to be thinking about data in the same context as the regulators – developing tools and processes for real-time surveillance of the entirety of their reporting output or streams. However, from our experience working with 100s of firms across Europe, internal controls appear to be reaching the limit of how far they can improve. There is only so much you can do to validate your own data. Without the benefit of seeing how others are reporting it, it is tough to keep iterating. To compound the issue further, ever tightening budgets across the industry make it even harder to innovate in-house. With these two constraints in mind, partnering with an innovator who offers new techniques to common challenges across multiple regulatory regimes is fast becoming the only viable approach versus traditional in-house solutions. Stay tuned for our next blog to see how MarketAxess Post-Trade is building a solution to tackle this challenge. 1[https://www.cssf.lu/en/2022/02/monitoring-the-quality-of-transaction-reports-received-under-article-26-of-mifir-2/](https://www.cssf.lu/en/2022/02/monitoring-the-quality-of-transaction-reports-received-under-article-26-of-mifir-2/) 2[https://twitter.com/TheFCA/status/1459172214033592327](https://twitter.com/TheFCA/status/1459172214033592327) --- # L'avenir de la négociation des titres à revenu fixe passe par l'automatisation intelligente Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/l-avenir-de-la-n-gociation-des-titres-revenu-fixe-passe-par-l-automatisation-intelligente MarketAxess a pour mission d'optimiser les travaux de négociation et les ressources technologiques en améliorant et en élargissant notre suite Auto-X™ de protocoles d'automatisation. L'e cacité de notre RFQ Auto-X classique (lancé en 2018) est attestée par la croissance impressionnante du volume de transactions auto-exécutées, qui a dépassé 1.000 milliards en début d'année. Nous voyons également plus de Les entreprises et les négociants qui adoptent nos protocoles d'automatisation sont de plus en plus nombreux, de nombreux clients se tournant régulièrement vers Auto-X RFQ pour plus de 90 % de leurs volumes de transactions. Les traders qui adoptent très tôt des approches fondées sur des règles sont les mieux placés pour récolter les fruits de nos solutions innovantes d'automatisation du travail et pour aider à concevoir le produit en fonction des plus grands ensembles d'opportunités. Notre objectif est de continuer à simplifier les tâches des traders pour leur donner une longueur d'avance sur la concurrence, alors que les structures du marché continuent d'évoluer. Adaptive Auto-X, un système d'acheminement intelligent des ordres (SOR) qui interagit avec la liquidité naturelle et les changements de marché pour aider les clients à mettre en œuvre leurs stratégies de négociation à travers un éventail de protocoles, est le dernier ajout en date pour aider à rationaliser les travaux de négociation. Adaptive Auto-X joue le rôle de Le système nerveux central des stratégies de trading, avec nos protocoles, nos sources de données et nos pools de liquidités qui facilitent le trading, agissant comme des terminaisons nerveuses. Tout comme le cerveau coordonne les fonctions du corps, Adaptive Auto-X met en œuvre les instructions d'ordre d'un trader avec des données de prix en continu, des signaux de trading de frontière et des mesures calibrées basées sur le risque pour aider à déterminer la stratégie de trading optimale pour un objectif client donné. De la même manière que le système nerveux réagit à des stimuli externes, Adaptive Auto-X s'ajuste dynamiquement pour gérer la volatilité et l'évolution des conditions sur le marché des produits à revenu fixe - ce qui inclut la mise en pause ou le retrait des transactions jusqu'à ce que les marchés se stabilisent. Il exploite divers types d'algorithmes d'exécution, certains axés sur la recherche de liquidité, d'autres mettant l'accent sur la certitude d'exécution, ou même des stratégies passives axées sur la négociation avec des contreparties naturelles. L'Auto-X adaptatif permet aux traders de traiter leurs propres ordres dans plusieurs simultanément, sans avoir à intervenir manuellement dans chacun d'entre eux. Par exemple, la capacité de participer automatiquement à notre protocole de carnet d'ordres Live Markets par le biais de sessions de travail multipartites (MPW) et d'appariement LMM Live Markets Match (LMM) sans aucun supplémentaire de la part du trader. Adaptive Auto-X s'appuiera sur notre protocole Auto-X RFQ si nécessaire, et affichera également sur Live Markets si cela est possible, ou s'engagera dans une session MPW et renverra des signaux pour toutes les tentatives où un accord n'est pas atteint. Cela permet à l'outil de faciliter une exécution transparente en capitalisant sur la liquidité disponible afin de garantir les meilleurs résultats possibles pour les clients tout en réduisant les coûts d'opportunité. Comme Adaptive Auto-X continue d'évoluer, en s'appuyant sur la profondeur des données de trading publiques et propriétaires qu'il accumule, MarketAxess continuera d'étendre ses algo o erings pour répondre aux besoins de nos clients et soutenir leurs stratégies de meilleure exécution. #### Pour plus d'informations, veuillez contacter Andrew Cameron at [ancameron@marketaxess.com](mailto:ancameron@marketaxess.com ) ### Contenu connexe #### Unlocking the automation suite of technology [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-the-automation-suite-of-technology) #### Introducing Adaptive Auto-X [Learn more](https://vimeo.com/876479881) #### Empowering traders through Auto-X [Watch the interview](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution/trader-tv-june-2023) --- # La négociation de blocs - Partie 1 | Analyse pré-trade et compréhension de la profondeur du marché Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/la-negociation-de-blocs-partie-1-analyse-pre-trade-et-comprehension-de-la-profondeur-du-marche Cet article est le premier d’une courte série d’articles d’AxessPoints traitant des avantages du trading de blocs plus important par voie électronique et de la façon dont nos outils et protocoles sont conçus pour optimiser l’exécution des ordres, quels que soient la taille, le sens (achat ou vente) ou le moment. #### Tradability: un indicateur de liquidité optimisé par l’IA Afin de bien choisir la méthode et le moment pour exécuter un ordre, il est primordial de comprendre la profondeur de marché d’une obligation donnée à un instant donné. Cela aide le trader à mieux juger des efforts nécessaires (faible ou forte intervention humaine) et du meilleur résultat probable dans toutes les conditions du marché. Tradability, lancé plus tôt cette année, fournit une mesure en temps réel unique de la profondeur du marché du crédit américain, ainsi que des obligations en euros et en livres sterling sur la plateforme MarketAxess. Cet outil génère une prédiction pré-négociation du nombre attendu de réponses, anonymes ou non, à une demande de cotation donnée en fonction de l’obligation, du sens (achat ou vente) et de la taille. En s’appuyant sur une plateforme de négociation exclusive très complète et des données de réponses historiques, il peut s’adapter rapidement à l’évolution des conditions du marché tout au long de la journée de négociation. Le score Tradability peut aussi servir de guide pour les coûts probables des transactions, en comparaison avec le CP+™ Mid. Le tableau ci-dessous explique tout cela de façon plus détaillée. Nous avons suivi les mesures de performance des demandes relatives aux titres américains de catégorie « investment-grade » (IG) au deuxième trimestre 2023, en fonction de la taille des ordres et des scores Tradability de ces ordres. Comme vous pourrez le constater, quand le score Tradability est supérieur ou égal à 5, les « hit-rates » pondérés en fonction du volume par demande passent d’une fourchette de 48% - 52% à une fourchette de 77% - 81% pour les tailles de transactions. Le pourcentage de transactions exécutées à un niveau égal ou supérieur à CP+ Mid augmente aussi d’environ 8%, toutes tailles confondues. Vous pouvez également observer que même avec des blocs plus importants, la liquidité des demandes de cotation (nombre de réponses reçues) est élevée si le score Tradability dépasse 5. Une autre analyse que nous avons menée séparément en 2022 a également montré que même si la volatilité augmente et que les écarts entre les cours acheteur et vendeur de CP+ se creusent, le nombre moyen de prix fermes retournés pour les blocs sur des requêtes plus importantes (>5 millions) reste constamment élevé (plus de 5). Cela est bien sûr en partie dû à la disponibilité de la réserve de liquidité all-to-all d’Open Trading®. #### Amélioration de la certitude d’exécution Aujourd’hui, Tradability est inclus à notre kit d’outils de détermination des prix CP+. Il est à la disposition de tous les utilisateurs, tant pour le crédit américain que pour les obligations en euros et en livres sterling. Bonne nouvelle pour nos clients américains : Tradability évolue et est désormais intégré à notre nouvelle interface utilisateur, en cours de déploiement aux États-Unis et spécifique au crédit américain (pour l’instant). Ainsi, Tradability est directement intégré à chaque élément, liste et transaction du portefeuille, avec des recommandations pour l’allocation des workflows en fonction de chaque score Tradability. Cela permet aux traders de mieux comprendre, au niveau des obligations individuelles et au niveau des paniers d’obligations de listes ou de portefeuilles agrégés, la probabilité d’exécution et l’impact de la profondeur du marché actuelle sur l’analyse des coûts de transaction. #### Fuites d’informations - Les défis liés aux transactions plus volumineuses Même si Tradability ne permet pas directement de résoudre les défis liés aux fuites d’informations lors des transactions volumineuses, cet outil aide les traders à mieux comprendre comment et où exécuter au mieux les ordres de toutes tailles et donc à optimiser les performances des transactions dans des conditions de marché typiques et volatiles. Pour en savoir plus sur Tradability et nos outils d’analyse pré-négociation, ou pour obtenir plus d’informations sur le développement de notre nouveau workflow de négociation et de nos outils d’exécution, envoyez un message à [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related Content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # LATAM Local Markets Outpacing Hard Currency Volume for Onshore Investors Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/latam-local-markets-outpacing-hard-currency-volume-for-onshore-investors As with most other emerging markets, Latin America has seen debts returning to the radar among investors this year. This is partly due to the U.S.’s near-zero benchmark interest rates that has sent them searching for yield premium, and also because of an abundance of liquidity as a result of significant fiscal spending by regional governments. The resurgent interest in fixed income is reflected in several indicators. In the primary market, the volume of cross-border bond issuance rose to $36.8 billion in the first half from $33.8 billion over the same period of 2020, as corporates including PEMEX and American Movil brought forward their refinancing plans to take advantage of the low-rate environment. For secondary transactions, data gathered from the MarketAxess platform offers an even more upbeat picture. Overall deal volume for LATAM clients in October posted an 91% year-on-year growth to a record, with Brazil and Mexico, two of our biggest regional markets, each reporting close to three-fold increases in activities. Yet as an innovator in trading technology, what’s more important for us is that there are now finally signs of structural changes in the fixed income market that could forever transform the way our clients and we do business. For the first time since we began operating in the region, we are seeing volume in local currency bond trading outpacing those of hard currencies among local onshore investors on our platform. This carries particular significance for LATAM because local currencies account for as much as 80% of bond trading activities in the region. Our data offers more detail into the strides we have made with clients in region. In each of the three quarters of this year we have recorded higher local currency trading volume than hard currencies, with an approximate 60-40 breakdown, and there’s no sign of the trend reversing in the foreseeable future. In addition, two accounts from each of Brazil and Mexico are now ranked in the top 10 in trading volume among all our local markets globally. Just like other emerging markets, the transformation is taking place because traders have begun to realize the enormous benefits electronic platforms bring to their roles. Due to cultural barriers, bond traders in most Latin American countries have been reluctant to migrate from voice trading for local currency bond execution. But thanks partly to business disruption caused by the pandemic, many of them have taken the down time to experiment with platforms such as ours. After experiencing the level of cost-savings and access to liquidity that can only be provided through electronic platforms, they are now more convinced of the importance of embracing trading technology. There are plenty of examples on how our technology is becoming more integral in the workflow among LATAM users, as products that have been instrumental in driving other emerging local markets growth on our platform are now also being adopted here. Two examples are our Request-for-Market (RFM) protocol, (up 42% YOY versus Q3 2020), which is our block-trading tool that allows investors to inquire and receive two-way pricing with no direction disclosure other than to the winning dealer, and our Switch Trading protocol, which allows the buying and selling of two securities in one package where one dealer takes it all. Another promising sign is that while it is bigger markets like Brazil and Mexico that are leading the way, in recent months even regional pension funds have started to adopt electronic platforms in their local currency trading. We continue to see adoption in e-trading in Peru and Chile, two countries that have traditionally been trendsetters among smaller markets, so we expect users in places such as Colombia to follow suit soon. Despite these encouraging trends, the adoption of electronic trading for LATAM local has a long way to go. The reality is that in many offices, most bond deals are still done via voice auction and the phone. In addition, it is worth noting that LATAM local currency bonds have gone through a bumpy ride over the past few months, as lingering COVID-19 threat and political instability in some countries have led some international investors to switch to the more stable US-dollar denominated assets, meaning there is still plenty of room for electronic trading to expand in the region both in the long and short term. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) [PDF Download](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/latam-local-markets-outpacing-hard-currency-volume-for-onshore-investors%20.pdf) --- # Liquidity under pressure: What oil shocks really do to HY energy markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/liquidity-under-pressure-what-oil-shocks-really-do-to-hy-energy-markets The return of oil toward $100 a barrel amid escalating tensions with Iran has triggered a familiar stress test for high-yield energy markets, where rising volatility is typically expected to erode liquidity. But recent trading data tells a different story. Liquidity has not disappeared during this period of stress — it has become more electronified, and more valuable to access if you know where to look. On the MarketAxess platform, high-yield energy volumes have increased meaningfully even as broader market activity softened, while the price impact of each additional dealer response has risen sharply. #### What the data actually shows The shift begins with where trading is actually occurring. In the 4 months leading up to the conflict, high-yield energy activity on MarketAxess averaged roughly $75 million in average daily volume. In March, that figure rose to more than $100M. Over the same period, overall high-yield energy volume across TRACE declined. Pre-war, the HY energy market saw $5.6bn in average daily volume (ADV) across 13,100 trades on average. Post-war, that has adjusted to an ADV of $4.2bn across 10,800 HY energy trades according to TRACE data. ##### HY energy ADV MoM #### Why liquidity fragmentation matters At the same time, the economics of execution have changed materially. Prior to the onset of volatility, each additional response in HY energy delivered roughly two cents of price improvement. Since the conflict, that figure has increased to closer to three cents per additional response. In practical terms, each incremental response is now more impactful — reflecting a market in which competition is more valuable as spreads widen and pricing becomes less certain. #### Counting on liquidity For HY energy traders, the message is clear: liquidity is still there, but it is less forgiving. As depth fragments and spreads widen, execution depends more on generating competition. The rise in response rates — from 6.4 to 7.4 per inquiry — translates into roughly 3 cents of improved execution, helping offset the cost of volatility. In oil-driven dislocations, liquidity is not just a market condition — it is a driver of performance. ##### Avg. HY energy responses per inquiry QoQ1 1 Note, before the conflict, each additional dealer response generated roughly ~2c of price improvement (TCA), and as mentioned, that figure post-war has increased to ~3c per additional response. #### The bigger takeaway Taken together, the data suggests a fundamental shift in how liquidity behaves under stress. Traditional indicators — lower overall volume, wider spreads — point to deterioration. But beneath the surface, liquidity is not vanishing. When volatility increases and liquidity decreases elsewhere, activity actually increases on our MKTX platform. In this environment, execution is no longer defined simply by access to liquidity. It is defined by the ability to generate competition. For high-yield energy traders, that distinction matters. As dealer balance sheets tighten and risk becomes more selective, the dispersion between strong and weak execution outcomes increases. Trades that attract multiple responses continue to clear efficiently, while others face materially higher costs. The result is a market where liquidity depth is no longer just a background condition — it is a direct driver of performance. In oil-driven dislocations, volatility does not eliminate liquidity. It raises the price of accessing it. ### Related content #### This is the High Yield Market [Read the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/high-yield-brochure) #### High Yield spotlight [See the QuickTake](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marketaxess_quicktake-highyield-electronictrading-activity-7444812062679003137-lXxw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAACbdJ7sBRNKR3nUSqVvwBA4sHew_dBtFdOk) --- # Live-Markets and the innovative hedge funds using it Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/live-markets-and-the-innovative-hedge-funds-using-it At a time when interest rates demand that funds perform, hedge funds are emerging as the new ‘liquidity begets liquidity’ bastions and with that they are seeking new, forward-thinking trading and data solutions. MarketAxess has observed this evolution across our businesses; when looking at trading protocols, some of the earliest adopters come from the hedge fund client base. Live Markets, MarketAxess’ order-book solution for credit trading, allows users to make firm markets as well hit/lift posted positions. Since its launch, hedge fund interactions with Live Markets has grown 275%. The functionality is often intuitive to the client base given the fact that the product often naturally suits their strategy processes. Now more than ever, the quality and prevalence of data is critical during every phase of the execution process. This is true when requesting quotes, but the nature and need alters when clients are looking to predominately provide liquidity – as the leveraged community, via Open Trading®, often is. Liquidity provisioning is at the heart of protocols such as Live Markets – we have ultimately seen a rapid growth in interest in our data solutions from hedge funds. In short, while the combination of insightful data and evolutionary protocols remains in vogue, accounts at the forefront of these changes no longer only reside in the traditional asset management community. The level of current risk-free returns affects all market participants, meaning the search for unique or unknown areas of alpha becomes ever more crucial. MarketAxess has built and continues to build products to support clients in this hunt – and hedge funds are capitalising upon it. ### Related Content #### UBS-AM case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # The Loan Lowdown: Volatility shakes out new sources of liquidity for Loan investors Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/loan-lowdown_volatility-shakes-out-new-sources-of-liquidity-for-loan-investors Entering the new year, the loan market felt like it was bullet proof. Supported by a hawkish environment, all time low default rates, retail inflows and a strong CLO bid had loans in the sweet spot of credit. Bid offer in the leveraged loan market had collapsed along with spreads, and accounts had difficult time sourcing paper in both primary allocations and the secondary market. In January the LSTA index reached its highest point in 15 years, however around mid-January, the softness in equities and other credit products leaked into the loan space. Concerns about recession and stagflation plagued all of leveraged finance and the crisis in Ukraine forced prices lower. The dealer community pulled back on taking risk and increased bid offer meaningfully. Additionally, the new issue market froze as new deals were pulled. On the MarketAxess platform volumes spiked as clients looked for liquidity in new ways. The Best to Cover Savings (BTCS) a measure of clients’ savings observable in electronic trading doubled from 11.9cents in January to 23.5cents in March. Fortunately, there has been a recent turn around in loan pricing buoyed by recent Fed rate hike. Of late the new issue loan market has thawed as well with Agents being able to price new facilities again. This volatility coupled with reduced dealer liquidity encouraged the buy side to source liquidity via a new venue in the loan space. ##### If you’d like to continue the conversation with Howard directly, drop him a line. ##### Email: [H](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) [cohen@marketaxess.com](https://www.marketaxess.com/Hcohen@marketaxess.com) | LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/hoco13](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoco13) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) --- # The Loan Lowdown: Volatility’s impact on Leveraged Loans Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/loan-lowdown_volatilitys-impact-on-leveraged-loans Since early April, the leveraged loan market has trended in one direction. Risk assets have continued to sell off this week, as Fed Chair Powell was firm in his commitment to get inflation under control, even to the extent that there may be some pain involved. Along with increased volatility, bid offer has widened materially creating more friction around trading. The increased cost of trading has encouraged investors to source liquidity from multiple dealers and lean into trading loans electronically. May is a top 3 leveraged loan volume month on the MarketAxess platform. The Best to Cover Savings (BTCS), a measure of clients’ savings observable in electronic trading, more than doubled to 33 cents from 14 cents in April. As the dealer community pulls back on taking risk, the notional ticket size for electronic trades continues to grow month over month. While electronic trading of loans is not for every trade, our list trading functionality offers a more streamlined process to execute multiple line items efficiently. Other benefits of moving from antiquated methods to trading loans electronically on MarketAxess include transparency and order management connectivity. Additionally, the recent volatility coupled with the material BTCS also continues to drive new client adoption in the loan space. ##### If you’d like to continue the conversation with Howard directly, drop him a line. Email: [Hcohen@marketaxess.com](mailto: Hcohen@marketaxess.com) | LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/hoco13](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoco13) ### Related Content #### The Loan Lowdown: Volatility shakes out new sources of liquidity for loan investors [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/loan-lowdown_volatility-shakes-out-new-sources-of-liquidity-for-loan-investors) #### A new normal for global credit market bid/ask spreads [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_a-new-normal-for-global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads) #### Block trade insights using the TRACE uncapped data set [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-Block-Insights-Using-TRACE-Uncapped-Data-Set) --- # Local Markets lead the way in 2022 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/local-markets-lead-the-way-in-2022 With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic receding and inflation becoming a key concern for global financial markets, central banks in emerging countries from Brazil to South Korea to South Africa began raising interest rates in 2021. Going into 2022, the adjustments made across many EM governments last year had international investors confident that these countries were well positioned for economic growth and had done enough to stifle further inflation. And even though the US. Federal Reserve expectedly followed suit in the first quarter, the higher yields have already led global fixed income investors to switch from hard currency bonds to EM local currency bonds in record numbers. Data gathered by MarketAxess illustrates the size of the inflow into local currency bond trading. For the first quarter, our platform posted a 22% YOY growth in total trading volume to a record $64 billion for all EM local currency bonds, extending the recovery that had started at the beginning of 2021. In addition to a record quarter, we posted a record month of $26 billion and a record day of $4.5 billion in just local market trading activity. Latin America remains our top region, with Mexican Peso bonds (MXN) retaining the spot as the most actively-traded local market globally at $11.3 billion, while Brazilian Real bonds (BRL) takes second place after posting a 26% YOY increase to $8.9 billion. Among the 28 local currencies covered by our platform, there has also been impressive growth outside of Latin America, with South Africa Rand bonds (ZAR) and Polish Zloty bonds (PLN) gaining 33% and 53% YOY respectively. At the same time, Asian local markets, a relatively newer area for MarketAxess and slower adopter of electronic trading solutions, have continued to build on the breakthrough last year when they grew to account for about a quarter of total global local market volume. Singapore Dollar bonds (SGD), Malaysia Ringgit bonds (MYR) and Indonesian Rupiah bonds (IDR) are now among the most actively traded local markets on the platform. Such development reaffirms our views that global investors now consider exposure to Asian bonds to be crucial because of their attractive yields and the region’s more stable economic outlook. These encouraging growth numbers on our platform coincide with several major developments in the broader market that could significantly impact local currency fixed income trading in the long run. On the positive side, J.P. Morgan in January added Egyptian government bonds back to its Emerging Market Bond Index (GBI-EM), nearly a decade after they were taken off. The inclusion, which came after years of effort by the Egyptian government to fulfil the bank’s requirement, could mean a significant expansion of investor base for the bonds as the index is tracked by many global funds as a benchmark for fixed income investment. Yet while investors welcome Egyptian bonds’ return to the GBI-EM, the removal of Russian debt from most global bond indexes following the country’s invasion of Ukraine sent further shocks through the global financial market. With various coupon payments from Russian OFZs nearing default, some analysts have indicated that bonds in India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are likely to benefit. Russian OFZs, which have historically accounted for almost 7% of the global LM index, were diluted to zero as of the end of March. At the same time, we have seen a pick-up in Asian local market currencies on the MarketAxess platform in March, with Asia assets accounting for almost 30% of the local market flow. While feeling excited by the increase in adoption of electronic platforms by investors trading local currency bonds, as a technology innovator, we are also deeply focused on investing in new solutions to meet the needs of different markets. For example, in the past few years we have built many trading tools and protocols to improve the efficiency of large-sized local currency bond transactions on our platform, and the results have been impressive. For 1Q, total volume of local market block trading, (deals larger than $5 million), were up over 39% YOY. More significantly, our client’s adoption of electronic solutions for flows $25 million and greater grew 112% YOY to $12.3 billion, while Request-for-Market (RFM) trading increased 48% to a record $17 billion during the first quarter. Even within each local market, we are also constantly improving our products and technology for our clients: the launch of our Switch Trading protocol last year allows clients to execute net risk contingent with a single dealer; the IRC workflow simplifies the trading of Korean Treasury Bonds, which was the first of its kind and helped drive the 300% growth in KTB trading on our platform; our China solution for both Bond Connect and CIBM Direct allow users to access the $14-trillion onshore debt market. All these were steps that we have taken towards building a more comprehensive global Local Market product offering and we will continue to build on in the future. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) [Download the PDF](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/local-markets-lead-the-way-in-2022.pdf) --- # Malaysia's MYR bond market gains momentum as institutional liquidity expands on MarketAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/malaysia-s-myr-bond-market-gains-momentum-as-institutional-liquidity-expands-on-marketaxess MarketAxess trading activity highlights the Malaysian ringgit (MYR) as one of the fastest-growing emerging market local currency bond markets on the platform in 2026, with participation accelerating across a broad range of offshore investors. The resulting mix of long-term investors, macro funds and dealers has created a diverse institutional trading ecosystem, supporting more consistent two-way trading and reinforcing Malaysia's increasingly prominent role within Asian local currency fixed income. Malaysia's local currency bond market is emerging as one of the more interesting success stories in Asia's fixed income landscape. As global investors continue to search for liquid, investable local currency markets offering both yield and stability, Malaysia has increasingly found its way onto the radar of both real money and hedge fund accounts. The backdrop has been constructive. Strong external fundamentals, including resilient external balances, a widening trade surplus and continued current account strength, have reinforced investor confidence in Malaysian assets. At the same time, Bank Negara Malaysia's decision to maintain its policy rate at 2.75% has provided investors with a stable monetary policy framework, while foreign demand for Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) has remained resilient despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding US rates, China's growth outlook and broader geopolitical developments. What is particularly notable is the breadth of offshore participation on MarketAxess. Flows have been driven by both real money and hedge fund investors, creating a healthy balance between long-term allocation flows and active relative value trading. Asset managers, insurers and pension funds have continued deploying capital into MGS and GII markets to capture attractive carry and benefit from Malaysia's stable macroeconomic backdrop. At the same time, macro and relative value hedge funds have increasingly used MYR markets to express views on BNM policy, Federal Reserve expectations, USD/MYR direction and relative value opportunities versus other Asian local markets such as Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. ###### MarketAxess: MGS B/S skews #### Malaysia is attracting diverse investor flows Interestingly, trading activity on MarketAxess suggests investors remain constructive on Malaysia, but not aggressively bullish. MarketAxess flow data shows positioning has remained relatively balanced across much of the curve throughout 2026, even during periods of elevated global volatility. The clearest trend has emerged in the short end of the curve. The sub-two-year sector has generally been more heavily offered than other parts of the curve in recent months, suggesting investors have become increasingly selective about front-end exposure as expectations for meaningful near-term rate cuts have perhaps diminished. Rather than reflecting a more cautious view on Malaysia, the trend appears consistent with a market that broadly expects BNM to remain on hold. With domestic growth holding up well and inflation remaining relatively contained, investors may see less upside in short-dated bonds and are increasingly looking elsewhere along the curve for opportunities. Beyond the front end, however, the picture remains considerably more balanced. The 2-7 year sector has been one of the most stable areas of the MYR curve, with buy and sell skews remaining tightly range-bound throughout the year. This suggests investors remain comfortable holding intermediate-duration exposure while avoiding large directional bets. That dynamic aligns closely with the broader macro backdrop. Malaysia's strong external position, resilient currency and attractive carry profile continue to provide support for local fixed income assets, while the diversity of participants on MarketAxess has contributed to consistent liquidity across the intermediate sector, helping prevent the kind of broad-based selling seen in some other emerging markets. The 7-10 year segment exhibits a similar pattern. Flows have oscillated between modest buying and selling, but without establishing a sustained directional trend. This type of activity is typically indicative of active two-way participation from both real money and hedge fund accounts, with investors expressing relative value views and portfolio allocation decisions rather than outright duration calls. #### Growing foreign participation supports the market One of the defining themes this year has been the continued presence of offshore investors. Malaysia offers a combination that many global investors find increasingly attractive: a relatively stable currency, positive carry, resilient economic fundamentals and a central bank that has maintained a predictable policy framework. Those characteristics have helped support demand for MGS across a range of investor types, contributing to a more active institutional trading ecosystem on the MarketAxess platform and to Malaysia's growing relevance within regional fixed income portfolios. Importantly, this support is not being driven by a single investor segment or macro theme. Instead, participation has been broad-based, spanning long-only investors seeking yield opportunities as well as macro funds pursuing relative value and cross-market trades. As participation has expanded, clients have benefited from a broader range of counterparties and active price discovery. That diversity of participation is often a hallmark of markets that are becoming more structurally important within global investment portfolios. #### Selective rather than aggressive duration extension Perhaps just as important is what investors are not doing. Despite supportive fundamentals, there has been limited evidence of aggressive extension into the long end of the curve. Activity in the 10-20 year, 20-30 year and ultra-long sectors has generally remained muted, suggesting investors continue to approach duration exposure with a degree of caution. That caution is understandable. Global investors continue to navigate uncertainty around the path of US interest rates, China's growth trajectory, tariff developments and ongoing geopolitical risks. Against that backdrop, many appear comfortable maintaining exposure to Malaysia while remaining selective about extending too far out the curve. The result is a market that appears healthy and balanced rather than crowded or one-sided. #### Why Malaysia matters Taken together, the flow data reinforces a broader narrative that is developing across Asian fixed income markets. Malaysia is increasingly being viewed as a market that combines stability, liquidity and attractive investment opportunities. A stronger ringgit, resilient external balances, stable monetary policy and sustained foreign participation have created conditions that continue to attract global investors. That evolution is reflected on MarketAxess. MYR has become one of the platform's fastest-growing emerging market local currency bond markets, supported by participation from asset managers, hedge funds, banks and other institutional investors. As participation has expanded, the institutional trading ecosystem on MarketAxess has deepened, supporting broader counterparty access, more consistent two-way markets, and active price discovery across the curve. ### Related content #### From macro signals to execution edge in fixed income [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/from-macro-signals-to-execution-edge-in-fixed-income) #### Asia Credit’s structural shift: What’s powering the market’s evolution [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/asia-credit-s-structural-shift-what-s-powering-the-market-s-evolution) --- # MarketAxess: A better match Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/marketaxess-a-better-match #### How is automation in credit markets moving beyond rules-based RFQ execution? Spencer Lee (SL): For a long time, automation in credit trading meant one thing: making RFQs faster. You’d send a request, apply a set of rules, and auto-execute based on the responses. That’s no longer where the market is. Traders are now able to execute with tools like Adaptive Auto-X™ (ADX), which is a shift towards intelligent orchestration. Orders don’t just follow predefined logic; they’re dynamically routed across protocols to make or take liquidity simultaneously. And importantly, that’s translating into real beneficial outcomes. Clients are executing tens of millions in a day by breaking trades into smaller components and working them across different liquidity and execution sources. Automation isn’t just about efficiency anymore, it’s about expanding what’s achievable. #### There’s been a push from some buy-side traders to engage with the market more passively to optimise bid-ask spreads, does that fit with what you’re seeing? SL: Absolutely. What used to feel like an outlier is becoming part of everyday execution. Protocols like Live Markets make it possible to passively interact anonymously with both buy- and sell-side liquidity. Posting interest, accessing axes, and allowing the market to come to you. That wasn’t always widely adopted, but the industry is catching up. Trader mindset has been a catalyst to this shift. They are no longer thinking in terms of which tool to use but instead they’re thinking in terms of how to combine those tools effectively. That’s where I think the industry still has work to do. As traders are given more protocol options, this also multiplies the number of decisions needed. The real opportunity is to reduce that complexity and streamline that decision-making process. What I’ve long advocated for is a “smart protocol chooser.” Not just routing orders but suggesting how to approach them in the first place, based on data and probability of success. That’s the ideal state. #### Beyond axes and algos, how can clients see matching more directly against liquidity in the platform? SL: The number of liquidity pools available to traders today has grown significantly—client-to-client matching, dealer axes, all-to-all RFQ, workups, auctions , and more. Individually, none of these protocols are new. What is new is the ability to access them together, in one execution platform, that is where the real advantage lies. There’s also been renewed interest in concepts like indications of interest (IOIs) to give clients a way to express intent more discreetly while still finding matches. It’s another example of how liquidity provision and liquidity seeking are starting to converge. What we’re focused on is surfacing those opportunities at the right moment for each trade. Not burying them in a workflow, but making sure traders see high-quality matches when they matter. Because in this environment, missing the right opportunity is often the biggest risk a trader may face. #### Can the matching process itself be improved? SL: Yes, definitely, and in two significant ways. First, I believe the surface area for matching has to expand materially. This is really about increasing the number of liquidity pools against which buyside orders or IOIs can be cross referenced. Of course, this has to be done with great care to guard against information leakage and then, additionally, we must also improve the hit rates by qualifying the trading interests. The next step is about moving beyond the individual bond level, towards matching more at the portfolio level that is based on broader risk attributes Historically, trading has been very CUSIP-specific, traders work on one order at a time, a list or portfolio trade of pre-defined cusips. But that doesn’t always reflect how risk is actually managed. Capturing the broader needs of moving bigger blocks of risk can often mean flexibility to accept a number of different cusips to satisfy a particular need, Trading technology has room to grow in this area and it is something that we work as one of the next areas for innovative growth. At the same time, when you’re working large blocks of orders, you need better ways to control how those orders interact with the market. That’s where the idea of a trading cockpit comes in. Instead of navigating multiple tools, traders should be able to: adjust aggressiveness dynamically, monitor progress across multiple orders simultaneously, and shift between providing and taking liquidity as conditions change. It’s less about executing a single trade and more about managing the posture of an entire book of risk. #### How does data fit into making that cockpit concept work in practice? SL: Data is central to this framework but only if it’s actionable. There’s no shortage of information available: continuous pricing, dealer performance, hit rates, historical outcomes. The challenge isn’t access, it’s cutting through the noise in a timely fashion to ascertain relevance. If that data sits in a report after the fact, it’s not helping the trader. It needs to be there at the point of decision, guiding how an order is worked. That’s the real opportunity. MarketAxess has various proprietary datasets that are applied across protocols and delivered to traders when they need it most, at the point of trade. The focus now is making sure that insight is embedded directly into the workflow so traders can make better decisions in real time. #### If you could redesign buy-side trading desk, what would you change? SL: I’d simplify it. Today, traders are navigating multiple protocols, multiple decisions, multiple workflows. But the direction of travel is clear. The most effective desks will treat liquidity provision as a core capability not an occasional tactic, consolidate access to liquidity through a single interface, and use their own trading data alongside market-wide insights to create a continuous feedback loop. Our goal isn’t more tools, it’s better orchestration of them. Ultimately what traders need isn’t more choice, it’s clarity on what to do, when to do it, and why it works. Originally published on The DESK | June 15, 2026 ©Markets Media Europe 2025 ### Related content #### More block trades are going electronic [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-block-trades-are-going-electronic) #### AI in fixed income: from fragmentation to intelligent execution [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ai-in-fixed-income-from-fragmentation-to-intelligent-execution) #### From fringe to familiar: The automation frontier in trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/from-fringe-to-familiar-the-automation-frontier-in-trading) --- # MarketAxess enhances dealer value through its new DealerAxess service Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/marketaxess-enhances-dealer-value-through-its-new-dealeraxess-service MarketAxess won the Best Sell-Side trading network category in this year’s Sell-Side Technology Awards, thanks largely to its recently launched DealerAxess offering. Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading® and DealerAxess, EMEA and APAC, MarketAxess discusses the thinking behind the launch, the benefits accruing to sell-side companies using the service and what is on MarketAxess’ radar in terms of future enhancements. #### MarketAxess recently launched DealerAxess, a new high-touch, dealer-initiated trading service. What prompted the launch of DealerAxess. What does the move mean for the dealer community, and what are its various trading protocols? Patrick Bailey: We launched DealerAxess late in the first quarter of 2024 in response to dealers’ changing demands and their increasing reliance on electronic trading—we wanted to make everything that clients already have available to dealers. We recognize it’s important that our clients are able to build out their dealer growth so, with DealerAxess, we wanted to create more parity for dealers regarding their access to liquidity and their ability to interact with our platform the same way clients do. We believe that, with the launch of DealerAxess, we are now meeting that demand. The initial focus of the DealerAxess expansion revolved around two core protocols: Dealer RFQs—dealers taking liquidity—and Mid-X, our mid-market matching session. There have been request-for-quotation (RFQ) protocols available to dealers for years, but the key differentiator for MarketAxess is its Open Trading network, which provides the best chance of optimizing execution. Traders have the ability and discretion through Open Trading to connect with clients and dealers, allowing them to access liquidity sources in multiple jurisdictions from anywhere in the world, on demand. Mid-X is fast becoming a preferred market protocol with dealers. We use CP+™, our Artificial Intelligence-powered pricing engine, as the strike level, which provides traders with the confidence that they are accessing true mid-market prices. We also added advanced risk controls with the growing presence of dealer algorithms, so you can confidently submit large numbers of orders across multiple sectors and maturity buckets. Having the security of a reliable mid-market price and the risk controls to prevent risk exposure in either direction provides comfort to our new participants, and syncs up nicely with where the matching session market is going. Mid-X is now worldwide, with matching sessions in Asia and Europe, and we are excited to be launching high-grade matching sessions in the US this month. With this, traders are able to have a “follow the sun” approach to mid-market matching sessions at the click of a button. #### DealerAxess is built on Open Trading’s liquidity network and combines advanced technology with a “white-glove service”. How can Open Trading be beneficial to the sell side, and why did MarketAxess feel that the interdealer broker (IDB) market needed to be disrupted? Patrick Bailey: In Open Trading, inquiries and trades are anonymized and they settle facing MarketAxess, allowing us to scale up the potential of trading to a level that is unmatched. As a result, the number one counterparty on the platform for the vast majority of clients is Open Trading, although it’s often a top counterparty for even the largest bulge-bracket dealers, too. If we’re going to be the number one counterparty, we’re going to have to provide the number one counterparty level of service—and that’s what DealerAxess sets out to achieve. With DealerAxess, we wanted to level up the experience dealers have with their more traditional sources of liquidity, such as sales desks and IDBs. We wanted to create a familiar trading environment for the dealers that they can engage with on a daily Winners’ circle: MarketAxess September 2025 [waterstechnology.com](http://waterstechnology.com/) Sell-Side Technology Awards Winner 2025 Patrick Bailey MarketAxess basis. We looked at how sell-side traders access their trading—if they’re trading with clients, they often talk to clients on chats throughout the life cycle of the trade and, if they’re trading with IDBs, they’re often on the phone with that broker throughout the trade. We’ve recreated that environment by having a desk-anchored service that provides point-of-trade support as well as pre- and post‑trade support. DealerAxess gives you real-time feedback at the point of trade, keeping dealers connected throughout the trade process. As a result, dealers can confidently partner with the DealerAxess team, leveraging a significantly larger network that spans multiple regions and jurisdictions, and scale their business to levels previously out of reach. We also understand that errors can occur during trading, and resolving them can be challenging when counterparties remain anonymous—our team brings extensive experience in handling these situations seamlessly. We have decades of direct market experience among the staff on our desks, as well as our Clearly Erroneous Trade Policy, which allows us to act quickly with impartiality. #### What’s next for DealerAxess and what new innovations can the market expect from MarketAxess? Patrick Bailey: MarketAxess has always been about creating a one-stop shop for traders and, as the landscape continues to evolve, so should we. We’ve made large investments in terms of platform infrastructure, notably the acquisition of Pragma, which will markedly increase trading velocity and versatility by modernizing the infrastructure behind our protocols. Automation will continue to evolve, especially on the dealer side. We’ve already launched automated client solutions, which help automate protocol selection to optimize execution. That will bring a number of advantages to dealer-algorithm trading desks as the volumes and numbers of ticket inquiries continue to rise. We’ll also be looking at cross-pollination of protocols, as we see the rise of portfolio trading and broader algorithmic trading from dealers. The ability for those traders to offset the associated risk—through on-demand dealer RFQs or Mid-X matching sessions, to the US where they can post to our central limit order book—should be quick and accessible for all dealers. One protocol we’re particularly excited about is Disclosed OpenTrading, or DOT, which allows firms to isolate trading counterparties on a name give-up basis within the Open Trading network by reducing it to as low as a single dealer. So, it’s really a disclosed protocol that utilizes our Open Trading settlement facility. This provides huge potential for client and dealer panel management, and it reduces know-your-customer and onboarding overheads, which we acknowledge are huge expenses for clients and dealers. So, there are lots of applications for that protocol, and it’s something we think will become even more relevant in the future. Originally published on [WatersTechnology](https://www.waterstechnology.com/awards-rankings/7952706/marketaxess-enhances-dealer-value-through-its-new-dealeraxess-service) | Sept. 16, 2025 ### Related content #### A conversation with Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading & DealerAxess EMEA & APAC [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-patrick-bailey-head-of-open-trading-dealeraxess-emea-apac) #### DealerAxess: More than just a platform [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-than-just-a-platform) #### DealerAxess: Your digital trading partner [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-dealer-axess-brochure-web) --- # MarketAxess expands Mid-X protocol Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/marketaxess-expands-mid-x-protocol MarketAxess has successfully launched an enhanced Mid-X protocol this past year, expanding its anonymous mid-point matching session, rolling it out for emerging markets and Eurobonds, and, more recently, for US Credit. As it is fast becoming a preferred market protocol with dealers, Steve Tait, Head of US Dealer Execution Business at MarketAxess explains what’s behind its growing success and what’s on the horizon for Mid-X and MarketAxess dealer solutions. #### Mid-X offers a unique protocol for dealer-to-dealer matching. How does it work? Mid-X streamlines interdealer matching with a one-step process that’s faster and more efficient than traditional approaches. The predominant protocol has been a two-step process: dealers first load their interest and wait for the system to indicate offsetting interest, then return to the platform where a mid-price is set, and they decide whether to attempt to match. Mid-X eliminates that back-and-forth waiting period. Users enter the platform, immediately see a mid-price, decide whether to submit to match, and MarketAxess matches at the end of the Submit window. A dealer could complete the entire process in under a minute if needed. One of the other benefits of Mid-X is an extremely reliable mid-level price. Mid-X is powered by CP+™, our award-winning, predictive pricing engine. Our CP+ mid-price is derived from real tradable levels, including US TRACE, TraX®, and RFQ inventory data — calibrated independently and objectively. It’s not just your average indicative mid-price, but one of the most accurate and reliable mid-pricing tools available in the market. #### Beyond speed and pricing, what other advantages does Mid-X offer? In addition to providing a true, best mid-price, our one-step process using CP+ stops information leakage by preventing participants from loading interest and then pulling it when they see offsetting interest. So, participants can join daily, anonymous, mid-point matching sessions using unbiased CP+ pricing levels. Our no-name give-up protocol reveals only the matched size, so dealers can confidently tap into a vast pool of liquidity without information leakage concerns. Dealers who do not commit firm risk do not get any color. Finally, Mid-X also minimizes risk — we’ve built in advanced risk controls that limit exposure to ensure users are not left with skewed risk positions post-session. Dealers can confidently submit large numbers of orders across multiple sectors and maturity buckets. #### Since relaunching Mid-X in the US, you’ve had a record month in September and a record quarter in Q3. Tell us more about the rollout and global adoption of the platform. Adoption has been strong and steady. We’re now live in the US, Europe, APAC, and CEEMEA. Outside of the US, we’ve doubled volumes YoY from 2024, and in the US, we have exceeded 2bn printed. This year, we’ve launched Asia, CEEMEA, and Swiss Mid-X sessions, and are running up to 6 times a day, with over 60 unique dealer firms having accessed the protocol. Dealers were looking for a different approach for mid-point matching — one that delivers shorter, faster sessions with precision pricing, no information leakage, and reduced risk. Mid-X provides dealers with easier access to liquidity, increased workflow efficiency, and a better tool to recycle risk. #### What’s next for Mid-X? We’re focused on two priorities: product enhancements and global expansion. On the technology side, we’re integrating Pragma technology as the backbone of our entire system and the foundation for the MarketAxess platform. This will enhance trading efficiency and deliver better execution quality. We are also upgrading the Mid-X user interface to X-Pro for enhanced workflows and customizable features. We will add API connectivity, which will allow algos and tech-savvy dealers to interact with our sessions. LATAM would be a natural next region of expansion, given we already have local presence via our LiveMarkets and LiveMarkets Match. #### How does MarketAxess support dealers using Mid-X? Mid-X is backed by our DealerAxess team, a dedicated ‘white-glove’ service to line traders to bring more liquidity to the platform and facilitate trading. It’s a global team of market specialists with decades of combined experience in trading, sales, broking, on-desk operations, and settlements. They provide comprehensive, high-touch support throughout the trading journey, from pre- to post-trade. The team gives dealers real-time feedback at the point of trade, keeping them connected throughout the trade process. As a result, dealers can confidently partner with the DealerAxess team to leverage a significantly larger network that spans multiple regions and jurisdictions, scaling their business to levels previously out of reach. #### You spent more than 25 years at JPMorgan, in several senior roles in global credit trading and electronic trading, most recently as executive director of global credit trading, overseeing systematic market making and algorithmic trading. Now at MarketAxess, you’re developing liquidity solutions for dealers in credit markets. What has been the biggest change you’ve seen in your career, and where do you see the market heading? The biggest change I’ve seen in my career has taken place in just the last five years, during which time we have seen an explosion of algorithmic trading and desks thinking about risk holistically. Dealers are implementing a more centralized approach to risk across trading desks and a more algorithmic, e-friendly approach to making markets. Pre-trade data quality and transparency is certainly increasing on both buy and sell side desks. The ability and willingness to stream and participate in electronic protocols is growing. Many of the major broker-dealers now have algos which price suggest, trade autonomously, and manage their own risk. Session trading is benefiting from these developments and is becoming increasingly automated and low-touch. As we move towards greater automation and more dealer participation, there could potentially be a world with continuous mid-point matching. #### What’s next for you at MarketAxess? I’m excited to be at MarketAxess, leading the charge for our dealer solutions, focused on developing products that will help dealers connect to clients, manage their risk, and generate profits in the credit markets. Mid-X is one part of that puzzle, but there’s more to come. We have another new product launching called Targeted Axes that I’m really enthused about. It’s another dealer-friendly solution that will help dealers trade more efficiently with their clients, with even more functionality. It will allow dealers to engage their clients with their firm, block axes, and manage the disclosed trade through to booking. #### MarketAxess CEO Chris Concannon has articulated a strategic focus on the dealer-initiated channel. How does Mid-X fit within that vision, and how is MarketAxess positioned to drive continued innovation and success for dealers? Mid-X is one in a portfolio of tools focused on enhancing dealer value. Within our dealer solutions ecosystem, dealers have continuous access to liquidity throughout the day in multiple ways; dealer-to-dealer via Mid-X, via Open Trading® with Dealer RFQ, Live Markets or Match, and soon, disclosed with their clients through Targeted Axes. With our strong history in Open Trading, the broadest range of liquidity options, our leadership position in the market, and our unmatched network, we’re uniquely positioned to lead the market into the future of electronification. ### Related content #### MarketAxess enhances dealer value through its new DealerAxess service [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/marketaxess-enhances-dealer-value-through-its-new-dealeraxess-service) #### Accurate, real-time pricing for global credit and rates markets [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) --- # MarketAxess hits new records in October Municipal Bond trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/marketaxess-hits-new-records-in-october-municipal-bond-trading Driven by heightened market volatility and yields not seen in over a decade, MarketAxess saw record monthly trading volume and client engagement last month. In October 2023, clients traded over $7.4bn on the MarketAxess platform, surpassing the previous monthly volume record of $5.8bn set just last year. Highlighting this unprecedented activity was more than $4bn in tax-exempt trading volume, a 59% increase YOY. This growth demonstrates the increasing demand for more efficient and cost-effective ways to access the market. In Open Trading®, our All-to-All trading network, we saw increased bond distribution with more than 50,000 offerings posted daily in October. #### Several factors contributed to October's banner month: - Record monthly volume in Auto-X™: Eclipsed $1bn as more firms utilize automated trading solutions to efficiently source liquidity and lower transaction costs. - Dealer selling volume through Open Trading hit a record $522 million, a 177% increase YOY. - MarketAxess' share of the total municipal bond market hit 5.10%, highlighting our expanding role in municipal trading. MarketAxess has also seen a significant increase in trade activity recently with the introduction of new features to the platform, including an expanded reach by making offerings available on the Perform IDN. We’ve added a new feature that allows clients to receive alerts to distinguish between offerings and RFQs. Additionally, we've expanded ways our clients can post offerings—manually, via EMAX, or in real-time via the Offerings/AXE API. At a macro level, increased market volatility, higher rates, and strong retail investor engagement continue to drive overall elevated municipal market activity. As market volumes swell, MarketAxess' electronic trading tools and diverse liquidity options provide clients with solutions to trading challenges. The record results speak for themselves—in an active and evolving market, more clients are turning to MarketAxess to increase operational efficiencies, access a broad liquidity pool and lower trading costs. ### Related content #### UBS-AM case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # MarketAxess wins at the 2024 Latin America Bond Awards Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/marketaxess-wins-at-the-2024-latin-america-bond-awards Long a major player in hard currency emerging market trading, MarketAxess continues to expand its unrivalled platform in local markets across Latin America. The firm’s focus on innovation and its unique understanding of client needs is generating record growth across products and trading protocols—making MarketAxess a clear winner of Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for Latin American Bonds. Despite industry headwinds, local LATAM markets on the MarketAxess platform were buzzing with activity, and the user base followed suit with record growth and large trades. “Clients and dealers’ ability and willingness to trade large blocks in local markets—including some of the biggest like Mexico and Brazil—has been a key driver for us,” says Michael Baptista, Head of EM Latin America Dealer Sales at MarketAxess. In the past year, block trading in large sizes of $25m+ rose significantly, and Request-for-Market (RFM), the preferred block trading protocol, hit record levels on the firm’s platform becoming a catalyst for growth. MarketAxess has been a dominant force in hard currency trading for decades, with the largest chunk of market share. Its market share of local currency trading is also gaining ground each quarter. A deep understanding of local market structure gives MarketAxess crucial insights into how best to guide their evolution and build out its local currency bond markets. “We’re working hard to support client adoption and bring innovative new solutions to onshore clients. These markets are changing fast. They're going from zero electronic trading to trading blocks overnight, and MarketAxess is in the perfect position to help our clients navigate the nuances of e-trading and build confidence in the data and efficiency that comes with it.” Maria E. Calderon Head of Latin America Sales at MarketAxess | Calderon points to the firm’s culture of innovation as a key factor in its success. A global team of over 800 employees spread across the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific ensures MarketAxess is innovating in every single region. She says that they are hard at work in LATAM markets including Mexico, Chile and Peru, and adding more capabilities in the near future. “We'll continue to deliver for our clients, by paying attention to different market structures and listening to their needs, globally,” she says. #### A culture of innovation As MarketAxess increasingly brings its trading expertise and technological capabilities to Latin America, the whole region stands to benefit. Last year, the firm saw record trading volume of over $300bn in LATAM hard and local currency. Key innovations in the region included new protocols in markets like Brazil, where MarketAxess was the first firm to complete a Casada trade via RFQ. With the addition of Casada to its platform, MarketAxess now offers the complete range of Brazilian sovereign debt products, including LFTs, LTNs, NTN-Fs and NTN-Bs. The firm’s all-to-all trading marketplace—Open Trading—is a key differentiator in a competitive space. Currently, Open Trading is the only all-to-all offering available for LATAM credit and accounts for over 40% of hard currency emerging market volumes with plans to expand into other local markets in the future. MarketAxess has already had a stellar start to this year. Liquidity surged back into hard currency bonds and the firm’s platform and protocols were in full force with record engagement of over 1,100 active global and local clients trading LATAM bonds. The first quarter of 2024 brought record trading volumes across the emerging market operations, of which LATAM accounts for over 40%. “Our hard currency corporate business was up, as was our hard currency sovereign and our local markets businesses,” says Baptista. There was record growth in the number of international participants on the system along with an increased number of onshore LATAM participants. The firm offers trading across 28 different markets in local currency—a number they say will only increase—and every single market in hard currency. “Our EM product is so successful because we’ve been able to build a truly global business. The gains we’ve had in LATAM market share are a testament to that.” Michael Baptista Head of EM Latin America Dealer Sales at MarketAxess | Originally published by GlobalCapital | May 31, 2024 ### Explore our award-winning offerings [Explore Now](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/latin-america) ### Related content #### LATAM sees growth in e-trading and access to international markets [Watch Now](https://vimeo.com/853202460) #### Spreading the word on the state of LATAM markets last year [Read The Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-spreading-the-word-web) #### Continued growth for e-trading in LATAM bond markets [Read the Research](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/latam-bond-markets-eng) --- # Mexican investors benefit from a centralized electronic bond trading marketplace Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/mexican-investors-benefit-from-a-centralized-electronic-bond-trading-marketplace With a record $70.6 billion traded in 2019, Mexico is the largest emerging market traded on the MarketAxess electronic bond trading platform. Owing to the connectivity of an extensive network of global investors, onshore clients, and dealers; the local community in Mexico can request bond prices for MBONOS, MCETS, and MUDIS from 15 dealers within seconds. Due to the broad liquidity access and unique trading protocols, platform trading volume from clients based in Mexico on MarketAxess has grown +336% YOY versus Q1’2019. Mexican Peso denominated debt volume on the platform grew 26% in 2019; we expect a similar growth rate in 2020. Drawing a comparison to the 336% growth rate from our Mexican customers. The question is what is driving the focus on electronic bond trading in Mexico? #### What is driving the change? While local regulators are encouraging investors to adopt electronic trading, investors and dealers are experiencing first-hand the efficiency benefits MarketAxess can offer. Firstly, we provide clients the ability to request competitive prices from an unlimited number of dealers within seconds. This Request-for-Quote (RFQ) process mimics trading via the phone – an investor calls multiple dealers requesting a price and then executes at the best price. This manual process can take a significant amount of time to complete and is limited to a narrower group of counterparties due to its laborious manual nature. MarketAxess broadens the liquidity pool and improves the efficiency to trade bonds more quickly on a competitive trading landscape. More recently, we’ve expanded our technology beyond the RFQ to a unique set of features that can only be leveraged on MarketAxess. Our two-way price request protocol, Request-For-Market (RFM), takes the RFQ to the next level and is the fastest-growing protocol amongst the client base in Mexico with RFM volume growth at 421% in Q1’2020 year over year. In a time of challenging market conditions, those who have adopted e-trading have taken the immediate next step to familiarize themselves with RFM. The benefit of RFM to the client is that the side e.g. buy or sell is not communicated to the dealer community, no information is provided to anyone but the winner while the trade is in flight or post-trade. As this protocol prevents information leakage, clients have the ability to trade block orders of $100-200mn at mid-price. A highly efficient tool to transfer risk, leaving no market footprint for the dealer to work out of risk. 30% of all MXN denominated bonds are traded via the RFM protocol, replacing what is traditionally transacted on the telephone. #### Open Trading™ | Client becomes dealer Open Trading, our all-to-all marketplace, has reshaped global credit markets and will continue to shape the market in Mexico. Today, 41% of all USD-denominated Mexican bond volume is executed anonymously via Open Trading, enabling an investor to request an anonymous price from any of the 1,700 participant firms on our platform. This price can be from a dealer, asset manager, central bank, or pension fund. We saw a 40% increase in investor liquidity provision during the crisis, for example, asset managers in Mexico City have provided liquidity to asset managers in the UK. By connecting participants anonymously, the access to liquidity grows exponentially versus traditional, bi-lateral workflows. This level of connectivity thus drives significant cost savings for investors and is driving the growth in usage in Mexico. Observing specifically USD denominated debt in Mexican names, clients on average save $0.25 when executing trades through our Open Trading network, versus the next best dealer. In more recent times of volatility, this cost-saving increased to $0.85 as more clients engaged in the all-to-all marketplace. Open Trading for peso-denominated instruments is slated to be launched later this year. --- # Mexican investors discover significant advantages from the MarketAxess global network Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/mexican-investors-discover-significant-advantages-from-the-marketaxess-global-network With a record $49 billion traded in H1’2021, Mexico is the largest emerging market traded on the MarketAxess electronic bond trading platform. Owing to the connectivity of an extensive network of global investors, onshore clients, and dealers; the local community in Mexico can request bond prices for MBONOS, MCETS, and MUDIS from 15 dealers within seconds. Due to the broad liquidity access and unique trading protocols, platform trading volume from clients based in Mexico on MarketAxess has grown +242% YOY versus H1’2020. Mexican Peso denominated debt volume on the platform grew 33% in H1’2021; we expect a similar growth rate H2’2021. Drawing a comparison to the 242% growth rate from our Mexican customers. The question is what is driving the focus on electronic bond trading in Mexico? #### What is driving the change? While local regulators are encouraging investors to adopt electronic trading, investors and dealers are experiencing first-hand the efficiency benefits MarketAxess can offer. Firstly, we provide clients the ability to request competitive prices from an unlimited number of dealers within seconds. This Request-for-Quote (RFQ) process mimics trading via the phone—an investor calls multiple dealers requesting a price and then executes at the best price. This manual process can take a significant amount of time to complete and is limited to a narrower group of counterparties due to its laborious manual nature. MarketAxess broadens the liquidity pool and improves the efficiency to trade bonds more quickly on a competitive trading landscape. More recently, we’ve expanded our technology beyond the RFQ to a unique set of features that can only be leveraged on MarketAxess. Our two-way price request protocol, Request-For- Market (RFM), takes the RFQ to the next level and is the fastest-growing protocol amongst the client base in Mexico with RFM volume growth at 305% in H1’2021 year over year. In a time of challenging market conditions, those who have adopted e-trading have taken the immediate next step to familiarize themselves with RFM. The benefit of RFM to the client is that the side e.g. buy or sell is not communicated to the dealer community, no information is provided to anyone but the winner while the trade is in flight or post-trade. This protocol prevents information leakage, clients have the ability to trade block orders of $50-200mn (USD equivalent) at mid-price. A highly efficient tool to transfer risk, leaving no market footprint for the dealer to work out of risk. 43% of all MXN denominated bonds are traded via the RFM protocol, replacing what is traditionally transacted on the telephone. Switch Trading is another solution we are seeing increased demand for where you can simultaneously buy and sell short and long durations in 26 local currencies. Not only will you save valuable time by making only a single trade, you’ll experience improved pricing from a wider variety of participants. #### Open Trading™: Client becomes liquidity provider Open Trading, our all-to-all marketplace, has reshaped global credit markets and will continue to shape the market in Mexico. Today, 26% of all USD-denominated Mexican bond volume is executed anonymously via Open Trading, enabling an investor to request an anonymous price from any of the 1,800+ participant firms on our platform. This price can be from a dealer, asset manager, central bank, or pension fund. We saw a 40% increase in investor liquidity provision during the crisis. By connecting participants anonymously, the access to liquidity grows exponentially versus traditional, bi-lateral workflows. This level of connectivity thus drives significant cost savings for investors and is driving the growth in usage in Mexico. Observing specifically USD denominated debt in Mexican names, clients on average save $0.23 when executing trades through our Open Trading network, versus the next best dealer. During times of high volatility, this cost-saving increased to $0.85 as more clients engaged in the all-to-all marketplace. --- # Milei’s victory saw Argentinian debt traders reach for rapid risk transfer Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/milei-s-victory-saw-argentinian-debt-traders-reach-for-rapid-risk-transfer In late October 2025, Argentine President Javier Milei’s party, La Libertad Avanza, scored a decisive win, in the country’s midterm elections, a political triumph that significantly strengthens his mandate and numbers in congress to implement radical economic reforms. The win, particularly in the historically Peronist stronghold of Buenos Aires province, surprised many observers after earlier election in Buenos Aires had suggested his support was faltering, the outcome potentially marks a turning point in Argentina’s political and fiscal trajectory. For traders, this surprise was measurable in the substantially increased use of block trades, that allowed rapid transfer of risk for large positions, and of all-to-all electronic trading, both of which reduce the market impact of orders, and accelerate order matching speeds. #### Argentina Daily Trade Volume and Count October 2025 On Monday 27 October after the weekend election, dollar-denominated government bond prices jumped. Analysts at Morgan Stanley noted that Argentinian debt resulted in swings in fund alpha, with overweight positions paying off in the week after the election. Trading volumes spiked but trade sizes did not, indicating that trading was conducted at speed across large and small orders. Inconclusive value picture “Argentina's YTD performance has reached 10.1%, 18.8% returns just this past week,” wrote Simon Weaver, Emma Cerda, Neville, Mamdimika and Guru Sharan Agrawal, all strategists at the bank. “While strong, this is still below the 13.2% YTD index returns, meaning OW positions have not yet paid off this year.” In October, average daily volume (ADV) of Argentinian bonds on MarketAxess hit US$307 million, an increase of 41% year-to-date ADV of US$217 million. “Funds likely went into the elections this weekend with less risk on,” noted the Morgan Stanley strategists in an 30 October note. “Looking at our EPFR data with a smaller sample of funds, we find that just in September, funds reduced exposure to the name by 0.36 percentage points (pps) to bring exposure closer to flat, below historical averages. While October data are not available, this suggests that funds went into the recent elections with less exposure to the credit. That said, just on Monday [27 October], funds gained 12bp in fund alpha on aggregate, increasing MTD alpha to -5bp. If only driven by Argentina, this would suggest that funds were able to benefit from the move, although not by enough to turn MTD alpha positive.” However, Argentina's YTD performance has reached 10.1%, which is below the 13.2% YTD index returns, they observed, meaning OW positions would not yet have paid off this year. The US Treasury has extended a US$20 billion FX swap line and has reportedly bought Argentinian pesos at several points over the past month. This emphasises the need for investors to deliver effective trading of their positions in order to minimise trading costs. On the MarketAxess platform, October saw the ADV of block trades – meaning orders over US$5 million in value – hit US$40 million, where year-to-date block trading ADV had been US$28 million. Its Open Trading protocol saw ADV of US$255 million in October, also a substantial increase on YTD ADV of US$176 million. Investors look ahead The midterm results now give Milei’s Liberty Advances party greater legislative leverage to push through sweeping reforms in labour, taxation, and public sector restructuring. This consolidation of power will be crucial for implementing his vision of a leaner state and a free-market economy. Yet despite his rhetoric of fiscal discipline, Milei’s government had paradoxically increased spending in areas such as pensions, health, and education in the lead-up to the midterms. This move, seen by some as political pragmatism, also raised questions about the sustainability of his zero-deficit pledge. While his administration has made strides in reducing inflation and narrowing the gap between official and parallel exchange rates, the durability of these gains depends on maintaining investor confidence and access to external financing. Milei’s approach to government borrowing is shaped by his deep scepticism of debt-fuelled public spending. However, Argentina’s economic reality – marked by a history of defaults, inflation, and capital flight – necessitates engagement with international lenders. Judging Argentinian investment in 2026 Since taking office, Milei has negotiated new arrangements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), securing continued disbursements in exchange for structural reforms. While this has helped stabilise Argentina’s macroeconomic outlook in the short term, it also deepens the country’s dependence on external creditors. On one hand, a credible commitment to fiscal discipline could lower borrowing costs and restore access to capital markets. On the other, the reliance on IMF support and the social toll of austerity may undermine long-term stability. Milei’s success will be judged not just by his ability to cut deficits, but by whether he can do so while preserving social cohesion and economic growth. As seen by returns to date, emerging market investors will need to be well compensated for the risks taken in investing in Argentinian debt over alternatives. The next year will be critical in determining whether Argentina can finally break free from its cycle of debt and dysfunction. ### Related content #### The rapid rise – and risks – of EM e-trading for dealers Originally published on The DESK | October 16, 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-rapid-rise-and-risks-of-em-e-trading-for-dealers) #### The Bondcast: Dealing with Blocks Originally published on The DESK | October 22, 2025 [Listen to the podcast](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-bondcast-dealing-with-blocks) #### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets Originally published on GlobalCapital | 9 July 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-awards-2025-article) --- # More block trades are going electronic Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/more-block-trades-are-going-electronic For years, the narrative around fixed income electronification focused on smaller, more liquid trades—the efficiency-easy wins. Block trades (for example, trades in IG Credit over $5 million) were treated as structurally different and were thought to be too impactful, too sensitive, and too reliant on relationships and balance sheets to move onto screens. But the data is beginning to tell a different story. In Q1 2026, electronic block trading on our platform reached record average daily volume of $6.6 billion, up 35% year-on-year. That growth was broad-based: US credit block ADV rose 27%, emerging markets 47%, and Eurobonds 45%. In January alone, block ADV was up 56% year-on-year, with EM blocks growing 92% and Eurobond blocks 89%. ##### Q1 Electronic block trading ADV rose 35% YoY* +27% | +47% | +45% | US credit block | EM credit block | Eurobonds | *The data reflects a structural shift in how large trades are initiated, priced and executed across credit markets globally. #### What’s driving this change Several things are happening simultaneously to enable this shift. First, dealers are getting better at managing risk electronically. Over the past five years, banks have materially improved their ability to recycle risk across algorithmic trading, portfolio trading, ETF hedging and interdealer channels (including our own all-to-all [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) network). Electronic liquidity providers have expanded coverage, particularly in index-linked instruments where ETF pricing creates strong correlation across underlying bonds. When risk moves through the system more efficiently, larger trades naturally become more feasible to execute on screen. Second, there has been a generational shift in behavior. A growing proportion of traders treat electronic workflows as the default, not the exception. Request-for-quotes (RFQs), algorithmic pricing, and data-driven counterparty selection are simply how they operate. That familiarity reduces friction and, over time, changes institutional habits. But the deeper changes are in the information environment around the trade. A decade ago, the decision about whether to trade a block electronically was largely a function of size. If the trade was big enough, it went to voice. Today, the decision is a function of how much you know: how confident you are in the pricing, how well you understand the counterparty landscape, and how clearly you can assess execution risk. Access to liquidity and data are what is now important. #### Liquidity and the protocol question One of the most common misconceptions about block electronification is that it converges on a single protocol. It does not. In practice, clients are dynamically choosing between multiple protocols depending on size, urgency and market conditions. In emerging markets, for example, request-for-market for competitive, two-way pricing has become a critical on-ramp for trading larger sizes electronically, precisely because liquidity is regionally fragmented, episodic, and dealer balance sheet matters. In US credit, Targeted RFQ (TRFQ) and dealer risk recycling protocols are scaling rapidly. Targeted RFQ, designed for trade sizes of more than $3 million, solves the dealer selection pain point by suggesting up to eight sell-side players that are axed or have recently been active in the relevant bond, allowing the trader to accurately define his or her selection. Our clients go on to invite 80% of TRFQ-recommended dealers onto their tickets. Mid-X , our protocol for anonymous mid-point matching sessions, uses advanced risk controls that limit exposure to ensure users are not left with skewed risk positions post-session. Mid-X ADV grew 168% year-on-year in Q1. A variety of protocols allows the trader to select the right protocol for the right trade in the right conditions. #### The data flywheel Every electronic block trade generates data. Even if full transparency is not mandated (e.g. TRACE block masking) or desirable, aggregated market data can feed back into pricing models, execution analysis, counterparty and protocol selection tools. More electronic trading produces better data, which produces better execution. At MarketAxess, [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus)—our AI-powered pricing engine—sits at the centre of this loop. It incorporates not just executed trades but the full set of RFQ interactions on the platform, including responses that do not result in a trade, giving our clients a significantly richer view of liquidity than execution data alone. #### AI as interpretation, not speed There is enormous excitement about [AI in fixed income trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/the-state-of-ai-in-fixed-income-trading) right now. The work we are doing to embed gen-AI and agentic features into our products and platforms is further enhancing the information environment around a trade, which will undoubtedly increase the market’s comfortability in trading blocks. [AI Select](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ai-select) is a good example of this. It uses a broad set of historical trading metrics—more than thirty in total—to identify the most suitable dealer for a given inquiry. These include win rates, responsiveness, and execution outcomes, all of which are continuously recalibrated throughout the trading day. In backtesting, it has shown strong predictive capability in identifying top-performing counterparties. #### Where this goes The direction is clear. The confidence to trade blocks electronically will continue to rise due to better information, better tools, and better risk infrastructure. Multiple protocols will continue to coexist, and the sophistication of protocol selection will become a meaningful differentiator. Data quality and coverage will matter most, and AI will add a deeper layer of insight and interpretation to electronic block trading. ### Related content #### Axe quality in electronic credit markets: What the data tells us [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axe-quality-in-electronic-credit-markets-what-the-data-tells-us) #### MarketAxess expands Mid-X protocol Originally published on Markets Media | December 3, 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/marketaxess-expands-mid-x-protocol) #### CP+™ ranks as a top provider in the 2025 SS&C Fixed Income Study [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-ranks-as-a-top-provider-in-the-2025-ss-and-c-fixed-income-study) --- # DealerAxess: More than just a platform Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/more-than-just-a-platform #### Bringing high-touch service to you. Did you know that MarketAxess is a top client for many of the world’s dealers? Our Open Trading® network is a top 3 counterparty for most of our dealers on the platform and is even often #1! If we’re going to be your premium counterparty you should expect a premium level of personal service when trading with us—similar to how you currently interact with an interdealer broker. IDBs can only take you so far, but we can take you further. Anonymous all-to-all trading has several advantages: liquidity when you need it, price improvements and trading velocity to name a few. We deliver liquidity that you otherwise wouldn’t see. But we understand that navigating a dark pool of liquidity can be daunting when done alone. That’s why we created the DealerAxess team, to help you successfully navigate the waters and realise the potential of liquidity on-demand. With the DealerAxess team you’ll have instant feedback available at the point of trade, ensuring constant communication with your counterparty while the trade is in flight. This can help remove some of the ambiguity of using Open Trading. To make this more familiar with traditional market practices, we’ve adopted a desk anchored model. Meaning, you’re only ever one instant message or phone call away from a dedicated (and global) support team. This new model represents a shift from reactive support to proactive trader engagement, we are partner and facilitator not just a faceless platform. Not only are we here to support you at the point of trade but we can also help upsize tickets or reflect targets. Whatever you need during the lifecycle of a trade, we’re here to help and it’s time to take that help to the next level. Mistakes happen, and our Clearly Erroneous Trade Policy is here to protect you from fat finger errors, system failures and more. With impartial adjudication on erroneous trades, you can confidently navigate and realise the potential of this vast and deep liquidity pool. This combination of liquidity and service is game changing for today’s dealers. As you continue to embrace the electronic markets we’ll be there to innovate and support your trading strategies. Don’t hesitate to give us feedback and we’ll endeavour to make the changes we need to be your first-choice trading partner. ### Want to learn more about how you can trade more competitively? [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Navigating the Asian bond markets: a report by ICMA Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/navigating-the-asian-bond-markets_icma-report-2023 The International Capital Market Association (ICMA) released its latest edition of the Asian International Bond Markets report, and MarketAxess is proud to be a contributor for the third consecutive year. This report leverages our TraX data to provide global market stakeholders with an updated overview and analysis of secondary market trends in the region through 2022. 2022 proved to be a challenging year for the Asian international bond market. Issuances took a dip while interest rates and geopolitical tensions rose. The data gathered by ICMA suggests that reduced liquidity, as seen in lower secondary market volumes, is in part a response to higher yields and widening credit spreads, which increase uncertainty for investors and risks for market-makers. This can also be attributed to a reduction in primary market activity. Despite the unfavorable factors affecting the bond markets in Asia though, there have been increasing appetite towards innovative technologies and promoting digitalization in the Asia bond markets, with the use of electronic venues to transact in the secondary market becoming increasingly entrenched. #### Report highlights - 2022 issuances: The Asian international bond market saw total issuances drop by 44% in 2022 compared to 2021, primarily due to rising interest rates, geopolitical conflicts, and credit events in the Chinese real estate sector. TraX data from MarketAxess supports this observation across secondary markets too, with trade volumes and counts significantly lower since April 2022, and further declining in the final quarter. - Chinese issuers: Despite a 49% YoY decline in issuance from Chinese issuers, they remained the largest source of international issuance, accounting for 33% of the total deals followed by Japan and South Korea. - The secondary market: The secondary market experienced a decrease in traded volumes and trade counts, particularly in the second half of the year according to our TraX data. Key drivers were rising USD, higher uncertainty, reduced primary activity, geopolitical tension, and the collapse of the China property market. This is also why, particularly in time of high volatility, participants noted that the number of active liquidity providers decreased through the year. Meanwhile, the use of electronic venues to transact in the secondary market continues to increase, with trading protocols, such as all-to-all RFQs, automation and portfolio trading, slowly gaining traction in Asia. Despite the setback, the view that the US may be reaching the peak of the interest rate cycle, stabilizing macro-economic outlook, a sense of recovery in the Chinese property sector, and China’s post-Covid economic reopening are inciting optimism about the prospects of both primary and secondary markets in 2023. ### Learn more [Listen to the podcast](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia/icma-podcast) [Read the Report (English)](https://cdn.bfldr.com/VLHKYIHS/at/rmjpg3kj9xb88s2mqscm7q2p/The-Asian-International-Bond-Markets-Development-and-Trends-brochure_March-2023.pdf) [Read the Report (Chinese)](https://cdn.bfldr.com/VLHKYIHS/at/4twq3fsj3sfw4mtrgsttwwx/The-Asian-International-Bond-Markets-Development-and-Trrends-brochure_March-2023_Chinese.pdf) --- # Navigating the new era of China's bond market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/navigating-the-new-era-of-chinas-bond-market The Chinese bond market has historically been one of internationalization and growth–and its evolution is a testament to the country's remarkable economic transformation. That said, the landscape is continuously shifting, presenting both challenges and opportunities as it becomes more intertwined with global markets. Today, amidst a global economic recalibration, the country’s [economic policies and the influence of global macroeconomic factors](https://english.news.cn/20240222/874037917ed7422a81d8328791b41e2f/c.html) are shaping the market's trajectory—elements that are expected to significantly influence market behavior and investment strategies. Despite the complex environment that has become commonplace for the Chinese bond market, the adoption of electronic trading has been on an upward trend, as evidenced by a [24% increase in yearly trading volume](https://www.chinabondconnect.com/en/Resource/Flash-Report/Bond-Connect-Flash-Report---December-2023.html) via platforms like Bond Connect in 2023. This growth is not just a response to market demands but also a reflection of the market's commitment to embracing electronic transformation. As a one-stop Emerging Market bond trading platform, MarketAxess has established a strong trading connection with the China Foreign Exchange Trading System (CFETS) to provide offshore investors with direct access to China's onshore bond market. This interconnection of domestic and foreign trading systems is enabling foreign investors to participate in the Chinese domestic interbank bond market directly via their MarketAxess workstation or OMS. Access to new liquidity sources is arguably the biggest benefit of going electronic, particularly during periods of volatility. As the preference for global allocation increasingly grows among investors in the Asia-Pacific region, the ability to tap on the liquidity of global bonds and smoothly execute transactions becomes a major factor in their trading strategies. That is why technological innovations such as MarketAxess’ [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading), a multi-award winning all-to-all marketplace, have become more crucial than ever. Such advancements have become essential for creating a more interconnected market where stakeholders can engage effectively and in a cost-efficient way. Access to pre-trade data and the use of automation tools are also becoming increasingly important in Asian fixed income trading. Rather than relying on indicative data and traditional voice trading, innovative data and automation tools are empowering traders to make better decisions that are driven by real-time, actionable data, and to trade more adaptively and efficiently. This is best reflected in the growing adoption of MarketAxess’ [Auto-X™ Request-for-Quote (RFQ)](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution), our tool for automated, low-touch liquidity acquisition. Leveraging our AI-powered pricing engine, [CP+](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus)™, Auto-X RFQ saw a 38% increase in yearly trading volume traded by asset managers globally in 2023; in Asia, trades using Auto-X RFQ constituted 15% of all trades, up from 6% in 2022. The market is also [turning its focus to green bonds](https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/china-s-green-bond-market-poised-for-further-growth-as-green-policies-ramp-up-80149981) in a bid to sustain innovation and meet the flourishing demand for sustainable investment options. Initiatives, like our ['Trading for Trees'](https://www.marketaxess.com/sustainability/climate) incentive program, has become a beacon for how electronic trading platforms can help investors align with global sustainability goals. Since inception, thanks to the volume of green bonds traded on our platform, we have been able to plant over one million trees globally. See the results for 2023 in this [infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/trading-for-trees_2023-results.pdf). As we gear up for ICMA’s [China Bond Market Forum](https://www.icmagroup.org/events/china-bond-market-forum-2024/) on March 20th in Beijing, we’re excited to delve into these developments and discuss in more depth how technology innovations and data can unlock new opportunities for global markets. The forum will bring together government officials, regulators, issuers, investors, and other market participants to dissect these trends, understand the impact of regulatory reforms, and explore fintech advancements that are set to redefine the future of bond trading in China. If you share our passion for staying at the forefront of market trends and innovations, I encourage you to register for the forum. I look forward to seeing you there! #### Contact your MarketAxess sales representative for more information: [Email us now](mailto:ccai@marketaxess.com?subject=Let's%20connect%20at%20the%20ICMA%20China%20Bond%20Market%20Forum%20) ### Register for the Forum [Register Today](https://www.icmagroup.org/events/china-bond-market-forum-2024) --- # Navigating volatility in APAC bond markets with Sharpe ratio and liquidity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/navigating-volatility-in-apac-bond-markets-with-sharpe-ratio-and-liquidity #### From an investment perspective, there are different metrics to look at. Amidst the market volatility in Asia-Pacific (APAC), bond traders and investors are increasingly relying on metrics and enhanced liquidity to [manage risks](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Regulatory-Disclosures.pdf). Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific at MarketAxess, emphasises the importance of the sharpe ratio and access to liquidity as crucial factors for navigating the challenges posed by fluctuating market conditions. “[Sharpe ratio] is basically a measure of any excess returns an investor might earn over risk free assets, let's say like US Treasuries, and that's adjusted for the volatility of returns achieved by those investors.” Chowdhury explained that this ratio allows investors to gauge the risk-adjusted return on investments, providing a clearer picture of potential gains relative to the volatility encountered. From a trader's perspective, Chowdhury pointed out that access to as much liquidity as possible becomes paramount in volatile markets to ensure trades can be executed at the best possible prices. “That's particularly important because in volatile markets, prices could be moving around, sometimes significantly. And that's actually one of our core strengths as a platform where we try helping our clients to find the best possible liquidity that they could get.” Riad Chowdhury Head of Asia-Pacific at MarketAxess | Looking ahead, automation and electronic trading protocols are poised to play a crucial role in the evolution of bond trading. These technologies promise not only greater efficiency but also a profound impact on how trades are executed. Automation facilitates data-driven decision-making, the pursuit of the best available liquidity, and the execution of trades in the most efficient manner possible. Chowdhury views these factors as the driving forces behind today's bond trading dynamics and anticipates their continued influence in the future. “It's about doing all those things in the most efficient manner. And these are the factors that I think are driving bond trading today and likely to continue to do so in the future.” | As for the trends shaping APAC's bond trading performance this year, Chowdhury forecasts two primary influences: global macroeconomic factors and market structure innovations. He explained that the policies of the US Federal Reserve stand out as a significant determinant, with market volatility closely tied to the Fed's narratives on interest rate movements. Furthermore, structural advancements spearheaded by firms like MarketAxess, through data and information utilisation, liquidity access, and efficiency via automation, are expected to mould the bond market's trajectory. [Listen to the full interview](https://player.vimeo.com/video/913611995) Originally published on Asian Business Review | 21 February 2024 #### What 2023 taught us about the APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-2023-taught-us-about-the-APAC-bond-markets) #### How Fed policies shape the APAC local currency bond market [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-fed-policies-shape-the-apac-local-currency-bond-market) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) --- # New case study: How technology is transforming trading in Mexico and beyond Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/new-case-study-how-technology-is-transforming-trading-in-mexico-and-beyond ## New case study: How technology is transforming trading in Mexico and beyond --- # New tricks for old dogs and 'fishing with dynamite' Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/new-tricks-for-old-dogs-and-fishing-with-dynamite Dan Burke, Global Head of Emerging Markets at MarketAxess spoke to GlobalCapital about developments in the EM bond market and how the electronic bond trading platform his company operates is evolving. #### Listen to the podcast --- # Open Trading die einzige Verbindung, die Sie brauchen Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/open-trading-die-einzige-verbindung-die-sie-brauchen Der Handel in der heutigen Welt erfordert mehrere Verbindungen zu Händlern auf der ganzen Welt, um sicherzustellen, dass Sie die benötigte Liquidität finden, wenn Sie sie brauchen. Die Eröffnung dieser Verbindungen kann jedoch sowohl teuer als auch zeitaufwändig sein. Genau hier kann Open Trading® Ihnen helfen. Mit einer Verbindung zum MarketAxess Open Trading-Netzwerk haben Sie sofort Zugang zum weltweit größten Kreditliquiditätspool. Mit über 2.000 Teilnehmern verbindet Sie Open Trading mit Händlern, anderen Buy-Side-Kollegen und alternativen Liquiditätsanbietern auf der ganzen Welt. Open Trading ermöglicht es allen Teilnehmern, auf einer effizienten globalen Plattform direkt und anonym miteinander zu handeln. Das Netzwerk bietet sowohl echte Preisverbesserungen als auch hohe Liquidität, insbesondere in Zeiten von Marktstress, indem es die Effizienz steigert und den Liquiditätspool für den globalen Kredithandel erheblich erweitert. Mit einem ADV von~ in Höhe von 4 Mrd. USD machte der offene Handel im 4. Quartal 24 35 % aller Kredithandelsgeschäfte auf der MarketAxess-Plattform aus. Das bedeutet, dass Sie mit Sicherheit einen Netzwerkteilnehmer finden werden, der bereit ist, Ihnen Liquidität zur Verfügung zu stellen. In Zeiten hoher Unsicherheit und Volatilität kann die Beschaffung von Liquidität zu einer Herausforderung werden, da die traditionellen Liquiditätspools versiegen. Open Trading kann Ihnen helfen, durch turbulente Märkte zu navigieren, indem es eine starke Liquiditätsquelle aus einer globalen, vielfältigen Gruppe von Teilnehmern bietet. Von regionalen Händlern in Thailand bis hin zu hochentwickelten Hedge-Fonds in New York - Open Trading ist die Gegenpartei, die Sie brauchen. Erhältlich in den Bereichen Investment Grade und High Yield für Dollar und Euro sowie für EM-Lokal- und Hartwährungen unterstützt Open Trading die Produkte, mit denen Sie am meisten handeln. #### Wenden Sie sich an Ihren lokalen Vertriebsmitarbeiter, um noch heute loszulegen. ### Related content #### Open Trading ermöglicht eine fundierte Wahl [Broschüre herunterladen](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-brochure-german) #### Lesen Sie unser neues CP+ White Paper [Lesen Sie den Artikel](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/elektronischer-handel-und-die-renovierung-eines-landhauses) --- # Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility Recent geopolitical tensions are creating a new normal of volatility in the global credit markets. During these times of volatility, established trading patterns often break down. The usual playbook goes out the window, liquidity providers can step back, and market participants scramble to locate buyers and sellers. When liquidity becomes fragmented, and price discovery grows more challenging, certainty of execution and reliable counterparties become more difficult. This is precisely where Open Trading® delivers value. Open Trading is our global, all-to-all electronic marketplace that delivers smarter, faster, and more efficient trading. This means enabled participants can both take and provide liquidity regardless of jurisdiction or counterparty type. They can trade with specialist dealers, alternative liquidity providers, and real money clients at the touch of a button. Responses are co-mingled with the responses of their regular dealer panel as a client or fully anonymized as a dealer. Dealers taking liquidity now make up nearly one-third of Open Trading volumes, further demonstrating the diversity of liquidity available. One of the key differentiators of Open Trading is the breadth of its network. In calmer markets, trading relationships tend to remain stable, and clients often concentrate flow among a smaller set of preferred dealers. They use Open Trading to further prove best execution. When volatility spikes and liquidity dries up, those relationships can often not be relied upon. Dependable price discovery becomes increasingly difficult, especially in emerging markets and high yield, where automation is less prevalent, pushing many traders back to voice. During these periods of stress when traditional price discovery mechanisms struggle, Open Trading vastly expands the available liquidity pool, increasing the likelihood of finding a match. It improves trading outcomes and lowers transaction costs — both for providers and takers of liquidity. The result is more informed decision-making and improved confidence in execution. #### Open Trading price improvement (MENA)† †Difference between the winning OT price and the next best disclosed price. #### Algorithmic trading adds stability Another key evolution in recent years has been the growing use of algorithms from both established dealers and new alternative liquidity providers who turn to Open Trading to scale their risk recycling and provide unprecedented levels of liquidity as a result. Today, more algorithms are pricing bonds than ever before, and in larger sizes — often quoting up to $3–5 million in single inquiry size in liquid names and in many cases much more. These algorithms are becoming more active across all core sectors and increasingly remain switched on, even during volatile conditions. This consistency provides a stabilizing effect on prices and ensures that actionable liquidity remains visible on screen. Historically, traders moved to voice during periods of uncertainty. But now with improved data, consistent algorithmic pricing, and the expanded reach of Open Trading, participants can confidently remain on the platform rather than reverting to phone-based execution. This reliability is particularly valuable when sourcing liquidity in specialized names. For example, if a trader is seeking liquidity in a specific issuer, such as a regional energy company, the optimal counterparty may be limited. Open Trading’s all-to-all model increases the probability of locating domestic or onshore liquidity providers specific to that name, acting as an effective price finder when it is needed most. #### A full suite designed for every trading scenario Markets often shift toward more on-demand trading during volatility, especially voice and Request-for-Quote (RFQ) workflows. While some participants question inquiry quality in stressed environments, MarketAxess enhancements have helped improve engagement and response rates. For many clients and dealers, Open Trading has become the number one counterparty on the MarketAxess platform. Remaining engaged with the full Open Trading network during times of market stress suits the majority of market participants, but not all. That’s why we offer a suite of protocols that lets the trader not only decide how to trade but who they trade with. We have new protocols that help bridge the gap between full disclosure and full anonymity. Disclosed Open Trading is a hybrid functionality within Open Trading. It allows name give-up to counterparties within the Open Trading network, where participants do not have a direct relationship by settling through MarketAxess as the intermediary. This enables traders to receive the benefits of pre-trade name disclosure and relationship building. Full control of the inquiry distribution is possible as Disclosed Open Trading replicates full name give-up and can even be used to send to a single known dealer. Disclosed Open Trading is just one way clients can utilize the Open Trading settlement facility on certain types of name-give-up trades. Crossing allows the externalization of internal fund transfers. Bridge Trading allows clients and dealers who do not have lines with each other to settle pre-agreed trades. Voice facilitation is often not associated with electronic trading. However, as a top-tier counterparty on the platform, we recognize that we need to provide a service worthy of a top-tier dealer, and that includes replicating many of the services a trading desk at a dealer would provide. The Open Trading desk’s staff includes ex-traders and brokers who can facilitate a variety of services, including block size work-ups and reflecting targets on expired inquiries, all in confidence, on voice. #### Trading with confidence: reach, data, and consistency No single execution method fits every scenario, and traders need access to a full spectrum of tools. Open Trading expands the liquidity pool and improves execution probability. Our data tools enhance price discovery when observable markets are thin. Algorithmic liquidity adds consistency and stability. RFQ workflows support targeted engagement. Together, the MarketAxess trading suite empowers participants to navigate all market conditions with confidence — helping them find liquidity, achieve the best price, and execute with speed and efficiency. ### Related content #### Electronic bond trading expanding to match MENA markets rapid growth [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/electronic-bond-trading-expanding-to-match-mena-markets-rapid-growth) #### MarketAxess enhances dealer value through its new DealerAxess service [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/marketaxess-enhances-dealer-value-through-its-new-dealeraxess-service) --- # Opportunities for global investors as China further opens its cross-border bond market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/opportunities-for-global-investors-as-china-further-opens-its-cross-border-bond-market I recently had the privilege of attending the Bond Connect Anniversary Summit 2025 in Hong Kong on behalf of MarketAxess. With the theme “Unlocking Value through China’s Resilience”, the summit brought together regulators, investors, and market participants from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and other regions. In this article, I would like to share my key takeaways on the latest trends and strategic insights on China’s bond market, and the growing role of RMB-denominated assets in global investment portfolios. #### Further opening of China’s financial markets As the world's second-largest bond market, China's financial landscape offers a diverse set of instruments and sophisticated mechanisms, drawing strong interest from overseas investors. At the Summit, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) jointly announced a number of major initiatives aimed at further opening China’s financial markets and deepening cross-border connectivity. These include expanding the investor base for Southbound Bond Connect, enhancing offshore repo arrangements, updating collateral and margin requirements, and improving the Swap Connect mechanism. These measures are widely seen as critical steps to strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a global financial hub and to promote the internationalization of the RMB. #### The appeal of RMB bonds and their value in global portfolios RMB bonds are increasingly viewed as a stable and appealing option for global investors, offering diversification benefits alongside competitive total returns and Sharpe ratios. Their low correlation with major global markets, combined with improving market liquidity, has made them increasingly popular among international investors. The inclusion of RMB bonds in major global indices—such as the Bloomberg Global Aggregate, WGBI, and GBI-EM—has further boosted foreign interest. As new repo arrangements are rolled out and liquidity improves, many investors believe there is more room to optimize performance through effective trading strategies and collateral management. Nevertheless, investors remain mindful of how macroeconomic uncertainties such as global market volatility, geopolitical tensions, and shifts in monetary policy might impact capital flows and investor sentiment. #### Hong Kong's unique role in facilitating the RMB ecosystem Hong Kong continues to serve as a key offshore hub for the RMB market, offering a strong financial infrastructure and a solid regulatory framework. During the summit, several proposals were presented to strengthen Hong Kong's position: - Boosting primary market issuance of RMB bonds, particularly Dim Sum bonds and Panda bonds, to further internationalize the RMB and establish an offshore RMB yield curve. - Expanding RMB derivative markets to facilitate capital flows in response to interest rate and exchange rate volatility, thereby creating a more effective price discovery mechanism. - Launching RMB-denominated gold trading in Hong Kong and developing an RMB-based pricing mechanism. - Optimizing Bond Connect by broadening access to corporate bonds and extending bond durations, which has already driven higher volumes. There were also proposals to expand the range of collateral to improve market efficiency and reduce transaction costs. #### Opportunities and challenges for electronic trading platforms The continued evolution of Bond Connect places e-trading platforms at the center of China’s bond market transformation. These platforms now play a pivotal role in serving a broader base of global investors, offering tools that support cross-border, multi-currency trading, and incorporating features that align with international best practices. As a key e-trading partner of Bond Connect, MarketAxess has seen significant growth in both trading volume and client activity on the Northbound channel. As China’s cross-border bond market landscape continues to evolve, ongoing innovation will be crucial to meet the increasingly complex needs of both regional and global market participants. Recent data shows a steady increase in net foreign inflows into Chinese Government Bonds (CGBs). However, foreign ownership of Local Market (LM) bonds remains relatively low compared to other Asian and global economies, underscoring the untapped potential in China’s expanding cross-border bond market. ### Related content #### Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading [Listen to the podcast](https://www.fi-desk.com/the-bondcast-simplifying-hard-currency-em-bond-trading/) #### From high-touch to low-touch: The evolution of fixed income e-trading in APAC [Watch the video](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/apac-fireside-chat/fireside-chat-ninety-one-evolution-of-e-trading-in-asia) --- # Optimising execution in Qatari and Kuwaiti bond sell-off Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/optimising-execution-in-qatari-and-kuwaiti-bond-sell-off ## Optimising execution in Qatari and Kuwaiti bond sell-off --- # Persistence of automation through volatility Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/persistence-of-automation-through-volatility Automation technologies touch so many parts of our lives that we often forget how integral they are to our every day. From setting the thermostat before you go to sleep to the camera in your smartphone and the advent of self-driving cars, automation has penetrated our lives to a degree that would be hard to calculate. Automation is no different within the fixed income market. At MarketAxess, we’ve built a suite of automated execution tools (with more on the way) to meet client demands as traders have shifted from voice to electronic trading. In 2018, MarketAxess introduced Auto-X™ to the marketplace to cut down on the time needed to make trading decisions while increasing efficiencies and reducing costs. Our data shows that clients who have adopted automation into their trading toolkits have grown capacity at faster rates than clients who have not adopted any automation, especially through times of volatility, where our clients have counted on our automation technologies to manage risks, establish guardrails, streamline processes, remain compliant, and improve execution quality. Clients who are adopting some degree of automation are scaling more efficiently compared to those who have not adopted automation into their trading toolkits. During three recent periods of volatility—March 2020 during the onset of the COVID pandemic, March 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and March 2023 during the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse—automation on the MarketAxess platform sustained new levels of adoption and trade volume on Auto-X. Not only has the number of active clients increased, but Utilization rates have also increased for not only High Grade, but also on a global scale. As clients have become more familiar and comfortable with automation, rates of “No Touch” order submission have gone up. During COVID, the Average No Touch rate stood at 7%, and during the recent bank collapse, the average No Touch rate increased to 36% showing that clients are willing to do more work up front to set trade parameters, reducing clicks and ultimately becoming more efficient within the platform. Hit Rates have also increased for High Grade. Think of Hit Rates like the performance of Auto-X. More clients are meeting their criteria and can execute successfully via their unique set of parameters—where we now offer up to 30 customized variables. If those parameters aren’t met—a trade doesn’t match the pre-set size, level, side, etc.—MarketAxess has set up certain guardrails, called Overrides, so that clients always have the option to override a trade if it doesn’t meet their criteria. During volatile periods, Overrides are essential because they allow users the option to move forward with a trade despite not meeting the designated criteria. At the height of COVID, an extremely volatile period, Override rates hovered at 50%, which would be expected during the first true market shock in the fixed income automation era. More recently, clients have garnered more control and comfort and during the SVB/CS collapses, Override rates sat at 21%, showing that during extreme volatility, users can remain in control of their executions. Many clients consider Auto-X RFQ an extension of list trading, with its capabilities able to provide optimal execution results. As with most new and cutting-edge technologies, the earliest adopters see the greatest gains. As our clients turn to automation and become more comfortable with these protocols, we are expanding our toolkit to include more specific trade execution options and answer specific questions around trade strategy. More on the expanded analytics services toolkit in a later post, but our automation trading suite will continue to evolve to meet the growing needs of our users. The MarketAxess team is learning along with our clients as they increasingly get more comfortable with our offerings. Our data shows that both buy- and sell-side clients are using our automation products at a similar rate and they’re all equally accepting of trading more risk during volatility. Nearly every measurable Auto-X RFQ instance in the first quarter of 2023 has been a record—from average daily volume to the rate of no touch. 3.9+ million trades and $718 billion in volume have been executed since its introduction to the market, and more than 780 active traders across 198 clients have used Auto-X. We are on-track for yet another record year in our automation suite of products, and the number of traders using the product is growing along with it. For these traders, automation is becoming an extension of the traders' desk and an integral part of the trading process. The clear and present need for automation is here. ### Related content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Portfolio Trading: The next big thing for Asian bond markets? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/portfolio-trading-the-next-big-thing-for-asian-bond-markets #### Portfolio Trading: The next big thing for Asian bond markets? Maybe. The answer is a little more nuanced. Asia has seen an acceleration in adoption of electronic trading in the bond market in recent years, but in a dynamic region with volatility and uncertainty often higher than developed markets, the right tools for efficient trading are paramount. Among these, Portfolio Trading (PT) is gaining popularity as a unique method for maneuvering through these markets. PT is a solution that allows clients to trade a number of bonds simultaneously with one counterparty as a basket. But is it a one-size-fits-all solution? We discussed this topic during our recent APAC roundtable series called “The Trader’s Table” – a client forum we use to talk about the latest trends in fixed income electronic trading. We hosted two sessions in Hong Kong and Singapore, inviting around 10 buyside clients to each session to discuss benefits, challenges, ask questions, and demystify myths around Portfolio Trading. #### Why should you use Portfolio Trading? With the growing popularity of PTs globally, there is no doubt that there are benefits to trading in this way. However, like any tool, it's most effective when used appropriately. Let’s start with the benefits highlighted during the roundtable discussions: - Efficiency: PT allows clients to trade a basket of bonds quickly when compared to trading the bonds individually. Where previously PTs were done through complex spreadsheets, with platforms like MarketAxess, clients can trade them with just a few clicks. - Certainty of execution: By adhering to an 'all or nothing' model, PT eliminates the risk of leftover names that don’t meet requirements to trade, providing certainty of execution. - Trading less liquid bonds: Investors can potentially get better execution outcomes on less liquid bonds as the basket overall may have a better liquidity profile. - Minimizing market impact: As opposed to trading a large list of bonds one by one, trading a PT can allow for quick risk movements of a basket of bonds without alerting the market, reducing the likelihood of market impact which in some cases can lead to negative impact on pricing. - Portfolio rebalancing/ETF creation redemption: PT allows clients to achieve their rebalancing goals quicker, which is especially useful for month-end rebalancing. For example a client can change to the sector weighting of a portfolio without having to buy or sell the bonds line by line. #### Is it a one-size-fits-all solution? Well, no. For instance, illiquidity in Asia Credit can make it challenging to receive transparent pricing for securities, particularly when the portfolio's securities aren't closely correlated. In such cases, you might consider trading the bonds using a Request-For-Quote List (RFQ List). An RFQ List is when you send out multiple bonds at the same time to ask for quotes, and dealers can price the bonds back individually. A client will then often end up trading with a different dealer for each bond, as opposed to trading the whole basket with 1 dealer when using a PT. The size and diversity of the portfolio should also be considered. In the roundtable session hosted in Hong Kong, there was consensus that the more diverse the portfolio the better, as it enables the dealer to manage their risk more easily, and therefore provide better pricing. For example, clients can achieve a diverse liquidity profile in the PT by mixing more liquid with less liquid bonds. Clients can leverage our liquidity analytics such as the MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score to help decide if they should trade the bonds as a PT or RFQ List, and to help decide what types of bonds to include in the PT. MarketAxess' AI-powered bond pricing tool CP+ can also help clients estimate the value of the portfolio and assist with benchmarking the prices they receive from dealers pre-trade. #### RFQ List vs PT Which protocol fits your execution criteria? The participants also acknowledged differences between Asia's liquidity landscape compared to the U.S. and Europe. Some traders shared that their desks in the other regions are already using PTs but remain unsure of the applicability for Asia Credit. Another challenge that was mentioned was that traders face difficulty in establishing best execution when trading for multiple funds. This is especially true when a bond being sold is also part of other funds, which can potentially lead to individual bonds being marked below market value. Compliance also comes into play. Although the platform allows you to put up to 10 dealers in competition on a portfolio, many of the traders at the Hong Kong session said their firms are still in discussions internally about how to adhere to best execution requirements as their current compliance process would check that they are getting the best price for each individual bond. However, for PTs, the dealer you trade with may not be the best price for each of the underlying bonds in the portfolio. Widespread internal education will be crucial for compliance departments, to ensure that overall market value of the basket is prioritized over the line-by-line best execution. It is clear that the market structure in Asia, compared to the other regions, is still developing. However, we are seeing an increasing number of dealer firms allocating more resources to build a dedicated Portfolio Trading business – and we expect this trend to continue. #### Is Portfolio Trading for you? While PT is not the answer to all challenges, it is a powerful tool for investors looking to trade multiple securities at once. Ultimately, the decision of whether to use Portfolio Trading or RFQ/RFQ Lists should be a data-driven one. With our full suite of pre-trade, execution, and post-trade analytical tools, we are confident we can help clients with this decision and provide them with the right tools to confidently execute a Portfolio Trade. ### Ready to leverage the benefits of Portfolio Trading? [Speak to our team](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/asia-pacific-contact-us) ### Related content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Post Trade Repo: Let’s win back time in 2022 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/post-trade-repo-let-s-win-back-time-in-2022 At the outset of a new year, it’s common to make new year’s resolutions for personal improvement – eating healthier, exercising more often, keeping a gratitude journal. When reflecting on your business goals for the year, are there specific areas you’ll be focusing on in 2022? One thing we would all like to focus on achieving is more time – in work and life, we could all use a little bit more! Colleen Stapleton, Business Development Lead for Post Trade Repo in the US, suggests why increasing operational efficiency is something we can all improve in the year ahead. #### What is the situation with manual intervention in markets? Large volumes of transactional activity are still managed manually in post-trade repo markets. A Finadium study earlier in 2021 found that just 37% of repo transactional volume was traded electronically with STP in North America and Europe. However careful you might be, and no matter the amount of checks and balances you have in place, the fact is that human error will happen, leading to failed trades, misallocated funds, and extra payments needed. 37% is a good start but there’s a huge opportunity to improve on this figure. The promise of more electronic trading and automated matching should lead to a natural decrease in these fails and associated operational costs. #### Could 2022 be the time to move away from emails and chat in post-trade processing? The opportunity for automation is ripe, with technological advancements making it more efficient for computers to extract information from emails and chat than for people to manually read these messages and input data into new systems. When you rely on human readers to cut and paste data from emails and chat into management systems, you undoubtedly leave the door open for errors to come in. Automation has proven beneficial to operational efficiency across asset classes and now it’s time for repo markets to catch up. #### What role will the implementation of CSDR have in the push for greater operational efficiency? The pressure of regulatory change is often an important driver of change. CSDR, with its penalties for failed trades and late matching due to come in as of February this year, provides another impetus to review post-trade processing efficiency. While the regulation might be an EU initiative, it will still have a global impact. Any party failing to settle a transaction in a European CSD, even if domiciled in the United States, will be penalised. The threat of penalties has a commercial impact if processing is inaccurate and firms in the US can’t get complacent, believing all the work to get ready for CSDR has to be done in Europe alone. Moving activity to standardized matching platforms can directly reduce potential CSDR fines, making it more cost-effective to do business. #### What will a move to a T+1 settlement cycle mean for the industry and is it a realistic achievement? Trades are settled on a T+2 basis at the moment, but we are confident that a move to T+1 is achievable. There are a lot of processes involved in settling a trade, but it will be possible to settle within one day if resources are reallocated correctly and the right systems and technology are in place to support a complex market. More efficient post-trade processes and a T+1 settlement cycle can only be good news for the industry, producing more information and data which impacts the overall efficiency of trading in the secondary markets. Get in touch to learn how MarketAxess can help you move your Repo confirmations into the 21st century this year. ### Related content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Powering EM bond trading with data, liquidity and client-centricity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/powering-em-bond-trading-with-data-liquidity-and-client-centricity The multifaceted nature of emerging markets means that successful trading platforms need to deliver cutting-edge technology and a deep understanding of different clients’ needs and workflows. MarketAxess excels on both fronts. Combining world-class data and analytics, unique execution protocols, and a consultative, client-focused development strategy, the firm was a clear winner of Best Secondary Market Trading Platform. A broad range of sovereign and corporate debt is traded on the MarketAxess platform, but emerging market debt is a key business for the firm and its ability to provide liquidity for the asset class is unique. Part of building out a comprehensive offering for emerging market clients is the breadth and depth of that liquidity. MarketAxess has expanded to 28 local currency markets, and in hard currency covers virtually the whole of CEEMEA, Latin America and Asia bonds. Much of the firm’s trading volumes come from international clients, but the pool of local clients in markets like Mexico and Brazil is growing fast. “With our investments in technology and time spent understanding the dynamics in different markets we’re now seeing more onshore clients embracing the platform,” says Natalie Lowenstein, Emerging Markets Global Product Manager at MarketAxess. “The idea is to be the one stop shop for all of our clients’ emerging market needs.” These efforts are reflected in strong growth in trading volumes and platform users. EM trading volumes hit a record high in 2022 and have proved resilient so far this year. In Q1 2023, trading volumes reached $192bn – up on the same quarter in 2022 despite lower volumes being traded across the wider market as a whole. Its client and dealer base is increasingly global – Alongside US clients, European and Asian customers now provide over half the flow in EM bonds, with the rest coming from the Americas. “Client diversification is an important part of the business and it's significant that so many European and Asia-Pacific clients trust us for their EM bond liquidity needs,” says Lowenstein. In onshore markets where electronic trading is in its infancy, the firm is helping clients identify and address their priorities. “We go on the journey with them to solve their technological needs,” says Lowenstein. “Because of this we’ve seen a big uptick in participation from accounts in South Africa and across the whole of South America.” One of the firm’s key differentiators is Open Trading®, its flagship all-to-all trading ecosystem. When it comes to EM, the ability for any client or dealer to trade with any other dealer or client is key given the fragmentation of liquidity across the market and the volume of regional players. Over 40% of all the hard currency trading volume on the MarketAxess platform is done through Open Trading so this allows, for example, a client in Sao Paulo, to transact anonymously with another client in Singapore. Further differentiation is coming as a result of the investment the firm is making in developing its high-touch workflows – helping clients and dealers to trade in larger size. It is currently rolling out enhancements to its block trading protocol Request for Market and is using its unique data and analytics to create tools such as Smart Dealer Select (which presents pre-trade analysis on the most appropriate counterparties for a particular bond or set of bonds). The breadth and depth of the firm’s trading data provides a unique foundation for these tools, helping traders to better understand market dynamics and make more informed decisions. Lowenstein notes: “The depth of our data is peerless, as it is based on unique data from MarketAxess TraX® and thousands of EM trades and inquiries per day. This powers our CP+™ pricing engine, which uses sophisticated machine learning to deliver pre-trade prices for thousands of EM bonds.” She continues, “In a sector like EM, anything that can improve transparency, and give greater insight into execution outcomes, is a game-changer for clients.” Just as important as the data is the firm’s approach to customers and the extent to which their needs are factored into every development decision. MarketAxess understands just how critical it is to ensure that client workflow is enhanced, not disrupted. This consultative approach then helps drive successful product evolution and overall business strategy. “We work closely with the technology and sales teams along with a multitude of clients on the buy and sell side,” says Lowenstein. “The way we work in partnership with our client base and try to really be thoughtful about how to solve their liquidity and execution needs is what I think stands us apart.” Originally published by GlobalCapital | July 12, 2023 ### Related Content #### A tale of two markets [Read The Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-tale-of-two-markets) #### A tale of two metrics | US IG corporate bond market liquidity in 2022 [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-tale-of-two-metrics_us-ig-corporate-bond-market-liquidity-in-2022) #### Axes and trading behaviour in EUR IG blocks [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_axes-and-trading-behaviour-in-eur-ig-blocks) --- # Pre-Trade data strategy: Optimizing protocol selection in European Credit Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/pre-trade-data-strategy-optimizing-protocol-selection-in-european-credit Our high touch trading solutions offer a competitive edge with advanced pre-trade data and smart counterparty analytics. At MarketAxess, we leverage our unrivalled pre-trade data and partnerships with our vast dealer community for the best possible outcomes. #### Leveraging our pre-trade data The first step in guiding our clients on their high touch journey begins with pre-trade data. Our pre-trade data is available in several forms—[Tradability](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) is one of our most innovative products, which allows traders to better understand the market’s capacity to immediately fill an order. This AI-driven liquidity metric provides a unique, real-time measure of market depth for European credit on the platform. Tradability adapts quickly to changing market conditions throughout the trading day based on extensive proprietary trading platform and historical response data. European Axes is another form of pre-trade data that guides high touch trades—more than 55 dealers contribute Axe data onto the MarketAxess platform, often exceeding 4 million Axe updates per day. The latest innovation is the ability for dealers to specify the source of their Axe content—as algo-driven liquidity dynamics become increasingly popular, venturing into the round lot and block sizes. The next generation of our award-winning CP+™ predictive pricing engine, CP+ Inquiry, provides data-driven insights into size-based pricing expectations by leveraging machine learning to analyse RFQ data. This offers the most precise predicted prices across trade sizes to help traders efficiently understand how execution costs scale with order size. CP+ Inquiry empowers traders to make more informed decisions about their trading strategy, ultimately leading to better execution outcomes in larger trades where market impact is a key consideration. Our Smart Dealer Select tool leverages the power of algorithms to automate dealer selection and highlights dealers with actual liquidity in any given bond using counterparty Axes and proprietary data-driven indicators. This tool is great for targeted execution styles best suited to larger—and more sensitive—inquiries. #### Protocol selection for high touch trading The next step in the high touch journey? Protocol selection, which is data-driven. In terms of the protocols available for high touch trading, we have traditional RFQ, Portfolio Trading, and Targeted RFQ. Targeted RFQ launched recently, and it is great for this style of trading as it provides transparency with the dealer community while limiting information leakage for all participants. By partnering closely with our buy-side community, we see firsthand the value that electronification of the bond trading market has brought in terms of efficiency and best execution. Our clients were asking for access to the same service for larger trades, due to the pressures faced by trading desks to execute more with less. This was the genesis for Targeted RFQ, which has enhanced transparency to ensure the dealer community is comfortable pricing competitively, achieving the best execution for clients. The protocol is designed to simplify the process for clients, encouraging them to go to a more precise pool of dealers. The decision of how many, and who, an inquiry should be going to is client-led, supported by our unique data capturing live market dynamics. For every Targeted RFQ inquiry, the dealers selected will know how many counterparties they are in competition with, and why they were selected by the client—whether it’s due to historical performance in that bond, their recent trading activity or because they had a live Axe. This helps dealers to build a picture of how to optimise their performance in the market, encouraging greater contribution of high-quality data which refines the client selection process and provides a better trading experience for all. As our platform continues to evolve, these solutions empower traders to navigate the complexities of the market with greater ease and control: maximising competition while minimising information leakage—to strike the perfect balance. ### Related content #### CP+™ under the hood: How trades and inquiries impact pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-plus-under-the-hood-how-trades-and-inquiries-impact-pricing) #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### How electronic trading is like renovating a cottage: Managing resources and planning for the unexpected [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-electronic-trading-is-like-renovating-a-cottage-managing-resources-and-planning-for-the-unexpected) --- # Precision without disruption: strengthening CHF trading workflows with integrated reference pricing Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/precision-without-disruption-strengthening-chf-trading-workflows-with-integrated-reference-pricing In the quality-focused world of private banking, execution is defined by control, consistency, and accountability. Priorities are placed on structured workflows, ensuring each trade is defensible and meets best execution obligations. Reference pricing plays a central role in that process, providing the benchmark against which execution quality is measured. For CHF bonds, the SIX Swiss Exchange has long served as this primary reference point, particularly for smaller orders and odd lots. It provides a familiar and trusted view of the market, supporting decisions that need to be transparent and aligned with recognised benchmarks. However, the process of checking exchange pricing has historically introduced inefficiency into otherwise streamlined workflows. Even as institutional liquidity continues to migrate to electronic request-for-quote protocols, traders have often needed to consult the SIX order book separately before execution. This creates a workflow break, requiring multiple systems and adding time to a process that depends on timeliness, precision and auditability. The integration of SIX reference pricing into Axess IQ addresses this directly. By embedding live exchange levels alongside dealer axes, indications, and RFQ responses, the need to move between platforms is removed. Pricing validation and execution can now take place within a single environment, both pre-trade and during execution. This is not a change in how trades are approached. It is an operational refinement. Existing behaviours are preserved, but the process becomes more efficient, controlled and easier to evidence. For workflows that prioritise process integrity and efficiency, removing friction without introducing risk is critical. #### Expanding the pricing framework beyond visible markets While exchange pricing provides an important anchor, it does not always reflect the full depth of institutional trading conditions. Order books tend to capture smaller trade sizes and visible liquidity, whereas much of the real activity in CHF credit occurs outside that view. CP+™, the proprietary MarketAxess reference price, extends the pricing framework to reflect this broader reality. It is derived from trading activity across the MarketAxess network, including RFQ flows, streaming prices, and block trades from both local and global participants. This incorporates liquidity and pricing that does not appear on exchange venues. When combined with SIX pricing in Axess IQ, CP+ provides a complementary perspective. One reflects a recognised exchange benchmark, while the other captures where institutional investors are actively transacting across sizes and market conditions. The result is a more complete and statistically robust foundation for decision- making. For desks that rely on reference-driven execution, this additional layer of data enhances confidence. Limit setting becomes more informed, execution outcomes more predictable, and pricing decisions more clearly justifiable. This is particularly relevant in environments where avoiding adverse outcomes is just as important as maximising client alpha. #### Accessing institutional liquidity within a controlled workflow Liquidity access remains a defining factor in execution quality. MarketAxess aggregates a broad network of dealers and buy-side participants, creating a competitive environment for each inquiry. For CHF bonds, this results in tighter pricing and deeper liquidity than is typically available through exchange order books or bilateral trading channels. Crucially, this liquidity extends beyond what is visible. Dealer axes, risk-based pricing, and block appetite are all incorporated into the platform, representing interest that may not otherwise be accessible within traditional workflows. This provides a more accurate reflection of where trades can be executed at scale. Within Axess IQ, this liquidity is fully integrated with pricing and reference data. The workflow remains data-driven, structured, and controlled, but access to institutional interest is materially expanded. This supports better execution outcomes while maintaining the process discipline that is required on the trading desk of a private bank. #### Supporting evolution across trade sizes The immediate benefits of integrating SIX exchange pricing are most apparent in smaller and automated trades. Exchange order books have traditionally guided decision- making in these areas, particularly as a reference check. By embedding those levels directly into Axess IQ, automated workflows gain an additional safeguard. Orders can be executed electronically on MarketAxess with confidence that pricing remains aligned with established benchmarks. Over time, this integration is also likely to influence behaviour in larger block trades. Historically, block-sized CHF trading has remained largely voice-driven, with exchange infrastructure used primarily for booking and reporting rather than liquidity discovery. However, as pricing confidence increases and workflows become more integrated, electronic RFQ protocols are well positioned to capture a greater share of this flow. In this context, the combination of SIX reference pricing, CP+, and aggregated institutional liquidity becomes particularly relevant. It supports a model where larger trades can be executed electronically without compromising on pricing transparency, control, or execution quality. #### A more precise execution standard Swiss private banking workflows are built on precision and consistency as basis for value generation for the client. Efficiency is valuable, but only when justified and controlled. Any enhancement must align with these priorities and integrate seamlessly into existing processes. By embedding SIX reference pricing into Axess IQ, MarketAxess strengthens the core elements of CHF trading workflows. Reference validation remains central, but is now integrated. Pricing insight is broadened through CP+, without replacing established benchmarks. Liquidity access is expanded, while best execution discipline is maintained. The result is a more precise execution environment—one that reduces operational friction, improves visibility, and supports better execution outcomes across all trade sizes. ### Related content #### The rise of European credit automation [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-rise-of-european-credit-automation) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) --- # Re-imagining Private Banking Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/re-imagining-private-banking MarketAxess has been partnering with the top private banks in the world to create a one-stop-shop specifically designed to address their needs and workflow. Watch the recording of our session at the Asian Private Banker Summit to learn more. --- # Hubbis: MarketAxess Re-imagines Private Banking Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/re-imagining-private-banking-with-marketaxess-fixed-income-trading-solutions #### Identifying the potential Tham opens the conversation by zooming straight in on the private banking and wealth management community, explaining why the firm tailored its proprietary Axess IQ solution for traders and relationship managers (RMs). “The most taxing problem I faced when I worked at the fixed income trading desk of a global private bank was connecting the trading desk with the investment decision-makers,” he reports. “Basically, constant requests for indicative prices and market insights ate up a substantial portion of the day. This was a key problem I wanted to solve when I joined MarketAxess.” #### The one-stop-shop Axess IQ was launched in November 2019, since then the firm has made continuous enhancements. “The efficient, low-touch and even no-touch automated execution tools offered by MarketAxess allow firms to quickly complete orders, supported with the confidence of industry-leading market data from the AI-powered Composite+™ pricing engine,” Tham reports. “Connecting sophisticated trading technology and market data in one central hub ultimately improves trading outcomes and supports a more seamless order management and execution workflow.” He explains that Axess IQ, the firm’s one-stop trading shop specifically designed for wealth managers and private banks, is now fully honed, and the firm has been building a client base around the world who sees the value in streamlining communication between RMs and the trading desks, thus trading client orders more efficiently than ever before. “The Axess IQ platform is our flagship solution for the whole private banking and trading community,” he explains. “I won’t go into too much detail here, but it has all the beauty and effectiveness of a Swiss army knife; it is totally fit for purpose.” And he says Axess IQ addresses transparency, efficiency, effectiveness and timeliness head-on. “For the RM community, without adequate visibility into markets, they really can’t accurately or optimally advise their clients on investment decisions,” he states. #### Made to measure Tham believes that data is the lifeblood of the modern world, and the simple fact is that RMs have struggled to easily access reliable and up-to-date fixed income data. And then, once a client and RM have perhaps made their investment decision, the RM faces challenges around communicating the order to the trading desk, tracking its progress and reporting back. “To address all these issues, we tailored a special version of Axess IQ specifically for RMs,” he reports. “All the great features we had built for traders – unparalleled market insight tools, streamlined order management, and efficiency enhancers - are all repackaged and designed specifically for the RM workflow.” The result, he reports, is that the RM can now access almost the same data and market insights that the trading desk sees. “And they can drop orders into the trading desk’s order queue and use the same smart order management features to track those live orders.” "Traders still retain full control of the trades and data, meaning that only the most relevant information is shared with the RMs. The archaic world of trading fixed income thus disappears and a new, streamlined, and highly efficient protocol arrives." #### Targeting wealth management Tham steps back from the detail to offer some of the history of the 22-year-old firm in order to establish the context for his role and mission as Head of Private Banking since mid-2021. “MarketAxess has traditionally been a trading platform more targeted towards asset managers, and large institutional investors,” he reports. “But when I joined MarketAxess in 2018 from UBS Wealth Management where I ran a trading desk and used MarketAxess' products, I took on the mission of helping the firm develop products and solutions that really help the private banking client community to grow.” #### Understanding the PB landscape Achieving that, he explains, required a deep appreciation of the motivations and aims of the wealth management community. “Armed with that understanding, we have been able to deliver digital solutions that really help drive alpha generation, far greater efficiency, all resulting in better RM productivity and improved client retention and satisfaction.” Tham elaborates on these comments, noting that the MarketAxess' electronic trading platform delivers state-of-the-art pre-trade information to traders and RMs, also powered by AI and machine learning. MarketAxess’ AI pricing engine takes into account all the firm’s platform data and global trading activity and turns it into Composite Plus (CP+™), a highly accurate real-time price indication for more than 250,000 bonds, achieving 100% coverage of the bonds outstanding in its defined markets. This means that traders and RMs don’t have to look for different sources and use different systems to get highest quality price information on bonds. #### Out with the old, in with the new “The old phone call to the traders disappears and is replaced by a real-time access to bespoke, tailored information for the RMs, available online” he reports. “The platform then delivers super-fast execution of orders and feeds full transparency back to the RMs, to relay on to their clients. Imagine numerous small orders in the private banks and how unwieldy that used to be, and then imagine how dramatically this solution enhances the flows, capabilities and the experience of the RMs and their clients.” Tham also elaborates on how the solution helps drive alpha generation. “Simply, we provide probably the largest and deepest liquidity pool in credit fixed income products,” he reports. “In fixed income, you try to squeeze out basis points here and there.” #### Valuable incremental gains He explains that MarketAxess, beyond Axess IQ, offers a comprehensive suite of trading functionalities from Single RFQ, List Trading, automation tools and most importantly a unique trading network called ‘Open Trading®’, which is basically an all-to-all trading marketplace. “So, unlike in the old world of fixed income, where you might have a trading line with perhaps twenty dealers, MarketAxess allows you to send your request to all participants on the platform, thereby opening up a vast liquidity pool provided currently by north of 1800 participants. That helps drive alpha via access to a far broader and deeper liquidity pool.” And he adds it saves clients money on the trades. “Every fraction of a basis point the trading desk can save on trades will go directly to the performance of these clients’ portfolios,” he states. In the first half of 2022, MarketAxess clients globally saved USD 438.8 million by using Open Trading. MarketAxess easily integrates with other third-party OMSs and EMSs positioning itself as the ideal trading and data solution for private banks and wealth managers at any stage of their workflow evolution. #### Plus points all round Tham also drills down further into the issue of data quality and integrity. “There has been a dearth of fixed income data on which to help model the best outcomes and portfolios, but we have created trademarked, AI-powered Composite+ pricing engine, a solution that we have already proved helps significantly with price discovery and valuation,” he says. And he also observes that fixed income trading automation – already a commodity feature in the US and Europe – is gradually spreading into Asia. “It is available, it is mature, and Asia is gradually catching up,” he states. Nirav Doshi joined the firm in mid-2021 and, since July this year, has become Senior Sales Relationship Manager for Asia Pacific, responsible for building the regional client footprint across the private banking and hedge fund sectors as well as strengthening the Australian business. He offers his own views to reinforce the observations that Tham had proffered. #### Pulling it all together “The data element is crucial to pre-trade price discovery for the trading desk to efficiently and rapidly update their relationship managers to optimise the whole decision-making process,” Doshi observes. "Data had been highly disparate, but our solutions pull that together seamlessly and easily, while our automation solutions are increasingly being adopted by the private bank community in the region to automatically execute ‘easier’ and ‘smaller’ tickets, based on specific parameters." “This enables traders to focus on the more complex tickets and products, where they can apply their market expertise to realise more value for private bank DPM and family office clients, who demand more of an institutional-level service.” He expands on this, noting that Axess IQ, MarketAxess’ private bank execution management system, is extremely sophisticated in terms of the simple things that PBs wanted to do but could not, such as order management, order queuing, order taking, best execution via the all-to-all liquidity functionality, and of course all with compliant processes and reporting built in. #### Riding the waves Tham also observes that the market dislocations of 2022 thus far are encouraging some major market shifts, such as a transition by investors back to fixed income, and away from higher-risk assets like equities. “There is a clear shift to safer products, and investment grade debt is becoming more popular again, as well as shorter maturities,” he reports. “We are also seeing a shift to ESG-centricity in investment selection, and again our data helps RMs and investors curate those opportunities.” #### Key priorities Doshi reports that the mission within private banking in Asia is to make MarketAxess the ‘go-to’ bond electronic trading platform. The first step in the process is to increase MarketAxess’ brand equity among private banks and get them onboarded, which is typically a multi-month process. “We have notched up 12 so far, and we are building all the time,” he says. Once the onboarding is done, the next step is to make sure the trader fully understands all the protocols, bells and whistles that MarketAxess delivers. For example, Doshi and colleagues aim to drive greater uptake of the MarketAxess automation protocols. “Our Auto-Responder solution, for example, allows customers to place resting orders that are then automatically acted upon,” he explains. “The various parties do not have to keep checking the market; the system does it for them.” “Our solutions will make their lives easier; it is as simple as that,” he says. “Most importantly, we want them to appreciate all the different areas where we will help drive a more efficient RM-trader relationship, better execution and reporting.” #### Simple goals, major advances The final word goes to Tham, who says that the big picture is the digitisation and automation of activities of the private banks in the fixed income markets. “Our solutions play ideally to the wealth sector trend towards greater empowerment of the RMs, helping boost their skills, their advice, their efficiencies and freeing up their time for creativity, all of which leads directly to the overall enhancement of the RM relationship with their clients and greater client loyalty,” he explains. “Underlying all our sophisticated solutions are these immensely simple objectives. We have achieved considerable traction so far and we think there's much more to come.” #### Getting Personal with Erik Tham Erik Tham is 49 years old and comes originally from Southern Bavaria in Germany. He studied physics both in Germany and in the US at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His early career saw him join a technology consulting company, and soon specialised in the world of fixed income, later joining UBS and moving to Switzerland. He now holds dual Swiss and German nationality. In his role at UBS, he used MarketAxess solutions, and it was a natural move for him to join the firm in November 2018, first as Head of Private Banking for Benelux and Switzerland and then from mid-2021 as Head of Global Private Banking Product. He is based in Zurich and married with three sons aged 23, 18 and 15, all of them also in Switzerland currently. As usual with anyone based in Switzerland, he enjoys skiing and the outdoors life. He also has a long-term love affair with Italian motorbikes, owning an old Moto Guzzi, a 1995 Cagiva rally bike, and a very modern Aprilia. “The Swiss mountain roads are great,” he says, “and ideal for motorbiking. I can strike out south from Zurich and enjoy those glorious roads and scenery, including some wonderful passes such as St. Gotthard, Susten or Grimsel. These are half day type trips and ideal for relaxation and fresh air.” #### Getting Personal with Nirav Doshi Nirav Doshi is a financial services professional with over 20 years of fixed income sales experience. He worked as a Strategy Consultant at Arthur D. Little’s Telecommunications Practice for five years, before spending six years in Structured Credit Sales at JPMorgan and later Barclays in New York. In 2008 he moved to Singapore, where he joined Goldman Sachs as Executive Director in Credit Sales for Asia-Pacific, spending eight years there before moving to CLSA until he joined MarketAxess in July 2021. At MarketAxess, Nirav Doshi Nirav is building the firm’s regional client footprint across the private banking and hedge fund sectors, as well as strengthening the Australian business. He hails originally from Kolkata in India, and later left to complete his BBA in Accounting from Angelo State University in Texas and then obtained his MBA from Columbia Business School in New York. He recalls that his return to Asia in 2008 was driven significantly by wanting to reconnect the family with Asia, specifically with easy access to India. He remains happily married today, and two sons 20 and 17, the older boy at Boston University studying data science and the younger one planning to study electrical engineering starting in 2023. In his spare time, Nirav enjoys rewarding himself for his hard work by imbibing some rather nice wines as well as honing his bartending skills to make some delightful Negronis and Manhattans. Originally published by Hubbis | Sept. 20, 2022 --- # Regulatory reporting—A view from the SMF “hot” seat Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/regulatory-reporting-a-view-from-the-smf-hot-seat #### Paul Graham talks with MarketAxess. Accuracy and timeliness should go hand in hand. However, for Senior Managers, regulatory reporting often means dealing with problems today, caused by inaccuracies introduced in the past. To help you guard against this eventuality, MarketAxess recently spoke with Paul Graham, former Head of IB Operations at UBS. We discussed what it’s like to be in the hot seat as changes in technology, the rising importance of high-quality data, and the growing demands of the regulatory environment increasingly impact the role of the SMF. MarketAxess: In tests performed by SensAI®, MarketAxess’s AI-powered regulatory reporting assistant, we found that 57% of transactions had at least one previously undetected error. What challenges do firms face in getting transaction reporting right? Paul Graham: My experience was that transaction reporting was historically derived from applications and data sources not originally designed with a primary function of transaction reporting Complexity in technology architecture combined with growing data requirements from regulators can make delivering accurate and timely data more challenging than those not close to this space may think. MarketAxess: Two years ago the CSSF explicitly stated that “…a low level of data quality (e.g. incomplete or missing transaction reports) will not be considered as a negligible offence but may constitute a serious infringement of professional obligations under MiFIR.” Other regulatory bodies have expressed similar sentiments. What can senior managers do to ensure their firms adhere to the demand for completeness and accuracy? Paul Graham: "My approach was to think about my role as being personally responsible for continuously asking questions that related to the foundations of the process and the culture. Foundations—Does the firm have the following aspects correct to enable completeness and accuracy: Technology applications; Data; Organisational construct; Governance; Operating procedures; And a control framework to positively affirm adherence and/or detect issues early? Culture—Is there a deep and wide understanding of the importance of completeness and accuracy across the firm? Do we have the right people in the right roles? Is the culture balanced correctly: People understanding the need for high standards whilst equally feeling comfortable making mistakes and speaking up?" I also periodically sought out external advice and perspective. Even with a highly effective team, there can, over time, be a drift toward groupthink. MarketAxess: Given the global move to electronic trading and the resulting vast pools of data exhaust, where do you think third parties and vendors can add the most value in helping firms with data quality? Paul Graham: They provide a really valuable service. Firstly, they can provide ready-made technology solutions that firms may not have had the time and resources to build themselves. But beyond this, I think they provide two additional benefits a firm won’t get on its own: - They can reconcile your data vs other users of their platform. This is an excellent way to validate your own reporting and detect problems early. - They have a unique perspective on how all of their member firms are operating and can give valuable insight to best practices and problems that other firms are encountering. That said, the Senior Manager is always ultimately responsible, so they must be clear on what they are getting from the third party and make sure it is of an appropriate standard. MarketAxess: Ever-changing regulatory requirements are best met with advanced technology. However, investing in automated AI QA processes consistently gets deprioritised. What is the surest way to make the case that technology is vital in helping deliver the above needs? Paul Graham: It’s absolutely critical. Without a robust technology architecture and the associated controls around that, it becomes exponentially challenging. Much of the new and emerging technology solutions represent a great opportunity to proactively interrogate the accuracy of TR data. I had previously overseen the implementation of quality assurance processes which were heavily reliant on SMEs. Whilst these are very useful controls, they are challenging to scale up. Technology can scale up those processes now to a very effective level. Of course, you need SMEs involved but the combination of SMEs and tech is a key component of your operating model that all senior managers should be leveraging. MarketAxess: As data now drives so much decision-making, can improving reg data accuracy have other business benefits? Paul Graham: Of course, the vast majority of data used for TR is used for multiple other processes across any firm from finance, to risk management and trading. In my experience, I witnessed improvements in reg data accuracy having a positive impact on other operational processes I oversaw such as settlements, confirmations and collateral management. MarketAxess: The last thing any company needs is for regulators to spot inaccuracies first. What one bit of advice would you give to senior managers to help drive accuracy? Paul Graham: I would say you need to be the "person that asks for more", because if it's not you, who will it be? You are the person who needs to ask your team to continuously improve. To ask Technology to deliver better solutions. And where needed, ask the executives above you for support. This is a never-ending cycle as requirements, technology and people change. It is very valuable to speak to external parties to see how they approach their TR. Additionally, having a third party come and pressure test your process or review your data is highly valuable and a good example of an SMF taking ‘reasonable steps’ in relation to their prescribed responsibilities. #### Time for change When regulators take action, the average age of incorrectly reported transactions is 254 days. In a business based on forecasting market movement, it is incredibly disruptive and expensive to wind back the clock and deal with errors that in many cases could have been avoided. With MarketAxess’ SensAI you can fast forward to real-time reporting. When you are the "person that asks for more", as Paul Graham suggests, shouldn't you be asking for SensAI? Not only are you benefiting from expert outside help, but our machine learning algorithm derives insight from over 20 billion transactions. SensAI not only monitors your reporting but also learns from your trading habits and predicts the expected number of transactions reported. It compares what you’ve reported against your counterparty’s version of the trade, and flags potential errors using market-wide data. Plus it stays up to date with ever changing regulatory rules. #### To learn more about SensAI, [contact our team](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us). ### Related Content #### SensAI®: Intelligent reporting [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sensai) #### Data is king [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/data-is-king) #### It’s time to start thinking like a regulator [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ts-time-to-start-thinking-like-a-regulator) --- # Regulatory reporting inaccuracies—It's better to know than be told Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/regulatory-reporting-inaccuracies-its-better-to-know-than-be-told Reporting transactions by an investment firm to a regulator, or National Competent Authority (NCA), has been around in its current form since the advent of MiFID II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive: 2002/92/EC) came into effect in January 2018. Investment firms trading in a wide variety of financial instruments are obliged to send up to 65 fields of data—details of a transaction that they have completed—to the regulator by the end of the business day following the trade date. This might seem a relatively simple ask, yet many firms make errors in reporting these transactions. They then must expend significant effort and cost remediating trade details and replaying them to the regulatory authorities. #### Timeliness and accuracy counts As an Approved Reporting Mechanism (ARM), MarketAxess facilitates the reporting connection between the firm and the NCAs. In 2023 alone, more than 1 billion trades were replayed via this ARM, with the average age of the replay 243 days PAST the trade date. This matters. It matters significantly to regulators who use the data they receive from investment firms to analyse market activity, conduct surveillance into nefarious trading activity, plus the data is used to inform their planning for the long-term safety and soundness of markets. The UK (FCA), German (BaFIN) and French (AMF) regulators are making it clear that their patience for firms persistently committing reporting errors and then rectifying them months and months after the trade date is wearing thin. Enforcement, and with it the reputational damage of being named by the regulator is increasingly likely. #### Preventing errors from becoming issues So how does a firm ensure that their firm doesn’t fall into this trap? Ensuring the framework in place for controlling and monitoring transaction reporting is comprehensive, with thorough and complete checks and balances. Conducting a reconciliation periodically should be mandatory for each firm as a minimum. What else should be considered? Conducting an assessment with external SMEs who review their whole control framework is something many believe worthwhile, as is testing reporting data for completeness, accuracy, and timeliness. The real question is how does each firm get comfortable with the accuracy of reporting up to hundreds of thousands of transactions on a daily basis with all of the possible data elements. #### Artificial intelligence. Genuine support. Using new advanced machine learning techniques can help. By putting MarketAxess' vast troves of data (over 20 billion transactions) to work, your firm can be protected from the pain of remediation and the risk of reputational damage. MarketAxess has developed SensAI® which not only monitors ALL transactions ALL of the time, (no periodic reconciliation here), but highlights any errors in reporting whilst comparing transactions with peers. SensAI is clever enough to monitor transactions and rank any errors by importance so teams can address those deemed high risk, and demanding immediate remediation. When a firm makes changes to trade capture systems that can impact reporting quality. SensAI monitors reporting in near-real-time, enabling instant correction of the error, and avoiding a build-up of flawed reporting. The last thing a firm—or the person with SMF responsibility for reporting—wants is the regulator to knock on the door armed with a litany of issues. It's better to KNOW, than to BE TOLD. Regulators are tightening their focus on Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) reporting, particularly RTS 22, the section covering obligations and reportable fields. And for good reason. Six years after implementation of the regulation the industry should be doing better. As Jay Leno once said, "Regulations force people to do better" – as an industry we must do better – SensAI is the solution the industry has been waiting for! #### To learn more about SensAI, [contact our team](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us). ### Related content #### Regulatory Reporting—A view from the SMF “hot” seat [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-a-view-from-the-smf-hot-seat) #### Data is king [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/data-is-king) #### It’s time to start thinking like a regulator [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ts-time-to-start-thinking-like-a-regulator) --- # Repo reinvented: how speed, clarity and confidence are reshaping the future of repo markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/repo-reinvented-how-speed-clarity-and-confidence-are-reshaping-the-future-of-repo-markets Volumes are higher than ever, participation is broader, and regulatory change is compressing timelines across the trade lifecycle. The next chapter of repo will be shaped by infrastructure, operating models, and the industry’s ability to deliver speed alongside clarity and confidence. #### A market moving faster with less tolerance for friction Repo markets today operate at a scale and velocity that would have been difficult to imagine even a decade ago. Macroeconomic volatility, shifts in monetary policy, and changes in the composition of market participants have driven sustained growth in activity. At the same time, regulatory initiatives — notably the move to T+1 settlement in Europe and the UK, and mandatory clearing in the United States — are going to compress already tight operational timelines even further. Historically, repo infrastructure evolved to solve the problems of its time, with longer settlement cycles, overnight batch processing, and relationship-driven workflows. Many of today’s processes, such as manual exception handling and bespoke data formats, are rational adaptations to those earlier constraints. In a T+1 environment, however, those adaptations are exposed as sources of risk. Speed is now a baseline requirement. Firms must effectively manage the trade lifecycle end-to-end: from execution through confirmation, allocation, lifecycle events, settlement and, increasingly, clearing. Faster markets leave less room for ambiguity: inconsistent data or unclear ownership quickly turns into operational risk. #### Data consistency as the foundation of clarity One of the most persistent challenges in repo remains data inconsistency. Different booking models, system representations, and message formats still describe the same economic trade in subtly different ways. These inconsistencies are a primary driver of exceptions, manual intervention, and delayed settlement. For years, the repo industry has attempted to address this through standardisation, often by imposing rigid data requirements on participants. While standards remain important, experience has shown that inflexibility can create new barriers, particularly for firms with constrained technology resources. A growing consensus is therefore emerging around a different approach: normalisation at the point of ingestion. By accepting trade data in multiple formats and transforming it centrally, market infrastructure can reduce integration friction while preserving consistency downstream. The result is fewer exceptions, faster onboarding, and greater scalability. This clarity has important implications for market structure. As participation expands beyond traditional dealer banks, lowering technical barriers becomes essential. Data normalisation and clarity become enablers of broader, more resilient participation. #### Beyond trade matching: clarity across the trade lifecycle As settlement cycles compress, the limitations of a narrow focus on trade matching become increasingly apparent. Matching alone does not guarantee settlement. Trades must navigate a complex series of downstream processes, often involving multiple systems and teams. Participants consistently highlighted the need for holistic lifecycle visibility that includes a single, coherent view of where each trade sits, what events have occurred, and what remains outstanding. Today, that information is frequently fragmented across confirmation platforms, settlement systems, custodians, and clearing workflows. During periods of market stress, uncertainty about trade status can amplify risk far more quickly than price movements themselves. In such environments, clarity becomes a form of resilience. Bringing settlement status, lifecycle events, allocation flows and clearing parameters into a unified operational view allows firms to prioritise effectively and reduce the likelihood of cascading failures. It also shifts the role of operations from reactive problem-solving to proactive risk management. #### Automation driving confidence Automation has long been part of the repo narrative, but its focus is changing. Areas such as pair-offs, allocations, and lifecycle event processing have remained highly manual, often requiring repeated intervention across both sides of a trade. These processes are now being redesigned to support configuration-driven automation, where rules are defined once and applied consistently at scale. Automation supports a faster settlement environment by delivering speed and greater confidence in predictable outcomes and auditability. #### The practical role of artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence featured prominently in discussions about the future of repo, but in a notably pragmatic way. The emphasis was not on replacing human judgment, but on enhancing it. By analysing historical matching behaviour, counterparty patterns and market context, AI-driven tools can help identify the most likely causes of exceptions, suggest corrective actions, and prioritise issues that genuinely threaten settlement. In doing so, they allow operations teams to concentrate their efforts more effectively. AI also offers a powerful lever in onboarding and integration. Mapping data fields between systems has traditionally been a time-consuming, manual exercise, often taking months. Early evidence suggests that AI-assisted mapping can dramatically accelerate this process, reducing time-to-connect and supporting faster market expansion. #### Regulation as a catalyst for structural change Regulatory change has long been one of the most powerful forces shaping repo markets, and the current cycle is no exception. T+1 settlement and clearing mandates are forcing firms to confront long-standing structural issues. Fragmented ownership across trading, treasury, collateral and operations functions remains common. Investment has historically prioritised front-office capability over post-trade resilience. In many organisations, processes have been layered rather than redesigned. The risk, as several participants observed, is that firms respond to regulatory change by doing the minimum required to comply. The opportunity lies in treating regulation as a moment to rearchitect operating models for a faster, more resilient future. Central clearing illustrates this dynamic particularly clearly. Mandatory clearing introduces new workflows, data requirements, and connectivity points, often without a single prescribed industry model. Supporting broader access, including sponsored clearing for non-banks, requires infrastructure that can deliver transparency and scale without increasing operational burden. #### The buy-side perspective: transparency and predictability The growing role of buy-side participants has fundamentally changed the dynamics of repo markets. Hedge funds, asset managers, and pension schemes are no longer peripheral users; they are core participants with distinct needs and expectations. Across discussions, buy-side priorities were strikingly consistent. They seek transparency into where trades sit in the lifecycle, confidence through predictable settlement outcomes, and operating models that allow them to access liquidity without disproportionate complexity. These demands reinforce the importance of clarity through lifecycle visibility and intelligent automation. As participation broadens, infrastructure must accommodate diverse operating models while maintaining consistency and control. Confidence, for the buy side, is inseparable from clarity. #### Reimagining repo Repo has reinvented itself before, often in response to external pressure. The current reinvention is no different in that regard, but it is broader in scope. It touches every part of the lifecycle and every category of participant. What is changing is not just how fast repo markets operate, but how clearly they operate. As speed increases, clarity becomes essential. As participation broadens, confidence becomes the foundation of growth. The discussions in London made clear that the industry understands both the challenge and the opportunity. The next era of repo will be built on a renewed focus on infrastructure, data and operating models that support speed, clarity and confidence. That reinvention is already underway. ### Related content #### Control is the best defence [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/control-is-the-best-defence) #### Use AI and be more human [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/use-ai-and-be-more-human) #### The importance of building enduring relationships Originally published by Securities Finance Times | 17 Sept 2024 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/post-trade-sftr-emerging-talent-article) --- # Responding to pressure Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/responding-to-pressure Maria Calderon, Head of LATAM Sales at MarketAxess, spoke with Asset Servicing Times to discuss what's in store for the asset servicing industry in LATAM in 2025. Despite regional pressures, she says there's reasons to be optimistic about LATAM and expects a positive boost to liquidity and volumes to continue throughout the year. --- # Risk averse investors of Asian local markets favor Korean bonds in flight to safety Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/risk-averse-investors-of-asian-local-markets-favor-korean-bonds-in-flight-to-safety Early 2021 saw global investors flocking to Asian local fixed income markets in search of more attractive yield and other diversification benefits. This trend has continued well into the second quarter, with foreigners’ purchases of Asian bonds surging to a two-year high in June. Yet by the end of the first-half, signs have begun to emerge of investors switching from the more volatile local markets to those with more stable outlook within the region. Second-quarter data gathered from the MarketAxess platform offers a glimpse of this shift, with average daily trading volume in Malaysia Ringgit (MYR) dropping to 28.4% from the first quarter. By contrast, the volume of Korean Won (KRW), viewed generally as a relative safe haven in times of global volatility, nearly doubled in volume. These figures are consistent with the broader markets, as data from local regulatory authorities and bond market associations [show](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/most-asian-bonds-face-foreign-outflows-july-virus-worries-2021-08-17/) similar fund-flow pattern. The Korea Financial Investment Association, for example, [reported](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210810000756) global investors bought more Korean bonds in the first seven months of this year than all of 2020, with foreign net purchase setting a monthly record in June. There are a few explanations for bond investors’ increased caution. The obvious ones are the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in most of Southeast Asia and the concern over its impact on their economies and public finance. Malaysia shows outflow from Thailand and the Philippines, countries that have been hit hard by the delta variant surge and are falling behind in vaccination rates. Trading volume of Singapore Dollar (SGD), on the other hand, has been relatively stable. The nation-state has fully inoculated three quarters of its population. Another factor that could be causing investors jitters is the increased uncertainties over a few sectors of the Chinese economy that are facing regulatory scrutiny, namely technology and real estate. An example is a new cybersecurity law taking effect in September that tightens rules on how data can be collected and shared with third parties and is generally viewed as being more wide-reaching than the EU’s GDPR. Since the second quarter stocks from these industries have been underperforming. While this is unlikely to damage the country’s long-term economic outlook, it nevertheless puts pressure on Chinese credits and raises concerns whether the selloff would spread to other sectors within the country. As an innovator of fixed income trading technology, we have also observed some major behavioral changes among bond traders over the past few months. Most importantly, we have been encouraged by the way they embrace our solutions even during periods of abnormal volatility. In the past they tended to move away from electronic platforms and revert to voice trading once liquidity began to tighten. But thanks to our award-winning, all-to-all marketplace [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading), we connect counterparties that would traditionally not face each other in an anonymous fashion. This simultaneously opens up additional channels of liquidity, provides cost savings in the form of tighter bid/ask spreads and limits information leakage as all parties face MarketAxess for settlement. Other products that have experienced surging demand under the current market condition include our [portfolio trading solutions](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading), which allow traders to package up to 1,500 bonds into a single contingent package. In addition to simplifying workflow and lowering cost on large and complex deals, they also help to improve liquidity on thinly-traded bonds, an important feature to investors looking to de-risk their bond holdings. Despite the latest increase in volatility and its impact on some local currency bonds, over all we remain positive on the long-term prospect of the Asian markets and the role electronic platforms can play in their development. Reports like those about Chinese authorities working on preparations for the launch of the Bond Connect Southbound link program are reasons behind our optimism. ### Learn more about Asia Local Markets [Read More](https://back.mktxwebsite.io/trade/asia-local-markets) --- # S&P Global Market Intelligence, MarketAxess collaborate to enhance fixed income market transparency and efficiency Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/s-and-p-global-market-intelligence-marketaxess-collaborate-to-enhance-fixed-income-market-transparency-and-efficiency ## S&P Global Market Intelligence, MarketAxess collaborate to enhance fixed income market transparency and efficiency --- # Scaling up EM Hard Currency trading with Targeted RFQ Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/scaling-up-em-hard-currency-trading-with-targeted-rfq In often illiquid and volatile emerging markets (EM), achieving best execution is a vital part of delivering on fund objectives. Increasingly, electronic trading plays a critical role, helping the buy side and sell side access deep liquidity and market data at the click of a button – even for larger ticket sizes. At a recent client panel, MarketAxess invited leading market participants from RBC BlueBay Asset Management, Aberdeen and Morgan Stanley to debate the key trends shaping the EM Hard Currency landscape. The discussion focused on the rising importance of technology infrastructure, new execution solutions and the growing utility of trade and performance data. Here we highlight some of the key topics and takeaways. #### A dynamic EM Hard Currency landscape EM Hard Currency trading is more dynamic, more sophisticated and more tech-driven than ever. Both on the buy side and the sell side, traders are embracing digitalized and tailored approaches to execution—choosing the right product to suit their trading needs. From Open Trading®, our all-to-all marketplace, to Targeted Request-for-Quote (TRFQ), our newly launched block trading solution, market participants are focused on developing a range of trading styles, with the buy side working to ensure dealers understand their execution, efficiency and data needs. A common observation on our panel was that growth in EM trade volumes demands a more granular and targeted execution environment. On the buy side, there is acknowledgment that protocol selection is a critical skill set, with traders seeking to strike a balance between obtaining the maximum amount of data and being equipped to cleanse and use it effectively. For instance, dealers may send quoted prices, but if those prices don’t hold at the time of the trade, they become meaningless. For that reason, dealers that consistently meet buy-side needs are likely to secure more frequent and larger transactions. As EM trading volumes rise, automation promotes scalability and efficiency through the trading process. Traders on both the buy side and sell side point to its role in helping them manage a growing ticket count at a time when overall headcounts are falling. Moreover, it frees up time to execute larger trades, research the most appropriate solutions and select counterparties. And across different regions, electronic markets are helping traders access new, and often local, partners. That said, long-standing priorities such as excellent relationships, consistency and a strong ecosystem still apply. The challenge for traders is to effectively use a combination of approaches in parallel to optimize their trading strategies. #### The benefits of TRFQ Launched just a few months ago, panellists agreed that TRFQ is an increasingly valuable addition to the EM Hard Currency toolkit. “We noticed that electronic trade sizes grew across markets, while EM Hard Currency was lagging behind and the process of choosing dealers for $3-8 million tickets was tricky,” said Dan Burke, Global Head of EM at MarketAxess. “In addition, we listened to the feedback of our dealers who told us they’d be more comfortable trading larger sizes electronically if they could operate in a more contained environment with more transparency on the number of competing dealers. All this signalled the need for a new approach, a new technology solution that would benefit both buy side and sell side and result in better execution outcomes all round." The TRFQ solution helps buy-side traders get better pricing for larger trades, sell-side traders get more comfortable trading those sizes electronically and it also helps match traders with the best available counterparties. Designed for trade sizes of more than $3 million, it solves the dealer selection pain point by suggesting up to eight sell side players that are axed or have recently been active in the relevant bond, allowing the trader to accurately define his or her selection. Combining the benefits of voice with the efficiency of electronic trading, TRFQ is a fast route to best execution. “It really does work,” said one event attendee. “Both for EM Investment Grade and High Yield, the pre-trade dealer selection functionality is a valuable upside.” Hit ratios on TRFQ are about 13% higher than on the wider platform, showing that the matching functionality operates effectively in bringing willing counterparties together. Indeed, MarketAxess’ clients go on to invite 80% of TRFQ recommended dealers onto their tickets, indicating a big potential upside for dealers if they share their axes on the platform. From the buy side’s perspective, TRFQ’s data-driven workflows are a significant benefit. Dealer selection takes in multiple factors, including live axes, best 30-day performance and market depth, enabling traders to make decisions based on a wide range of metrics for every trade. Traders on the panel highlighted the benefits of the product’s data marshalling capabilities. “Any data we can leverage off, we do,” said Russell Beer, Senior Fixed Income Dealer, EM Debt at Aberdeen. “Knowing the volume on a bond or where people are axed is invaluable for us in our client discussions. And having an accurate mid-price with just one click is super key.” From a dealer perspective, data benefits include a range of monthly statistics and, most importantly, the opportunity to join a narrow field once they are selected on any ticket. #### The vital role of Open Trading While TRFQ opens the door to larger e-traded ticket sizes, Open Trading still plays a vital role. Many market participants value the advantages of an unparalleled liquidity pool, sourced through more than 2,000 global institutions, and best execution through anonymous counterparties. “From odd lots to small lots, the all-to-all protocol is becoming much more seamless than it was in the past, and it takes out the stress,” said Mark Harrison, Senior Trader, BlueBay Fixed Income, EM at RBC BlueBay Asset Management. With average daily volumes reaching about $4 billion, buyside participants highlighted the benefits of being able to reach out to accounts they don’t have established lines with, offering both trading optionality and the potential to access new insights. “The Street is much more bought in than it was previously,” said Harrison. “That helps me discover counterparties that I wasn't aware even traded the bonds.” MarketAxess’ Burke concurs with that view. “For tickets under $2 million in EM Hard Currency corporates and tickets under $3 million in EM Hard Currency sovereigns, Open Trading brings incredible benefits,” he said. “The average price improvement on those smaller trades is 23 cents above the next best disclosed dealer. One of the reasons is the increasing number of diverse participants providing liquidity through the all-to-all network.” On the sell side, Open Trading offers a unique ability to ensure that even the most esoteric bonds can find buyers. When executing Portfolio Trades, for example, the solution helps trading desks locate counterparties without needing to send out axes for small sizes. And through MarketAxess’ Dealer-initiated RFQ, the trader is able to both offload risk and find new opportunities in the market. #### Dealer selection and performance analysis The data-driven dealer selection that is critical to TRFQ is equally as valuable in other types of trades, with market participants increasingly looking to identify liquidity based on real performance metrics rather than reputation or habit. “If we can look at things such as hit rate data, we open the door to exploring new avenues and maybe giving someone else a try,” said Aberdeen’s Beer. “And if we do that and the dealer doesn’t disappoint, there is a high chance we will give them more business.” Looking to the future, there is an opportunity for data analytics to add even more value. Panellists highlighted the potential utility of cost analysis for block trades and of lists of trades of certain sizes. They could then pass these on to clients with more confidence. On the other hand, there are situations where data could be more reliable. A common challenge is where dealers fail to regularly update axes. In that context, a useful innovation would be a feature to guide traders on the quality of axes, potentially supported through publication of hit ratios, win rates or slippage to pre-trade levels. “It’s a data war out there,” said Aberdeen’s Beer. “People are clamouring for data, and good data helps us see who is most consistent, which helps us with planning for trading across the board.” As market structures continue to evolve, panellists agreed that access to diverse trading and data solutions has become increasingly crucial. Whether it’s voice trading, e-trading, automation, portfolio trading, or the newly launched TRFQ, the key is finding the right tool to support seamless and efficient execution. At MarketAxess, we are dedicated to empowering our clients with a comprehensive toolkit and the flexibility they need to navigate the dynamic EM landscape. --- # Seizing the opportunity How electronic trading is enabling larger trades in Asia Credit Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/seizing-the-opportunity-how-electronic-trading-is-enabling-larger-trades-in-asia-credit Asia's credit markets have evolved into a dynamic and increasingly attractive segment of the global fixed income landscape. Since the launch of MarketAxess’ targeted block trading solution in late 2024, more than 100 clients and 40 dealers worldwide have used the protocol. Adoption continues to grow as traders leverage block trading technology and data advances to improve pricing discovery and enhance liquidity selection. During MarketAxess’ latest Traders Table in Singapore with Standard Chartered Bank, buy-side and sell-side participants in the region shared insights on the rise in electronically traded Asia credit volumes through block trades, and the associated market benefits. #### Technology and data advances Market levers such as the rise of emerging markets fixed income are fuelling innovation in the electronic trading market in Asia, unlocking additional liquidity, greater transparency and efficiency for larger block trades of Asia credit. Strong technology and data are the cornerstone of the future of trading and will remain resilient in any market condition. MarketAxess’ Targeted Request-for-Quote (TRFQ) and the Smart Dealer Select (SDS) mechanism are also enabling larger electronic trades. Designed for trade sizes over $3 million, TRFQ, a buy- and sell-side friendly protocol solves the dealer selection pain point by suggesting up to eight active sell-side players based on a series of criteria and recent activity, allowing the trader to accurately define his or her selection. This has been a well-received complement to dealer selection which has historically been placed largely on just streaming Axes. The result is a more strategic, data driven approach and counterparty selection which results in improved execution quality and greater operational efficiency. For those concerned about making large and sensitive inquiries electronically, SDS provides data-driven assistance when selecting disclosed dealers on more delicate inquiries. This leverages proprietary real-time data designed to create trading opportunities, minimize information leakage while optimising the chances of a competitive quote. Traders using SDS have achieved hit rates exceeding 70%. Since TRFQ launched in November 2024, MarketAxess has seen an increase of 22% year to date in block trades above $3M being traded electronically. | #### Improved price discovery Electronic trading tools are enhancing price transparency and discovery, particularly in Asia Credit where bond pricing data is often fragmented across markets and time zones. Protocols such as TRFQ provides traders with data and a more contained environment to confidently and more accurately execute larger, sensitive block trades. TRFQ also allows for negotiation and customized solutions, providing valuable data points on market valuations that smaller, more frequent and voice trades may not capture effectively or as confidentially. The beauty also lies in the fact that it complements, rather than replaces, existing workflows. For fixed income traders, the ability to transact larger blocks provides insights into the true supply–demand dynamics of specific issuers or sectors. This helps traders make more informed decisions, identify mispricing, and ensure best execution. Over time, improved price discovery fosters a more efficient and resilient credit market in Asia. #### Leveraging data to enhance your liquidity selection Larger block trades, which consolidate transactions into fewer, more substantial executions, can significantly reduce trading costs. However, this is only applicable to bonds that are highly liquid. For less liquid bonds, buy-side dealers may struggle to gauge whether they are getting prices that are most in-line with the market. Anonymous liquidity pools have benefited the buy side with price improvements and greater efficiency. However, it comes at the cost of dealers’ protection and potential information leakage, particularly with illiquid bonds. Given the risk of the winner’s curse, sell side dealers could adopt a more defensive strategy when pricing bonds in anonymous liquidity pools. New trading protocols have been put in place to ensure pricing is limited to a restricted number of dealers, reducing information leakage while motivating sell-side price markers to provide a better price. Selecting the right dealer also drives further cost savings. Proprietary protocols like “Smart Dealer Select” add value by showing buy-side clients which dealers have been most active on specific bonds, and where each bond was previously traded. This information gives the buy-side insights on who is able to successfully sell a bond, increasing the likelihood for it to be sold at the best price. #### Better trading outcomes As Asia's credit markets evolve, embracing solutions like TRFQ and SDS will improve the overall trading experience for both the sell and buy-sides. | This will help participants seize opportunities in Asia's credit markets, supporting better trading outcomes and enabling them to capture the region's growth potential in this asset class. ### Related content #### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-awards-2025-article) #### Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading [Listen to the podcast](https://www.fi-desk.com/the-bondcast-simplifying-hard-currency-em-bond-trading/) #### Shaping tomorrow’s fixed-income landscape with Targeted RFQ [Listen to the podcast](https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/shaping-tomorrows-fixed-income-landscape-with-targeted-rfq) --- # Setting the scene: Fixed income in Global Emerging Markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/setting-the-scene-fixed-income-in-global-emerging-markets Emerging market (EM) bonds have continued to see broad gains over the first half of 2024, despite diverse and persistent macroeconomic headwinds. A positive market development is the continued growth in global fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to [MarketAxess’ TraX® data](https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data), we have continued to see shifts in the global market structure, driven by the strong performance of ETFs. This performance has had an impact on fixed income markets globally, as where we have seen ETF activity increase rapidly, we have also seen trading volumes in underlying cash bond activity follow a similar trend. Specifically, there has been a division in the liquidity of ETF-eligible bonds and non-ETF-eligible bonds. ETF-eligible bonds are trading with a much higher velocity and turnover compared to their non-ETF counterparts, driven by how banks are recycling risk. Electronification is key to the success of ETF trading. Electronic protocols allow traders to efficiently trade a basket of bonds with an overall risk profile, that can be easily hedged through the ETF create/redeem process rather than dealing with the individual bond position or line item. Accurate pre-trade pricing and real-time liquidity analysis has helped counterparties quote prices for high numbers of bonds and execute trades at ultra-fast speeds and with razor-thin spreads. More broadly the two clear trends currently developing in EM when it comes to e-trading are: - A decrease in trade size. - An increase in trading activity at month end. #### Trade volume of Emerging Markets (Hard & Local Currency) on MarketAxess Based on platform trading data, the trend is seen across EM sovereigns which have a high correlation to most active EM ETFs—for example, iShares EMB has a 100% weighting on sovereign bonds and agency bonds. This is a trend that has not been replicated in the hard currency corporate market, creating an increased separation of liquidity. #### Average trade size of EM Hard Currency Sovereign Bonds In this constantly changing liquidity environment, it’s clear that traders need a range of protocols, data & analytics that will let them juggle between a range of different trading methods including high-touch, low-velocity and low-touch, high-velocity. In a recent Trader’s Table event held in London, 11 buy-side clients joined us to explore these emerging trends and, particularly, the increased distinction between low- and high-touch trading flows when trading EM bonds. | Our clients largely agreed with the above. We heard that efficiency at both ends of the spectrum is critical for them. That means developing deeper, more robust data on less liquid securities as well as offering protocols that allow for easier block trading, as well as improving the sophistication of automation and algo trading tools. #### Elevating high-touch trading To help clients mitigate the risks often associated with sending out larger inquiries, we have created new tools such as Smart Dealer Select and [Request-for-Market (RFM)](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/request-for-market#page=1), to allow traders to make better, data-driven decisions for these trades. For example, Smart Dealer Select (SDS) leverages the vast pool of data we sit on to recommend the most suitable liquidity providers for a given trade, based on a rules-based model. With SDS, clients can adopt a smarter, faster and data-driven approach to obtaining the best liquidity available. #### Adoption of Smart Dealer Select for Targeted Selection #### Popularity of portfolio trades We continue to see the popularity of [Portfolio Trading (PT)](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) as a unique method for maneuvering through Emerging Markets. EM trades executed by PT in the global market grew by 60% as of Q2 this year. Not only that, 70% of the participants at the Trader’s Table indicated they have used PT or are considering using PT as a method of execution. Benefits of PT include allowing clients to trade a basket of bonds quickly when compared to trading the bonds individually. The use of PT also minimizes market impact as trading a PT can allow for quick risk movements of a basket of bonds without alerting the market, reducing the likelihood of market impact which may lead to unwanted impact on pricing. The ‘all or none’ feature is an added benefit when guaranteed execution is required. A unique differentiator around PT that came out from the discussion was the distinctive proprietary data that MarketAxess provides, pre-trade and in-flight (TraX & [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus)), which helps traders in their decision-making. Our newest technology features present an outlier analysis, that helps optimize the execution of the PT on a basket level as well as individually. The market is evolving and so are we. As the largest electronic marketplace for Emerging Markets, we continue to build innovative trading and data solutions that open new opportunities for our clients—we look forward to continuing our partnerships with our clients across these important markets. #### More on our solutions for global Emerging Markets trading. ### More on our solutions for global Emerging Markets trading. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ### Related Content #### Redefining electronic trading for global Emerging Markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/globalcapital-bond-awards) #### MarketAxess wins at the 2024 Latin America Bond Awards [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/marketaxess-wins-at-the-2024-latin-america-bond-awards) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/Read%20More) --- # Shaping tomorrow’s fixed-income landscape with Targeted RFQ Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/shaping-tomorrow-s-fixed-income-landscape-with-targeted-rfq ## Shaping tomorrow’s fixed-income landscape with Targeted RFQ --- # Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/simplifying-hard-currency-em-bond-trading ## Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading --- # Sourcing liquidity through a connected ecosystem Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/sourcing-liquidity-through-a-connected-ecosystem Liquidity in fixed income markets spans multiple protocols, venues, and workflows, expanding across request-for-quote (RFQ), portfolio trading (PT), centralized order books, and peer-to-peer models. This fragmentation has created complexity for both buy-side and sell-side participants and a challenge in how to access the right liquidity at the right time. The most effective approach is a cohesive ecosystem that combines protocols, partnerships, and data. At MarketAxess, we offer a variety of protocols that allow participants to seamlessly transition between execution styles, whether taking liquidity via RFQ, providing liquidity through [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) (our global, all-to-all electronic marketplace) or leveraging PT workflows. Routing is intelligent between protocols and understands when to engage one dealer, a select group, or a broader network. Innovations such as our [Opening & Closing Auctions](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auctions) protocol pools buy and sell orders across the platform to concentrate liquidity during the most critical times of the day, improving execution outcomes and transparency. To further enhance connectivity across liquidity pools, we have prioritized integration with client workflows and strategic partnerships. For example, our partnership with [DirectBooks](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2026/MarketAxess-and-DirectBooks-Announce-Integration-to-Streamline-Access-to-Primary-Issuance-Data/default.aspx) connects primary issuance with secondary trading, enabling a more seamless transition from new deal indication to secondary market execution. It also addresses the disconnect between issuance and trading liquidity, which remains one of the key inefficiencies presented by the fragmentation in fixed income markets today. In parallel, we are continuing to deepen integration with OMS/EMS platforms, allowing clients to maintain flexibility while accessing multiple liquidity pools. Traders can interact with diverse liquidity sources without unnecessary information leakage, all within existing workflows. This interoperability is critical in building a more seamless and scalable trading environment. Across many client discussions about liquidity, one point is consistent: “It’s all about the data”—specifically, how data informs execution decisions such as dealer selection, protocol choice, and timing of trades. We have invested heavily in proprietary datasets and analytics tools to improve liquidity discovery. AI-driven solutions, such as our pricing engine, [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus), provide real-time insights into market depth and execution costs. CP+ sources proprietary trading information not only based on executed trades but also on the stack of inquiries and responses that did not trade, resulting in more accurate pricing and thereby enhancing pre-trade decision-making. Another data tool is [AI Select](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ai-select), which helps clients optimize counterparty selection. Instead of “blasting” inquiries broadly, traders can engage a curated set of counterparties, improving response quality by only sending the inquiry to the counterparties most likely to respond. The liquidity challenge in fixed income trading can be addressed through a combination of integrated connectivity across platforms and workflows, driven by real-time analytics and data-informed execution strategies, and strategic partnerships that bridge liquidity across markets. Together, our approach creates a seamless ecosystem for accessing the right liquidity at the right time. Interested in learning more about the protocols and tools I mention here? Join me at FILS on June 16th at 10:05am as I dive into the intricacies of these liquidity challenges on the session titled, “Evaluating Strategic Partnerships: How Can You Ensure Consistent Liquidity Across Fragmented Markets.” ### Related content #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### AxessPoint: Tradability deep dive—insights powered by an enhanced liquidity metric [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-tradability-deep-dive-insights-powered-by-an-enhanced-liquidity-metric) #### Unlocking liquidity: How MarketAxess Opening and Closing Auctions are reshaping bond trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-liquidity-how-marketaxess-opening-and-closing-auctions-are-reshaping-bond-trading) --- # SP Global Market Intelligence MarketAxess collaborate Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/sp-global-market-intelligence-marketaxess-collaborate Kat Sweeney, Global Head of ETFs and Data Solutions at MarketAxess, sat down with Jeff Lenamon, Head of Portfolio Construction & Senior Portfolio Manager at DWS, to discuss how DWS has improved the performance of their ETFs by integrating CP+ into daily workflows and the create/redeem process. Starting his career in Fixed Income in 1998, Jeff is an industry veteran who has managed Credit ETFs since the 2000’s, including HYG and LQD during the financial crisis. #### How did this partnership between your two firms originate? Kat Sweeney: While MarketAxess is widely known as a leading electronic trading platform, we have a significant footprint in the Fixed Income Data business, most notably with CP+, our real-time, AI-powered bond-pricing tool that updates every 15 seconds for the investible bond universe. We saw an opportunity for CP+ to be a differentiated offering as an End of Day Evaluated Price. When we first started talking with the team at S&P Global Market Intelligence (“SPGMI”) about a potential partnership, it was clear that there were significant synergies between our businesses. Leveraging SPGMI’s Reference Data is a cornerstone of the partnership, allowing us to benefit from high-quality reference data to our trading platform and data offering. And SPGMI saw the value of integrating CP+ into their End of Day Evaluated Bond Pricing. Tasha Gonska: Agreed—there are a lot of clear synergies. In today’s volatile bond market, it’s crucial that valuations reflect the most recent market activity. Our partnership with MarketAxess originated from our shared goal to establish new standards for data quality and market responsiveness in bond valuation. This distinctive capability will provide clients with more reliable data that captures the nuanced dynamics of Fixed Income markets. The integration of MarketAxess CP+ elevates our evaluated bond pricing service, enabling us to deliver exceptional pricing quality that distinctly sets us apart in the marketplace. Our evaluated pricing service, with exclusive access to MarketAxess CP+, is a significant addition to the wide range of market information already available at S&P Global Market Intelligence and elevates the quality of our bond pricing service. This integration enables us to deliver end-of-day valuations that are consistent with the CP+ levels used by the trading and portfolio management teams. These enhanced valuations play a vital role in powering fixed income indices and leading fixed income ETFs. Kat: Absolutely. The synergy of our combined data quality and real-time capabilities creates a significant competitive edge benefitting our clients at a time when they need it most. Bringing our trusted, real-time pricing source to the End-of-Day Evaluated Price offered by SPGI is a truly unique offering and we see this as a great step towards solving many of the front-to-back-office pricing challenges our clients face. #### What does that mean, the ‘front-to-back office’ pricing challenges? Kat: It’s a great question. Take ETFs, for example — an amazing innovation in our market that has democratized investing. ETF technology requires Market Makers or Authorized Participants to stand in between the end investor of ETFs and the Manager of these ETFs. This offers many benefits to the end investors, but it has also required the Asset Management industry to evolve. ETF Asset Managers — their trading desks, capital markets teams, Portfolio Managers, Valuations desks, Risk and Compliance teams — need to access to the same tools the Market Makers have to operate efficiently across the ecosystem. CP+ is one of those tools. Historically, CP+ was used primarily by Trading Desks, but with the exponential growth of ETFs we are now helping our Asset Manager Clients leverage CP+ as they optimize portfolios used for the creation and redemption of ETFs. Incorporating CP+ directly into SPGMI’s Global Evaluated Bond Pricing service is a huge milestone in our firms’ shared goal of closing the gaps between best execution, intraday trading decisions and end-of-day valuations. #### What types of bonds are covered? Tasha: Our collaboration is strategically focused on corporate, sovereign, and U.S. municipal bonds, where we see increased adoption of electronic trading. By leveraging the data and distribution capabilities of two industry leaders, we aim to enhance how our customers utilize combined datasets. This covers both investment grade and high yield corporate bonds, alongside emerging market, and developed market sovereign bonds, providing extensive coverage across major bond markets. Through this partnership, MarketAxess will gain access to comprehensive terms and conditions data, enriching both our trading platforms and data products. #### What’s next? Can we expect more collaboration from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketAxess? Tasha: This strategic partnership enables S&P Global Market Intelligence to develop new data products and services that significantly enhance customer workflows in the Fixed Income market. Following our focus on corporate and sovereign bond pricing, our immediate priority will be on municipal bond pricing, driven by the increasing electronification of trading. In the long term, we will work closely with our customers to understand their challenges and create data solutions uniquely positioned to address those needs. Kat: We’re equally optimistic. This partnership also opens doors for innovation, especially in terms of using AI and machine learning for deeper insights into bond markets. We’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries and helping clients navigate an increasingly complex market landscape. Partnering with S&P Global Market Intelligence, which has a strong presence in the Fixed Income Index Market, presents opportunities to develop additional tradeable products that cater to the needs of market participants. ##### About CP+ and our Evaluated Pricing partnership with S&P Global: CP+ is the MarketAxess award-winning, algorithmic pricing engine which provides nowcast prices, calibrated to reflect trades as closely as possible without introducing bias. Last year, MarketAxess and S&P Global announced a historic pricing partnership where CP+ is ingested into their Evaluated Bond Price (EVB). This partnership bridges the gap between CP+'s predictive price, used for intraday trading decisions, and the Evaluated Price, used to value FI ETF NAVs. To find out more, [click here](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2024/SP-Global-Market-Intelligence-and-MarketAxess-Announce-Strategic-Fixed-Income-Data-Partnership-2024-RkDUQUX-8E/default.aspx). Originally published on [Traders Magazine](https://www.tradersmagazine.com/featured_articles/sp-global-market-intelligence-and-marketaxess-collaborate-to-enhance-fixed-income-market-transparency-and-efficiency/) | June 2, 2025 ### Related content #### CP+ for ETFs: Improving ETF portfolio management with predictive pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-for-etfs-improving-etf-portfolio-management-with-predictive-pricing) #### AxessPoint: Credit markets showed resilience through April volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-credit-markets-showed-resilience-through-april-volatility) #### The power of data in trading protocol selection [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection) --- # Targeted axes: precision, control and efficiency Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/targeted-axes-precision-control-and-efficiency For decades, sell-side traders have had a familiar problem: they have a specific axe, and they need to put it in front of the right clients fast, without broadcasting it to the market. The most reliable way to do that hasn’t changed in years: pick up the phone or fire off individual messages. But as soon as the list grows beyond a handful of names, the workflow slows down, context gets lost, and it becomes hard to scale with control. Late last year, we launched Targeted Axes to take that manual, one-by-one outreach and turn it into a controlled, efficient, fully electronic workflow. Dealers can show a firm, disclosed list of axes (1 or many) to exactly the clients they choose, and buy-side traders can act on it immediately, while preserving the confidentiality and control that traders require. #### From voice to electronification Targeted Axes enables dealers to send firm, disclosed axes to a defined group of buy-side clients, whether that’s one counterparty or many, without widening the audience beyond what’s intended. The workflow mirrors the familiarity of our Dealer RFQ workflow, where the sell-side trader enters the axe details, selects a distribution list, and sends. Distribution lists can be configured and reused, so the next time a similar instrument or trade type comes up, the trader reaches the same clients in seconds instead of rebuilding the outreach from scratch. On the buy-side, the axe arrives on a dedicated screen with a pop-up notification, so it doesn’t get buried in a chat thread. In the same view, the trader immediately sees whether it lines up with existing interest through an opportunity count that shows how many resting RTS orders match that axe. That signal stays on the buy-side only, helping traders move quickly while preventing information leakage. From there, engagement is fully electronic and firm. Buy-side traders can hit or lift automatically; link directly to RTS orders; counter on size or level; or “circle” an axe, placing it on hold while conducting due diligence. While circled, other traders are unable to automatically aggress the axe but they can still respond with their interest, and the dealer may elect to fill-or-kill the circle to execute away. Circling removes one of voice trading’s most persistent sources of friction: uncertainty. However, it creates a new issue: the moment a buy-side trader circles an axe, its status updates in real time for everyone involved. All participants can see when an axe is circled, when it’s active, and when it’s no longer available. And because axes are firm, there’s no last look from the dealer, removing any ability to fade, reject or renegotiate. An enhancement rolled out in our latest release for Swaps extends the workflow beyond single-line axes to fully disclosed, executable two-legged Swap and Switch package trades. Dealers can distribute firm Swap packages to selected client groups with defined firm limits on both legs and complete control over engagement. Buy-side traders receive actionable Swap axes directly in their Targeted Axes activity view, with package analytics: pick/give spread, price, G-spread, and maturity. Engagement happens at the package level only: clients can accept, counter, or circle, ensuring both legs execute simultaneously with full transparency for all participants. #### One container, full transparency All of this plays out in a single session window. Dealers post and manage multiple axes at once, watch responses come in, pull back unengaged axes, and respond to counters without losing the thread. Dealers gain focused buy-side attention with every step captured in a complete activity log. For the buy-side, the experience stays equally focused. A dedicated activity tab surfaces axes that align with resting orders, making it easier to prioritize what matters and monitor multiple opportunities at once. Execution, counters, and order linking happen in real time, which reduces friction and speeds up decision-making. With Targeted Axes, buy-side traders can trust that what they’re seeing is actionable, relevant, and current. #### What’s next? The pilot phase of Targeted Axes has concluded with strong feedback from the traders who used it, confirming that the core workflows (targeted distribution, hit/lift, counters, and circling) hold up in the moments that matter most: when axes need to move quickly, cleanly, and with clear intent. The next chapter focuses on giving both sides even more control and flexibility. In the coming months, we’re rolling out expanded buy-side controls over what axes they want to see, along with additional engagement options—building on what the pilot taught us about how dealers and clients want to interact when liquidity is scarce, and timing is everything. Stay tuned for further details on these enhancements. You can contact myself or your MarketAxess representative to learn more. ### Related content #### Axe quality in electronic credit markets: What the data tells us [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axe-quality-in-electronic-credit-markets-what-the-data-tells-us) #### AxessPoint: Axe quality and reliability evolution across major markets [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-axe-quality-and-reliability-evolution-across-major-markets) #### Discover AI Select [Read the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ai-select) --- # The billion-dollar electronic trade Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-billion-dollar-electronic-trade At the end of March, a client, unannounced to the market, ran an Investment Grade buy program on the platform, trading approximately $1.6bn over the course of five days. That wasn’t a one off—several weeks ago, another client executed a similar program, this time in High Yield. We ran some analysis to understand execution at this scale: 96% of those trades were in round lots and blocks! As more clients adopt electronic trading, we are starting to see the execution of larger trades on our platform. Using our disclosed dealer pool in combination with Open Trading®, our all-to-all environment, clients are seeing 4.5bps of price improvement across trades of all sizes1. Open Trading delivers demonstratable price improvements to the over 1,700 clients who participate in Open Trading, accounting for $2.6bn+ in transaction price improvement2. In March 2023 alone, IG trades between $1mm and $5mm had an average price improvement of 6.5bps. We also looked at these big trades another way. CP+™ is the MarketAxess AI-powered bond pricing algorithm that covers the global credit and rates markets. In the High Yield buy program, close to 25% of the volume traded through the CP+ Mid. In March 2023, 26.4% of Investment Grade blocks greater than $5mm executed at Mid or better. It’s interesting to note that a lot of that execution was for long duration trades of 10+ years. We’re not only seeing trade sizes increasing, but we’re also witnessing longer credit trades occur. #### Platform-wide % of US IG and US HY trades executed through CP+ Mid for March 2023 by size bucket The data speaks for itself—11% of blocks on the MarketAxess platform are now traded anonymously via Open Trading3. In March 2023 volumes, that was $23.4bn in March or 12.2% market share of TRACE for Investment Grade. Our block sized trades are increasingly in-line with TRACE blocks where the average trade size greater than $5mm stands at $11.3mm. Comparatively, MarketAxess blocks greater than $5mm are $10.45mm on average, while blocks greater than $10mm stand at $16.5mm on average. Electronic trading helps investors with large client flows and/or big portfolio shifts. When you think about it, this would take substantially longer to execute via phone— it could take weeks, and you end up with no proof of best execution! Now that we’ve seen these large trades on our platform, we know what to expect. The High Yield trade was a watershed moment for electronic trading. It’s something we’ve known that our platform can handle, and we only expect to see more as people turn to electronic trading for round lots and blocks. 1As of March 2023, when the IG buy program occurred. 2This is the total number of price improvement since inception. 3As of March 2023. ### Related Content #### A tale of two markets [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-tale-of-two-markets) #### A tale of two metrics | US IG corporate bond market liquidity in 2022 [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-tale-of-two-metrics_us-ig-corporate-bond-market-liquidity-in-2022) #### Axes and trading behaviour in EUR IG blocks [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_axes-and-trading-behaviour-in-eur-ig-blocks) --- # The Bondcast: Dealing with Blocks Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-bondcast-dealing-with-blocks This is the Bondcast interview with Chris Egan of MarketAxess, to discuss the barriers to engagement in block trading today for dealers, and how the electronification of the process can enable greater participation from traditional market makers, what impact that will have upon the liquidity provision capabilities, and the benefit that buy-side traders can expect to see in tighter bid-ask spreads for larger sized blocks of bonds. #### Listen to the podcast --- # The evolution of Portfolio Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-evolution-of-portfolio-trading The fixed income landscape has evolved with the proliferation of Portfolio Trading (PT). Driven by the expansion of fixed income ETFs, increased indexation, and technological advancements, PT volumes have surged dramatically in recent years and now make up ~12% of TRACE across both IG and HY. Perhaps most notable is the growth in ‘mega’ PTs, both in terms of aggregate size, per line item notional, and number of line items. Transactions exceeding $2 billion have become commonplace, transforming what was once a rarity, into the new normal. This trend reflects the market's growing comfort with portfolio trading and the simplicity, certainty, and quality of execution they bring. Technology has evolved in parallel, with sophisticated tools that now enable buy-side clients to optimize portfolios prior to execution. Simultaneously, dealers have enhanced their capacity to hedge larger PTs using a broad range of instruments which has improved execution quality and risk management. With the rapid growth of this protocol, comes a persistent challenge. As PT volumes grow, dealers frequently face substantial residual positions that require efficient risk redistribution. Dealers are more focused than ever on efficient use of balance sheet, creating a pressing demand for more effective risk transfer mechanisms. We view this as the natural next evolution for PT—enhancing the technology to facilitate this efficient redistribution of residuals and inventory. Helping dealers quickly transition excess risk off the back of PTs should help them to enhance their pricing, and ultimately improve the outcomes for clients. In addition, the market has been searching for a parameter-based mechanism that can enable clients to solicit portfolios tailored within specific criteria. Together, this should enhance liquidity for all participants. These risk transfers happen today through spreadsheets and instant messages, and should benefit from more accurate, real-time data in the workflow. With our AI-driven pre-trade composite (CP+™), and liquidity data built into the workflow, clients and dealers can streamline and dynamically assess risk sleeves. Dealers can accurately price residual risk back to clients, for both individual line items and baskets, enhancing their ability to redistribute that risk. Importantly, this can all be done in one place, quickly and effectively. We’re calling this new enhancement “Axed PT”—in recognition of the post-PT axes flowing back from dealer to client. At a time when single PTs can now represent a meaningful portion of the day’s TRACE volume, we believe it’s an important and timely enhancement. We’re actively developing it with both clients and dealers and are looking forward to their feedback on how it might evolve in the future. ### Related content #### AxessPoint: The new era of corporate bond trading for retail investors [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-new-era-of-corporate-bond-trading-for-retail-investors) #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) #### The future of fixed income trading is intelligent automation [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-future-of-fixed-income-trading-is-intelligent-automation) --- # The Future of Fixed Income Trading is Intelligent Automation Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-future-of-fixed-income-trading-is-intelligent-automation MarketAxess is on a mission to optimize trading workflows and technology resources by enhancing and expanding our Auto-X™ suite of automation protocols. The efficacy of our classic Auto-X RFQ (launched in 2018) is evidenced by the impressive growth in auto-executed trade volume, surpassing 1 trillion in trade volume earlier this year. We’re also seeing more firms and traders adopting our automation protocols, with many clients regularly turning to Auto-X RFQ for over 90% of their trading volumes. Traders who adopt rules-based approaches early on are primed to reap the benefits of our innovative automation workflow solutions and help craft the product around the largest opportunity sets. Our goal is to continue simplifying workflows for traders that give them a leg up on the competition as market structures continue to evolve. The latest addition to help streamline trading workflows is Adaptive Auto-X, a Smart Order Routing (SOR) system that interacts with natural liquidity and market shifts to help clients implement their trading strategies across an array of protocols. Adaptive Auto-X acts as the central nervous system for trading strategies, with our protocols, data sources, and liquidity pools that facilitate trading acting as the nerve-endings. Just as the brain coordinates the body's functions, Adaptive Auto-X implements a trader’s order instructions alongside supportive streaming pricing data, frontier trading signals, and calibrated risk-based metrics to assist in determining the optimal trading strategy for a given client objective. In the same way the nervous system responds to external stimuli, Adaptive Auto-X dynamically adjusts to handle the volatility and evolving conditions in the fixed income market – this includes pausing or removing trades from the market until markets stabilize. It leverages a variety of execution algorithm types, some focused-on liquidity seeking, others emphasizing execution certainty, or even passive strategies focused on trading with natural, contra counterparties. Adaptive Auto-X enables traders to work their own orders across multiple protocols simultaneously, without having to manually intervene across individual protocols. For example, the ability to automatically participate in our Live Markets order book protocol though Multi-Party Workup (MPW) and LMM Live Markets Match (LMM) sessions without any additional trader effort. Adaptive Auto-X will leverage our Auto-X RFQ protocol when necessary, and will also post in Live Markets when eligible, or engage in a MPW session and send back signals for any attempts where a fill is not reached. This allows the tool to facilitate seamless execution by capitalizing on available liquidity to secure the best possible outcomes for clients while also reducing opportunity costs. As Adaptive Auto-X continues to evolve, drawing on the depth of both proprietary and public trading data it accumulates, MarketAxess will continue to expand its algo offerings to meet the needs of our clients and support their best execution strategies. #### For more information, contact Andrew Cameron at ancameron@marketaxess.com --- # The Growing Index Effect in the Corporate Bond Market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-growing-index-effect-in-the-corporate-bond-market ## The Growing Index Effect in the Corporate Bond Market --- # The Modern Bond Market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-modern-bond-market ## The Modern Bond Market --- # The “New Normal” for Asian Markets Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-new-normal-for-asian-markets-trading Two weeks ago, I hosted our first ever webinar focusing on the Asian markets. Much of my presentation centered around what we call the “New Normal,” or structural changes that have taken place in the regional fixed income trading markets over the past few months during the COVID-19 outbreak. As I pointed out in the session, right now changes in the markets are happening at astonishing pace and, just like the 2008 Financial Crisis, we expect some of these changes to transform forever the way our clients and we do business. #### Key trends we’re observing in the Asia markets which we believe will remain: - Acceleration in the overall adoption of electronic trading with increased cost savings - Local markets liquidity resiliency despite turbulent market conditions - 40% jump in buy-side firms providing liquidity anonymously via [Open Trading™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) – client becomes dealer Over the past few months we have had two major events– the COVID-19 global pandemic and the negative oil price shock that brought significant increases in volatility and risks to the market. With the outlook being more uncertain, investors are seeking every possible way to bring cost down and electronic trading has done just that. We have witnessed significant cost savings for our clients in these times of market volatility based on our trading data - 85 cents on the dollar per trade, compared with 20 to 25 cents pre-crisis. We have also seen an increasing outflow from emerging market assets as investors look to de-risk their portfolio. This in turns pushes them to seek out access to biggest liquidity pool, mainly when the dealers gradually step back given the uncertain market conditions and the related risks on their balance sheets. This is shown by the +31% year-on-year increase in unique platform clients, the +40% Open Trading penetration in EM (31% in Asia) during Q1 and the nearly four-fold increase in Asia debt trading done by Asian clients on our platform in the first quarter - $12.4 billion, +291% YOY. But perhaps the most significant development has been the blurring lines between clients and dealers. What we have observed on our Open Trading network is that dealers who have traditionally been providing liquidity to clients are now taking liquidity through Open Trading to complement their market making mandate. In Q1 the number of dealers taking liquidity jumped 258%. And the switching isn’t just happening on one side. Clients who have been using broker-dealers as liquidity providers are also clearly changing their behavior by providing liquidity – we have registered +40% increase in client contribution in Q1. The industry truly came together to create liquidity and preserve the efficient functioning of the market. #### What does this mean for our clients? In light of these trends, we have adapted our technology to fit our clients’ needs and these enhancements include the launch of Switch Trading for Local Markets and Crossing in hard currency emerging markets. The former allows the buying or selling of two securities in one package where one dealer takes it all, while the latter enables clients to transfer bonds from one portfolio to another at a specified mid-price. All these upgrades bring significant cost and trading benefits to both sides of the transactions. These enhancements are fed by our unique trading data suite which includes [Composite+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus), our award-winning AI-based price engine that has now become an industry standard for indicating where bonds are transacting ahead of time, and AxessAll which provides insights into the most traded bonds and related volumes. If you'd like to hear the full webinar presentation, you'll be able to access the replay by clicking the link below. --- # The power of data in trading protocol selection Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection With the launch of various generative AI chatbots, the expectations around AI and its applications have changed. But what about the bond trading world? Can a conventional AI chatbot tell you when to PT or not to PT? No—But the MarketAxess platform can help you decide. By leveraging our data driven solutions—both on pricing and liquidity metrics—you gain valuable, real-time insights into current market dynamics, giving actionable, tradeable insights into when to PT and when to use another protocol. The solutions we offer help you choose what the best protocol is to meet your execution objectives. It also guides you to choose the best approach on how to manage your risk—what to trade, when to trade, and how to trade effectively—even if PT is not the best avenue. Our platform does the heavy lifting for you by combining the best-in-class raw data, leveraging our platform and TraX® data with AI-driven metrics like CP+™ and Tradability, to arm you with the tools to achieve the best execution outcome for every trade. #### CP+ and CP+ Inquiry are pre-trade TCA indicators informing you of expected costs of trading: - CP+ is our proprietary AI-powered pricing engine for corporate bonds. It produces an unbiased, two-sided market for more than 33,000 instruments worldwide. With CP+ you know where the market is for a given bond, helping achieve your portfolio construction objectives. CP+ bid-offer spread is a good indicator of the liquidity and market activity on each bond. - CP+ Inquiry is an expansion of CP+ that is size specific and brings extra granularity to the pre-trade costs of trading, tailored to your sizes. With accurate and real-time data available at both the portfolio and bond level, you can predict and tailor your portfolio trades to your unique specifications. - With Relative Liquidity Score, you can stay up-to-date on the liquidity of the bonds in your portfolio and identify illiquid securities. It is calibrated on traded volume in the market and is an indication of market turnover over a period. - Tradability adds an order-specific dimension to Relative Liquidity Score when quantifying the liquidity– showing you the depth of liquidity available given the size and direction of your orders. Tradability also informs you of the skew in the market (by looking at the delta between tradability on your side vs the opposite side). It helps you better understand the market’s capacity to fulfil your order. It shows you when the market is right for your PT or whether you’re better off trading this basket as a List. - Finally, compare your order size with the traded volume in TraX to obtain a pre-trade estimate of your market’s impact. With our comprehensive data suite, you have pre-trade estimates of your costs, an overview of the distribution of liquidity allowing you to adjust your list where required by removing or adding bonds. Our data solutions can also be used pre-trade, during the trade, and post-trade to drill into your execution outcomes. Understanding your TCA is key to refining what to trade as well as how and when to trade it. While the PT is still live, our Outlier Analysis tab on the platform allows clients to visualize the pricing performance line by line. It automatically filters on bonds which are priced further away from CP+. Clients can make decisions efficiently as we created this quick feedback loop on dealer pricing which is highly pertinent for large PT lists. You can also filter the less liquid bond based on our metrics to view the pricing outcomes on those specific items. For post-trade analysis, we produce a TCA report after the trade is done so that you can conduct deep analysis and look at your PT performance under various criteria. The TCA also allows clients to compare PT execution from 1 trade to another. With AI-powered analytics at your fingertips—coupled with best-in-class market data and liquidity—there is no better place to trade. Think of it as a one-stop shop for optimal protocol selection. #### Continue reading on this topic: Pre- and post-trade TCA: Why does it matter – [Risk.net](https://www.risk.net/markets/7960269/pre-and-post-trade-tca-why-does-it-matter) ### Related content #### White Paper: Portfolio Trading vs. RFQ [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-vs-list-whitepaper) #### The evolution of Portfolio Trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-evolution-of-portfolio-trading) #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) --- # The rapid rise – and risks – of EM e-trading for dealers Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-rapid-rise-and-risks-of-em-e-trading-for-dealers Morgan Stanley reports that EM debt funds saw inflows worth US$1.7 billion in the week of 6 October, after gaining inflows of US$3.7 billion in the previous week. The bank notes that return s for hard currency funds stand at 11.15% and 15.8% for local currency funds. This creates a complex picture for sell-side firms. The need to deliver liquidity consistently at competitive spreads across local and hard currency bonds. That requires a sell-side desk to manage a considerable range of instruments, currencies, and risk for trading and hedging. Offsetting the risk positions they have aggregated via market making demands access to a range of execution methods, that will suit markets which might be inherently illiquid, or have a very small pool of counterparties, in addition to the diverse triggers for market activity and volatility. EM dynamics The first fundamental element affecting the market this year has been the very heavy new issuance, which has boosted liquidity and supported price formation. The second has been America – the US economy and rate changes are both significant for emerging markets due to the level of trade that the US participates in globally. Consequently, US import taxes have been hugely influential and the more recent US government shutdown has been detected in EM assets. More subtly, dollar weakness and low confidence has increased interest in EM local currency debt, as noted in the Morgan Stanley analysis of fund flows, with issuance being cheaper in local currencies. Traditional macro aspects are no less important. Rate cuts in EM central banks often move ahead of the developed market banks and while they do not move uniformly, there has been aggressive cutting in Turkey, and very early cutting by Poland, South Africa, Korea, Malaysia, China and Philippines already this year. “As they adjust policy rates, the duration risk profiles of the dealers and the entire market changes,” says Roheet Shah, head of dealer relationships and head of Hong Kong at MarketAxess. “Funding costs change, and client flows change. This forces bond dealers to recalibrate their trading strategies and their view on risk warehousing behaviour. Where we’re seeing central banks cutting rates, dealers typically increase their bond buying activity, as pre-positioning ahead of any anticipated buying or demand from the asset managers.” Trading adaptability From a trading point of view, adaptability is king. Taking on a client’s order – be it for a portfolio trade, a smaller electronic clip or a block trade – requires the right connectivity with clients, but dealers also need a way to trade that position back out into the market without information leakage. The Request-for-Market (RFM) protocol helps by disguising the direction a client is trading in and allows them to trade in size, even in more fragmented local currency markets, with only the winning dealer knowing the trade details. In indexed markets, portfolio trading is notably useful and has also taken off in other hard currency EM markets. Protocols that support the trade initiation via all-to-all or directed request for quotes (RFQ) are also highly supportive. The electronification of markets like India recently, allows these electronic trading protocols to develop in ways that are more challenging in in voice or IB chat only. Indexation – which India saw last year – and which Korea, Saudi Arabia and Philippines are all seeing in future, drives passive investment through exchange traded funds (ETFs) and makes the access via electronic means all the more pressing. For dealers building their own trading capacity, the developed credit markets have seen a boom of trading algorithms, and this too will increase in EM. “In developed markets we are seeing double digit number of algos operating in the space, conversely only a handful or so in EM credit” says Chris McLoughlin, Head of EM Dealer Sales, CEEMEA at MarketAxess. “We anticipate the number of EM algos to grow, as more sell side banks enhance their systematic trading functions across the EM asset class.” Fundamental to supporting these models is the quality of the data in a specific market, to allow pricing to be offered at a viable price point to allow click trading for clients. Partnering with data providers at this point can be critical in order to ensure effective trading models can be rolled out across the broadest range of markets. E-trading unlocks enormous potential for sell-side firms to execute in the dealer-to-client and dealer-to-dealer emerging market space, by increasing capability and mitigating risks. Yet the range of capabilities needed will make partnership with e-trading providers invaluable to rapid and successful deployment. ©Markets Media Europe 2025 ### Related content #### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-awards-2025-article) #### Introducing DealerAxess [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/introducing-dealeraxess) --- # The rise of European credit automation Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-rise-of-european-credit-automation Automation in European credit trading is moving from early adoption to mainstream execution. Greater transparency, deeper liquidity pools and the rapid expansion of high-quality data are reshaping how participants interact with the market. This evolution is being driven from both sides of the market. Buy side firms are increasingly automating liquidity-taking workflows to manage growing order volumes efficiently. At the same time, dealers are enhancing algorithmic pricing models, expanding coverage and increasing quote sizes. Together, these developments are improving execution quality and creating a demand for automation across the European credit market. #### Client automation moves into the mainstream Since launching our automation protocol, Auto-X™ RFQ in 2018, adoption has steadily accelerated, along with the way clients are using it. Among our largest clients in Q1 2026, approximately a third of tickets and 17% of Euro investment-grade volume were executed via Auto-X. ##### Buy side clients: increasingly customized and prescriptive In Q1 2026, 75% of tickets and 52% of volume in sizes up to €5 million were automated by our largest automation clients. In the €3–€5 million EUR IG bucket, automation penetration across our client base increased significantly between Q1 2023 and Q1 2026, rising from 2% to 7% of both ticket count and traded volume. This 250% increase in automation share illustrates continued strong adoption. Market-wide data from TraX® underscores the opportunity for automation in the market. ##### Automation: greater efficiency for EUR IG “non-blocks”1 1Yearly volume in “non-blocks” has increased by 43% between 2020 and 2025 according to TraX. The data indicates that 97% of overall tickets in European credit were less than or equal to €5 million. Automating a greater number of those more liquid orders would offer desks the ability to reallocate time and expertise toward larger, more complex trades that benefit most from manual intervention. #### Customization drives surge in automation Clients want to improve efficiency, lower execution costs, and create more opportunities for price improvement. Auto-X RFQ delivers in all three areas. As an intuitive, rules-based automation tool, it allows clients to streamline part—or all—of their execution workflow while maintaining control over how trades are handled. The benefits are twofold. First, Auto-X RFQ brings advanced, data-driven decision-making to the forefront. It is powered by CP+™, an AI-driven pricing engine for global credit and rates markets. By combining data from the MarketAxess network with public TRACE information and proprietary TraX inputs, CP+ enhances price discovery, transaction cost analysis, and algorithmic strategy development. This is further supported by the Relative Liquidity Score, which offers a clear view of a bond’s tradability and market depth. Tradability, our machine learning-based AI model, can be used as an expansion to that to predict market depth on a bond, side, and size level. Second, Auto-X RFQ uses a dynamic waterfall framework for rule configuration. Clients can define automation parameters using variables such as trade size, price thresholds, number of respondents, and more. Through parameter modeling, historical data can be leveraged to evaluate the potential impact of automation before deployment. This level of flexibility supports higher automation rates, improves efficiency in larger trades—including block-sized orders—and allows multiple custom rule sets to be applied across different markets. The result is a more sophisticated and scalable automation workflow. #### Dealer algos grow in size and coverage As clients expand their use of automated trading, dealers are also responding: 65% of Euro HG responses were from algos in 2025, and the average number of responses per RFQ increased from 5.4 in 2023 to 7.1 in 2025. Dealer algos are also covering a broader share of the market: algo coverage expanded from 5,200 ISINs in 2023 to over 6,200 ISINs in 2025. ##### Top EU HG Dealer algo coverage2 2These areas represent the general coverage where the top dealers reside, by time period. Crucially, algos are penetrating larger ticket sizes. In the €3–5 million range — once considered challenging for automation — algos accounted for 22% of responses in 2025, more than double the 10% seen in 2023. As dealers increasingly price larger trades electronically, buy-side clients benefit from deeper liquidity and improved execution outcomes. ##### Response % from algo (EUR IG) Percent of trades executed by algo | 2023 | 2025 | <3MM | 55.5% | 66.3% (+10.8pts) | ≥3MM and <5MM | 11.5% | 20.7% (+9.2pts) | ≥5MM | 8% | 12.3% (+4.3pts) | #### The MarketAxess advantage MarketAxess continues to drive innovation in automation with Adaptive Auto-X, our latest automation protocol, which is currently being piloted in Europe following a successful rollout in the US. Adaptive Auto-X takes automation to new levels of precision and efficiency by dynamically adjusting execution criteria and execution channels to optimize trading outcomes. It uses smart order routing to integrate matching, responding, posting, and requesting across multiple execution protocols and liquidity pools. This creates customized workflows aligned with specific trading objectives, all connected through Open Trading, our global, all-to-all, electronic marketplace. Combined with a dedicated global automation team, clients receive hands-on support to refine workflows and identify efficiency gains. #### From expansion to expectation Automation in European credit trading is no longer experimental, it’s becoming the norm. As both buy-side and sell-side participants expand capabilities, liquidity improves, execution becomes faster, and workflows grow more efficient. With continued advances in data, transparency and AI-driven optimization, the frontier of European credit automation is not just expanding, it is becoming the new standard. ### Related content #### Enhancing data usability and market visibility under new regulatory changes [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/enhancing-data-usability-and-market-visibility-under-new-regulatory-changes) #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### From fringe to familiar: The automation frontier in trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/from-fringe-to-familiar-the-automation-frontier-in-trading) --- # The transformation of China’s onshore bond market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/the-transformation-of-chinas-onshore-bond-market #### Setting the scene: Fixed income in China China’s fixed income market has continued to thrive and flourish despite recent volatility in global fixed income markets. Relative to other Emerging Markets, investors and traders have been benefitting from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)’s accommodating policy stance, reaping gains from onshore RMB-denominated [Chinese Government Bonds](https://www.ubs.com/hk/en/assetmanagement/insights/thematic-viewpoints/apac-and-emerging/articles/opportunities-in-china-bonds.html). To establish foreign investor access and capital flows, the Chinese bond market has undergone significant, structural transformation in the past years. In addition to harnessing Hong Kong as a strategic hub to connect international and Chinese bond markets, fixed income experts attending a recent [China Bond Market Forum](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) stressed the necessity of data to form the foundational infrastructure for fixed income markets. A key establishment that blends these two strategies together was the Bond Connect in 2017: a breakthrough development that has allowed international investors to invest in the CIBM through mutual access arrangements for trading, custody & settlement where they would not have been able to before. During our last Trader’s Table in Hong Kong, a roundtable series this time jointly organized by MarketAxess and Bond Connect in April, explored the evolution of the Chinese fixed income market and discussed how market participants are creating financial infrastructure to support this transformation. #### Access to China for offshore investors MarketAxess has been a Bond Connect partner since 2021 to offer a seamless trading channel that allows market participants—including market makers, investors and traders—access to the China Interbank Bond Market (CIBM), and for them to trade in China’s $17-trillion onshore bond market efficiently on a single interface. Supporting this structural transformation is the partnership between PBOC and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) who together plan to widen foreign institutional investor access to the onshore repurchase agreement (repo) market. When looking at the evolution of China’s bond market over the years, the partnership between MarketAxess and Bond Connect plays a key role in helping investors and traders stay on top of the latest fixed income trends and developments. #### Increased trading volumes Armed with the ability to trade in 28 local currencies, including Chinese Yuan Renminbi, Hong Kong Dollar, South Korean Won and more, the average daily trading volume of Emerging Markets on the MarketAxess platform topped US$2.9 billion in 2023, almost double from 2018. Meanwhile, the momentum on Bond Connect continues to reach new heights. The official inclusion of the RMB into the IMF SDR basket, the inclusion of Chinese bonds into all three major global bond indices and the increasing convenience of investing and trading in CIBM, have all spurred growth in trading activity. In fact, the 822 investors trading in the Northbound Bond Connect scheme had boosted yearly trading volume by [24% to RMB 9.97 trillion](https://www.chinabondconnect.com/en/Resource/Flash-Report/Bond-Connect-Flash-Report---December-2023.html) in 2023, representing an average of RMB 40 billion traded daily. #### Average daily volume of Emerging Markets on MarketAxess #### Overcoming the challenges Market makers, bond traders and investors are observing increasing momentum in onshore Chinese Government Bonds, especially short-term ones at 1 – 1.5-year tenor, who are starting to be bought by overseas investors. As traditional trading behaviors change rapidly, where buying and holding are no longer the only strategies deployed by market participants, Trader’s Table attendees shared that they are looking for a one-stop trading and data platform to help them make better decisions. This comes from the fact that in a low-yielding market like China, where every 10 basis points count, traders need to see better settlement efficiency and more favorable trading costs. Attendees also welcomed the introduction of repo collateralization and deemed that as an important breakthrough for the market to mature. - A one-stop shop for all global credit and rates trading needs, including China. - Ease of access to both Bond Connect and CIBM Direct schemes without additional technology integration. - Consistent and seamless trading workflow (including list trading) for all markets including 28 local debt markets. - Efficiency via international payment service and systematic CFETS trade confirmation. Through these efforts, MarketAxess is playing a crucial role in the opening of China’s financial infrastructure; focusing on bolstering its proprietary data by working with partners and leverage existing protocols to improve liquidity, cost-savings and increase pricing transparency of the China’s fixed income market. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china) about our solutions to trade in China's onshore bond markets. ### Related Content #### How are innovation and collaboration shaping the Chinese bond market? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### Advancing fixed income trading across Asia-Pacific [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) --- # Unlocking Liquidity for the U.S. Treasury Markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/unlocking-liquidity-for-the-u.s.-treasury-markets Advocating for all-to-all trading has always been the MarketAxess way, but lately, it seems we aren’t the only ones buzzing about the benefits. Earlier this month, the [WSJ reported](https://www.wsj.com/articles/regulators-look-to-lessen-treasury-market-reliance-on-big-bank-dealers-11668081603?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1) that top regulators—including the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission—are interested in supporting the growth of “all-to-all”’ trading for U.S. Treasurys. Last week, at the [2022 U.S. Treasury Market Conference](https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/events/markets/2022/1116-2022), MarketAxess CEO Rick McVey was invited to join a panel discussion on “why all-to-all trading has not become more widespread in the Treasury market and the potential impact a broader adoption could have on Treasury market resilience. And last month, PIMCO, one of the world’s largest fixed-income managers, [published a paper](https://www.pimco.com/en-us/insights/viewpoints/in-depth/how-can-policymakers-improve-the-functioning-of-the-us-treasury-market/) highlighting potential all-to-all benefits for the Treasury markets. Exciting times to say the least, but we think the team at Greenwich said it best in their [latest report](https://www.greenwich.com/fixed-income/us-treasury-trading-market-structure-back-focus), “There is not a one-size-fits-all approach. The buy side and its investment strategies are diverse, but if the corporate bond market were able to adopt all-to-all trading as part of its toolkit, then the much more liquid U.S. Treasury market should be able to get there even quicker.” We could not agree more. Our view has always been that markets are most efficient and most resilient when they’re open to a broad range of participants – that’s why we launched Open Trading for corporate bonds back in 2013. We understand the power and potential of unlocking market liquidity. --- # Unlocking liquidity: How MarketAxess Opening and Closing Auctions are reshaping bond trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/unlocking-liquidity-how-marketaxess-opening-and-closing-auctions-are-reshaping-bond-trading The fixed income markets never stop evolving. Over the past 10 years in the credit space, for example, we have seen a dramatic rise in ETF and index trading. We are now north of $10 billion in ETF trades daily, which is ten times what we saw a decade ago. But liquidity patterns for these trades are not the same as for individual securities. Instead, ETF and index liquidity clusters at the beginning and end of the day, echoing the patterns in equity markets. To help our clients trade in those critical windows, we have launched a first-of-its-kind auction protocol, which is helping investors access deeper pools of liquidity and more transparent pricing when they need it most. Our new standardized opening and closing auctions were designed in collaboration with leading buy-side and sell-side institutions — including BlackRock, AllianceBernstein, DWS, and State Street Investment Management. The protocol is initially for trading of U.S. high-grade and high-yield bonds and is accessed through our X-Pro Trading platform. Launching auctions serves several key purposes: optimizing trading opportunities, managing volatility, and reducing price movements in less liquid securities. By aggregating supply and demand, we can improve price formation and transparency, while widening access to concentrated liquidity. Auctions also create market benchmarks, which can be integrated into end-of-day pricing services. The benefits of the protocol extend to all market participants, with simultaneous order matching, input, and confirmation rules ensuring a level playing field. Moreover, tracking error is reduced because the auction price reflects the inputs of multiple counterparties. In early December, over 600 market participants joined us for a webinar to discuss how auctions could serve them best. In case you missed it, here are a few of the key themes: How do the auctions work? At open and close of the trading day, the auction pools buy and sell orders across the platform to aggregate liquidity and reach a clearing price. Market participants can enter orders using three unique order types – pegged orders, limit orders, and offsetting only orders. We also plan to introduce custom orders pegged to the CP+ price. The auction has two phases – the book building phase and the imbalance phase. During the imbalance phase, MarketAxess publishes auction characteristics, including imbalance information and match levels. How are orders filled? Fundamentally, the auction clears at the price that maximizes total trading volume. So, rather than trying to build consensus around a theoretical or derived midpoint, it’s all about identifying what is tradable and executable. Once the price is formed, the protocol decides which orders get filled based on supply and demand. If there is more buy interest than sell interest, sellers are fully filled because there is sufficient demand to match their orders. The protocol prioritizes orders in a specific sequence. First, pegged orders are filled, because they maximize traded size. Second, limit orders are filled, as they help form prices and maximize notional volume. Finally, offsetting orders are filled -- these don’t display publicly but help address imbalances. Within each category, larger orders are prioritized over smaller ones, and orders of the same size are filled chronologically. At the end of the auction, all matched orders execute at the same clearing price. What are the benefits of the auction protocol? By concentrating supply and demand into a defined window, the auction generates a single clearing price for all participants. Because the protocol draws on input from multiple institutional players and consolidates orders, the auction price serves as a reference for index players, ETF managers, and firms conducting portfolio-level trading or rebalancing -- all at significantly lower price asymmetry than previously available. MarketAxess CP+ offers a common pricing reference, backed by our proprietary, two-sided, AI-powered pricing engine. Additionally, participants can execute a large order without moving the market, because everyone from the buy-side and sell-side is in at the same time. Why wait for the close? The simple answer is that the liquidity benefits are real at the close, when there is a marked contraction in the bid-ask. If you look at our CP+ composite price, the bid-ask collapses by 35% between the first and last hour of the trading day. Organic buy and sell interest drives that contraction – creating an opportunity for institutional investors to manage large portfolios, execute block trades, or bring overall exposures back into (in-line with) target asset allocations. There are also significant advantages at the open. Consider a sell-side firm that is ranked lower in the league tables and wants to participate but lacks price certainty that larger firms have. The auction protocol changes this – all participants see the same price discovery, allowing smaller dealers to start trading much faster, because they know where the bonds are pricing. Building a market-wide utility Looking ahead, our goal is to get as many market participants involved in auctions as possible. We plan to expand coverage, both to non-US investors and into emerging markets and euro credit. Over time, our ambition is to create a utility, that boosts liquidity and fulfills our mission to build more transparent and efficient fixed income markets. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. ### Related content #### MarketAxess unveils fixed income's first Opening & Closing Auctions; designed to improve pricing and liquidity [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Unveils-Fixed-Incomes-First-Opening--Closing-Auctions-Designed-to-Improve-Pricing-and-Liquidity/default.aspx) #### Corporate bond world set to get first daily Closing Auction [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/corporate-bond-world-set-to-get-first-daily-closing-auction) #### History in the making: A closer look at MarketAxess’ newly launched Opening and Closing Auctions [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/history-in-the-making-a-closer-look-at-marketaxess-newly-launched-opening-and-closing-auctions) --- # Unlocking the automation suite of technology Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/unlocking-the-automation-suite-of-technology In the ever-evolving landscape of fixed income electronic trading, automation technologies are quickly gaining popularity as a necessary trading tool. In our [last blog on automation](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/persistence-of-automation-through-volatility), we discussed how the MarketAxess automation toolkit has seen rapid growth in the recent past, even through times of volatility. In that blog, we touched on the expanded toolkit and how those tools are developing to meet the growing needs of our users. As the automation suite has advanced, we are finding more ways to trade (aggressing vs. passive), more rules to manage (custom rule design and algo hot buttons), and more order types to measure (resting orders and pegged order types). Clients are using this information to not only enhance best execution practices, but to improve automated trades with quantifiable, value-add analytics. Whether it's achieving greater capacity and efficiency savings or enhancing execution quality through passive trading competitiveness, our solutions are designed to cater to your unique needs. Engaging with the automation toolkit is not only a positive return on trader time, but also enhances overall investment process from order generation to execution to settlement. We also recognize that real-time analytics can significantly enhance trading strategies right at the point of execution. This paradigm shift is redefining the way traders approach their objectives, leveraging the power of data to make split-second decisions. This is being furthered by the creation of trading signals deployed through [Adaptive Auto-X](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution)™ which will assist clients for a given objective. Our suite of innovative tools and services enables traders to not only meet best execution, but also take it the next level. Our proprietary Auto-X RFQ Hypothetical, a powerful tool that meticulously assesses a client's historical trading data, compares the outcomes of trades against a predefined Auto-X parameter set, and allows us to provide invaluable insights. This analysis not only reveals which inquiries qualify for Auto-X RFQ under the specified parameters, but also quantifies how effective they would have been in terms of hit rate and execution performance. This capability is a game-changer for both first-time automation clients looking to set realistic expectations as well as experienced automation clients seeking to refine their strategies with data-backed precision. Another tool that helps enhance execution outcomes is Auto-X Responder Hypothetical, which examines a clients overall activity, and helps frame the passive opportunity with each client’s flow profile—clients can evaluate whether they would have won bids and calculate the resulting savings had they executed aggressively versus passively. We've introduced a “rules waterfall” approach to Auto-X RFQ, also known as custom rules, which allows clients to tailor their execution and eligibility criteria sets to suit their specific market needs. This customization lets clients establish a set of rules with the confidence that comes from scrutinizing these rules closely, and MarketAxess plays a crucial role in assisting clients in defining these rules by dissecting diverse data cuts. The result is a more granular rule set, heightened confidence in their application, and the shifting of risk into the automation landscape, especially in handling larger risk transfer, including liquid blocks. Intratrade, a key focal point of development in 2023, offers point-of-trade transparency, including valuable insights into liquidity and tradability scores and CP+ pricing. The MarketAxess user interface now empowers our clients to efficiently manage and organize their Adaptive Auto-X activity in a user-friendly manner. The demand for analytical support tied to resting orders has surged alongside the rise of algorithmic trading. Clients now require more comprehensive working order analytics, covering performance aspects such as trading benchmarks versus shortfall, spread capture, and TRACE. These critical metrics are seamlessly integrated into our Adaptive Auto-X dashboard, enabling clients to monitor the interval performance of their grouped orders and baskets in real time. These analytical tools not only optimize order performance but also safeguard against adverse trading conditions, such as defensive limits, ensuring a smarter and more secure trading experience. Within this data-rich landscape, MarketAxess offers comprehensive trader and trade management support. Our services encompass various critical aspects, including best execution evidence to ensure compliance with criteria processes, centralizing parameter governance for consistent rule application across desks, and conducting anonymous peer analysis to gauge our clients' fiduciary performance relative to peers. We’ve heard that clients find the most value by delving deep into their automation outcomes. By stepping back and examining larger data samples, they can discern trends, evaluate the significance of outputs, and take informed actions. These decisions are not only made but also meticulously measured, creating a feedback loop that continually drives improvement and refines the automation philosophies of some of the largest clients. The road to achieving the best automation outcomes in today's rapidly evolving landscape requires harnessing the power of analytics that surround client activity in this dynamic space. As algorithms continue to advance within the fixed income credit, we’re committed to modernizing our analytics to empower clients who are seeking even better outcomes. At MarketAxess, we remain dedicated to facilitating this journey, supporting our clients in navigating the complexities of automation while ensuring they have the insights and tools needed to excel in an ever-changing market. The future of trading is dynamic, and we're here to help clients navigate it with confidence. --- # Use AI and be more human Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/use-ai-and-be-more-human We’re all familiar with Algorithmic Trading: Using software programs given certain parameters and set to work on millions of pieces of real-time market data. The aim? To locate and execute trading opportunities the programs identify as falling within their criteria. “Algos” in trading have been around for some time, dating back to the late 1990s and early 2000s as many financial markets went electronic. But for years, using these sophisticated (and if like me, you have had investments, not so sophisticated it seems) tools that help traders, has not generally been part of the Operations landscape, and in the world of regulatory reporting, even less so. #### Volumes of data. Little investment. And that makes no sense. Yes, trading can make you money and algos can gain an advantage to win a trade. But it's easy to see how Operations can cost firms money if they don’t manage the vast amounts of data needed to be processed each day, accurately and efficiently. Since 2022, the MarketAxess ARM has back reported over 2 billion transactions for firms. The lack of general investment in Operations processes and systems over many years, means that firms rely on human power. The vast amount of data any investment firm needs to share daily—internally and externally—relies on complex, often outdated systems and procedures to monitor, instruct, control and move. From settlement to valuation, bank reconciliation to regulatory reporting, all this data is managed and processed using limited advanced technological means. Human errors result in fines, operational costs, and reputational damage. #### Change is coming. MarketAxess is investing in solutions powered by “AI” and Machine Learning to create the next generation of Post-Trade services. But what is AI and what can it do to help firms avoid expensive costs and reduce operational risk? Computer and research scientist, Pierre-Thomas, leads the design of the next generation of MarketAxess Post-Trade solutions, called SensAI®. “AI is all about the data, not the models!” he enthuses. “When dealing with millions of transactions per day, it becomes very hard for a human to identify all the patterns and the relationship between the different variables.” ”This is where AI has a key role to play,” Pierre-Thomas elaborates. “By finding these patterns and leveraging data at their highest potential. In SensAI, we have used our unique data to train algorithms which can detect issues in the reported transaction (RTS 22 reporting) by predicting the expected value.” “To achieve it,” Pierre-Thomas continues, “we have spent a lot of time on feature engineering to prepare our data and build relevant attributes that will be used by the algos. This part is critical because, without the right data and the right attributes, it is impossible to get accurate predictions regardless of the algorithm used.” The only other entities with access to MarketAxess’s multi-firm data set are regulators. “The diversity and completeness of the data that we have at MarketAxess is a critical asset that enables us to develop these new models and build new Post-Trade services for our clients.” Pierre-Thomas Andre Research Analyst, Post-Trade Specialist at MarketAxess | Not only does MarketAxess have a uniquely large pool of data, but SensAI saves firms the trouble of hiring expert talent and the expense of constructing their own solutions. “On top of this”, Pierre-Thomas explains about the methods devised to extract value from the data, “we use gradient boosting techniques (GBM) to build our classification and regression models. We also look at what we describe as “internal factors” i.e. a client's trading behaviour and then “external factors” i.e. market conditions and conventions. The models are then able to capture these trends to make the most accurate predictions.” #### Confidently powering accuracy—at scale. SensAI uses AI to monitor and check EVERY transaction a firm reports to us in near real-time making an assessment on its accuracy. Sounds simple, but it's not. Think of it this way. According to latest scientific estimates, over millennia the human body has developed more than 70 TRILLION cells. That is what we are made of. And those cells ALL need energy which comes from the complex process of consuming and processing food. Your brain doesn’t use Artificial Intelligence to conduct this work, it uses “intelligence” to process this vast endeavour all day, every day, throughout your life. By using AI with SensAI, MarketAxess can help you process the vast amount of information your investment firm generates every working day. Doing this, you ensure that when it comes to your regulatory obligations, that data is being processed efficiently and accurately, without error. The result? You’ll feel confident. Which is something only humans can do. So be more human, and use AI from MarketAxess SensAI. #### To learn more about SensAI, [visit our product page](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sensai). ### Related content #### Regulatory reporting—A view from the SMF “hot” seat [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-a-view-from-the-smf-hot-seat) #### Regulatory reporting inaccuracies—It's better to know than be told [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-inaccuracies-its-better-to-know-than-be-told) #### It’s time to start thinking like a regulator [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/ts-time-to-start-thinking-like-a-regulator) --- # Validating systematic fixed income strategies with the right data Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/validating-systematic-fixed-income-strategies-with-the-right-data Data is a key prerequisite to creating and running systematic strategies. Without data, the strategy cannot build or subsequently respect a rules-based structure. Reflecting on traditional systematic trading products, each one typically has robust and available data which, in several cases, is drawn from trading exchanges and then applied to the strategy. This availability of data, alongside the respective market’s trading structure, has meant that systematic strategies have remained relatively nascent in fixed income credit. However, recently this has changed as fixed income electronic platforms have enriched existing data sets and built sophisticated data tools – tools which mean systematic strategies can prosper in fixed income. The fixed income credit market does not yet possess trading exchanges like those in the equity markets. Instead it relies heavily on voice execution and, increasingly, electronic trading systems, like MarketAxess. Estimates from Greenwich Associates, the independent research group, show that electronic trading in US credit is now approximately 30% of market volume, up from 20% a year ago. This shift in execution structure means that bond trading venues possess an increasingly valuable data set from which they can build more sophisticated and insightful tools. In addition, the same trading venues have built tools that enrichen data available as a result of regulatory rules, such as TRACE in the US. It is the combination of these tools which creates data sets which have not previously been available in fixed income credit. In turn this has created an opportunity for firms to use the data to build and run systematic investment strategies. Leveraging a consultative approach together with the expertise of our data scientists, MarketAxess has worked with several clients looking to confirm the potential opportunity for a systematic fixed income credit strategy. For example, MarketAxess can combine the historical data available within MarketAxess’ AI-powered pricing engine Composite+™ alongside enriched TRACE data to create a more compelling picture of prior market activity alongside predictive pricing indicators. This type of data availability and analysis is giving funds unique inputs allowing them to assess the opportunity across sectors, industries and even individual bonds. With hundreds of thousands of individual bonds available in the credit market, it’s hard to know which will maximise your strategy, hence why collaborating with clients is so crucial to find success. Assuming such data validates the opportunity, the same data can in turn be consumed and employed for the live strategy via API, FTP or through MarketAxess’ Excel add-in. Data allows systematic funds to see through the fog, establishing the validity and viability of the strategy. The same data then allows assessment of live market opportunities, framed within the rules of the strategy. It is the enrichment of existing data by vendors alongside the construction and development of their own bespoke solutions which has helped fill data gaps left as a result of different regulatory regimes or comparably opaque market trading dynamics and data capture. These continued improvements in data leave fixed income systematic credit strategies with cleaner, clearer signals upon which to execute. For more information, please contact the author: [MCallaghan@marketaxess.com](https://www.marketaxess.com/MCallaghan@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Why systematic strategies are the next big thing in fixed income [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-systematic-strategies-are-the-next-big-thing-in-fixed-income) #### Supporting strategy validation and execution [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/systematichedgefunds) #### Composite+: Greater insight and better price discovery in near real-time—globally [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) --- # VanEck Case Study Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/vaneck-case-study VanEck’s big picture approach melds with the MarketAxess vision—creating new opportunity around the globe by bringing innovative technology to emerging markets. Learn how we helped VanEck develop their footprint across all our emerging local markets, now including China. --- # Blockbusting Part 3 | Vergleich des Portfoliohandels und Listen-RFQ-TCAs Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/vergleich-des-portfoliohandels-und-listen-rfq-tcas #### Highlights and Ziele - Unser Ziel besteht darin, alle wichtigen Treiber von TCA-Ergebnissen im Bereich des Portfoliohandels (PT) zu analysieren, gemessen an den PT-Preis-Ergebnissen im Vergleich zur CP+™-Seite. - Bei einer Analyse der PT-Funktionen ergab sich kein aussagekräftiger Treiber für TCA-Ergebnisse für Portfoliohandel bei ETF-Überlappungen und Liquiditätsprofilen. - Es besteht jedoch ein starker Zusammenhang zwischen PT TCA und einem ETF-Prämienrabatt, was wahrscheinlich auf die Händlerpositionierung und das Risikomanagement zurückzuführen ist. - Wir vergleichen diesen wichtigen Treiber auch mit den TCA-Ergebnissen von Listen-RFQs und haben festgestellt, dass dies ein stärkerer Treiber für PT-Ergebnisse ist als für Listen-RFQs. Der Portfoliohandel, bei dem ein Basket of Bonds nach dem All-or-Nothing-Prinzip zu einem volumengewichteten Preis gehandelt wird, hat sich auf dem Markt für Unternehmensanleihen zu einem immer wichtigeren Protokoll entwickelt. Im September 2023 erreichte der PT-Marktanteil auf TRACE High Grade schätzungsweise 5,55 % des gehandelten Volumens. Obwohl PT Ausführungssicherheit bietet und große Aufträge mit vielen Einzelpositionen kein Problem darstellen, ist es immer noch wichtig herauszufinden, inwiefern die Ausführungsqualität gestiegen ist. Um den TCA-Wert zu messen, vergleichen wir die Ausführungsstufe(n) mit seitenabhängigem CP+, unserer preisgekrönten KI-gestützten Preismaschine. Ein Kunde, der zu einem Preis unter dem Angebot kauft oder über dem Angebotspreis verkauft, würde auf eine Outperformance der Benchmark hinweisen. Bei dieser Methode vergleichen wir Vorhandelsanalysen, die einen starken Zusammenhang mit positiven oder negativen TCA in PT- und RFQ-Listen aufweisen. #### Methodik Um diese Analyse durchzuführen, haben wir von Juni 2022 bis Juni 2023 auf MarketAxess, wo erstklassige Anleihen die Mehrheit des Korbs ausmachen, PT-Trades untersucht. Wir haben nach PTs gefiltert, die mindestens 2 einzigartige Anleihen, mindestens 2 eingeladene Händler, mindestens 5 Einzelpositionen und eine Mindestgesamtgröße von 1 Million US-Dollar aufweisen. Wir wenden die gleichen Filter für RFQ-Listen in den folgenden Grafiken an. Der typische PT auf der Plattform umfasst 115 Positionen, hat eine durchschnittliche Gesamtgröße von 29,1 Millionen US-Dollar und einen durchschnittlichen relativen Liquiditäts-Score von 7,07. Im Vergleich dazu umfasst die typische Liste 26 Positionen, hat eine mittlere Gesamtgröße von 4,3 Millionen US-Dollar und einen durchschnittlichen relativen Liquiditäts-Score von 7,04. #### Schwache Korrelation zwischen Portfoliohandelsfunktionen und TCA Aufgrund Korbtyp und PT-Diversifizierung können wir die PT-Charakteristika betrachten und beobachten, ob ein Zusammenhang mit dem jeweiligen TCA-Ergebnis besteht. Für diese Übung haben wir uns zwei PT-Charakteristika angesehen: ETF-Überlappung und durchschnittlicher Liquiditäts-Score. Abbildung 1: Streudiagramm für TCA vs. Anteil bei LQD-Eignung (ETF)​ Abbildung 2: Streudiagramm für TCA vs. durchschnittlicher Liquiditäts-Score In den obigen Grafiken messen wir den PT-Wert und tragen diesen grafisch im Vergleich zum entsprechenden Volume Weighted Average TCA against CP+ on the same side in die Kurve ein. Es ist zu erkennen, dass beide Charakteristika keinen starken Zusammenhang mit PT TCA aufweisen. Das bedeutet, dass keines von beiden ein Treiber für TCA-Ergebnisse ist. #### ​ETF-Prämienrabatt und TCA Da bei PTs viele Einzelposten in einer einzigen Transaktion ausgeführt werden können, besteht eine wahrscheinliche Verwendung von PTs darin, Körbe zu handeln, die bestehende Indizes widerspiegeln. Der Anstieg der Elektronifizierung bei passiven Investitionen am Markt für Unternehmensanleihen liefert eine große Stichprobe, mit der die Beziehung zwischen ETF-Charakteristika und TCA getestet werden kann. Wir nutzen unsere CP+ Preis-Tick-Daten, um den Wert der LQD-ETF-Komponenten zu berechnen. Ähnlich wie oben wird der ETF mit einem Aufschlag (d. h. einer Prämie) gehandelt, wenn der ETF-Preis höher ist als das CP+-Angebot für diese Komponenten. Umgekehrt wird er mit einem Abschlag (d. h. einem Rabatt) gehandelt, wenn der ETF-Preis günstiger ist als CP+-Angebot für die jeweils einzelnen Anleihen. Wir ermitteln dies für jedes Handelsdatum und jede Handelsstunde. Prämie/Rabatt = Durchschn. (ETF-Aktienpreis – CP+-Seite) In [diesem Artikel](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/etf-arbitrage-and-inquiry-volume-skewness) befassen wir uns eingehender mit der Schiefe von ETF-Arbitrage und Anfragenvolumen. Abbildung 3: Streudiagramm für TCA vs. ETF-Prämienrabatt für PT Abbildung 4: Streudiagramm für TCA vs. ETF-Prämienrabatt für Listen-RFQs Die o. a. Grafik (Abb. 3) zeigt die Ausführungsqualität von allen PTs im Vergleich zu den LQD-Prämien/Rabatten für Kundengeschäfte in dem jeweiligen Zeitraum. Es ist zu erkennen, dass Kunden bessere TCA-Ergebnisse erzielen, wenn der ETF im Vergleich zu den zugrundeliegenden Anleihen „günstig“ ist (negative x-Achse), was bedeutet, dass der Markt effizient an der Ausnutzung des Kursunterschiedes bei ETFs arbeitet. Ebenso können wir die Auswirkungen von ETF-Prämienrabatten auf TCA-Ergebnisse auf Listen-RFQs analysieren. Es ist ein ähnlicher Trend zu sehen, d. h. TCA-Ergebnisse fallen besser aus, wenn der entsprechende ETF mit einem Abschlag (d. h. einem Rabatt) gehandelt wird. Im Vergleich zur PT-TCA-Trendlinie ist die Trendlinie für Listen-RFQs jedoch nicht so steil (0,493 bzw. 0,385). Daraus können wir ableiten, dass sich Listen-RFQ-TCAs in direktem Zusammenhang damit stehen, wie Händler das Risiko einzelner Positionen bewerten, während beim Portfoliohandel das Risiko auf Basket Level verwaltet wird. Dies zeigt weiter, warum ETFs ein besseres Sicherungsinstrument für das PT-Risikomanagement sind. #### Für Fragen oder Follow-up, stehen die Data Scientists von MarketAxess per E-Mail zur Verfügung: [research@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) ### Related content #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) --- # AxessPoint: Volatility's Impact on the US Investment Grade Market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/volatilitys-impact-on-us-ig How has recent volatility impacted the Investment Grade market? We've seen credit spreads and bid/ask spread dramatically widen in the last three weeks. --- # What 2023 taught us about the APAC bond markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/what-2023-taught-us-about-the-APAC-bond-markets As we navigate the early days of 2024, it's helpful to take stock of the year gone by—a year that was replete with global events and policy decisions that have left an indelible mark on the Asia-Pacific bond markets. Let’s delve into the economic undercurrents of 2023 and cast an eye towards what we might expect in the year ahead. #### The macro drivers of 2023 and their legacy Last year was a testament to the unpredictability of the forces that drive macroeconomics. The Federal Reserve's policy rates were a constant source of speculation, with the consensus being that a turn might occur before mid-2024. Yet, as history has shown, the market forecasts have often missed the mark. Europe grappled with inflation more severely than the US, hinting that the European Central Bank may not mirror the Fed's actions in the coming year. The divergence in monetary policies across the globe was stark, with Western economies tightening their belts while Eastern counterparts remained more accommodative. #### Asia-Pacific at a crossroads The Bank of Japan's yield curve control was a focal point, with the market often misjudging the pace of change—a reminder of Japan's methodical approach to policy shifts. China faced its own set of growth challenges, particularly in its property sector, which signaled a continuation of accommodative policy stances. The Chinese bond market witnessed contrasting forces at play in 2023. The onshore bond yields stayed low, which could be attributed to the overarching policy measures aimed at economic stabilization. In the offshore USD market, after a year of adjustments, there were few early signs of stability and a reduction in defaults, with growing attention in the Local Government Financing Vehicles—a segment worth watching due to its varied credit quality. MarketAxess’ 2023 data reflects these broader trends within APAC’s fixed income markets. Our platform saw resilient growth against a challenging backdrop, with Average Daily Volume (ADV) increasing 17% over 2022 in the APAC region, a sign that electronic trading is increasingly taking hold in these markets. This growth was particularly notable in Asia Local Markets, which represented 33% of our global Local Markets volume. Following a more challenging trading environment for our APAC clients in the first half of the year, we observed a strong recovery in the second half, with monthly year-on-year volume growth rates ranging from +18% in June to an impressive +65% in December. #### Disproportionate flows and performance divergence in Asia The narrative for Asia's credit markets in 2023 was complex. Despite a promising start, fueled by hopes of a Fed pivot and China's post-COVID recovery, reality soon set in. The Fed's additional rate hikes sent treasury yields soaring, dampening the initial optimism. Asia's Investment Grade spreads managed to tighten due to strong demand and limited supply, outperforming some of their Emerging Market (EM) and Developed Market counterparts. However, Asia's High Yield (HY) sector suffered, primarily due to the downturn in China's property sector. The J.P. Morgan Asia Credit Index (JACI) offered modest total returns, but this paled in comparison to risk-free investments like US treasuries. This naturally sparked a debate on the relative attractiveness of treasuries versus credit investments. Asia EM local currency bonds saw net selling on our platform, except for Korea—a trend mirrored by public data showing that [inflows into Asia EM local currency bonds](https://asianbondsonline.adb.org/documents/abm_nov_2023.pdf) were well below their annual average[seen from 2018-2021](https://www.adb.orghttps//assets.marketaxess.com/publication/871186/asia-bond-monitor-march-2023.pdf) #### How firms automated their edge in 2023 Automation in fixed income trading came to the fore in 2023. Our platform saw a significant growth in global trading activity using [Auto-X™ RFQ](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution), our tool for automated, lower touch liquidity acquisition, with trade volume seeing a 38% year-on-year growth in 2023. By the end of 2023, 44% of Auto-X RFQ trades globally were actually “no-touch” trades–reflecting a broader industry move toward [leveraging technology for competitive advantage](https://www.sifma.org/resources/research/understanding-fixed-income-markets-in-2023/). On the other side of the trade, trade volume using Auto-X Responder, our tool for automated liquidity provision, also doubled in 2023 from the previous year. “Automated trading works best in these situations. We make a list. We select dealers. We send it out and get the trades done. Given the size and number of lines we have, automating trades give us great efficiencies.” Khashayar Surti, APAC Head of Trading, UBS Asset Management [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) | This growth in automated trading activity underscores the evolving needs of traders for more dynamic trading tools and indicates a shift towards not just a broader acceptance of automated e-trading, but a growing preference for more efficient trading processes. As automation adoption increases, the need for more accurate and actionable data increases as well. Our machine-learning price engine,[CP+](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus)™, and our EMEA & APAC intraday trading tape, [Axess All](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all)®, continue to play a key role in our APAC clients’ trading workflow. “Data is no longer ‘nice-to-have’ but an essential part of today’s market. The APAC region has long lacked the tools it needs to address the opaqueness of its fixed income markets – but it doesn’t have to stay that way.” Rohan Ahlawat, Data Sales Relationship Manager, MarketAxess [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) | #### What’s next for APAC fixed income markets? As we turn our gaze to 2024, it is expected that the trends observed in the previous year will extend their influence into the new year. It will be interesting to see if the policy divergence between Eastern and Western central banks persists as a defining feature of the global financial landscape, and consequently, bond yields. - The rebalancing act In 2023, we witnessed a rebalancing in Asia credit exposure away from China towards more investment grade sectors in Japan, Australia, and Korea—a trend likely to continue into 2024. These markets are becoming increasingly significant within APAC credit, offering more issuance and less volatility—attributes that are highly sought after by investors. - India's emergence India's inclusion in the GBI-EM index is significant, poised to reach 10% weighting (highest possible for any country) and become an integral part of global EM Local Markets (LM) portfolios. With its high yield appeal, India may well outperform most global LM markets in terms of inflows and performance in 2024. - A fresh start for Asia Credit markets For Asia Credit, we enter 2024 with compressed credit spreads but pockets of yield opportunities. The region starts from a 'cleaner' slate after enduring a couple of tough years. With China's property sector now less dominant within major indices, its influence on overall performance is reduced, paving the way for other markets to contribute more significantly. Demand from investors outside APAC, particularly from the US and Europe, is on the rise for our markets. This diversification of investor base is essential for the robustness of APAC bond markets going forward. - Automation and data will drive trading strategies The growth in automated trading is expected to follow suit in Asia as the region’s markets become increasingly sophisticated and participants seek to leverage technology and data to enhance operational efficiencies and decision-making. The rise in lower-touch trading is likely to resonate with APAC market participants who are looking to streamline their workflows and reduce manual intervention, especially in a region where markets can be fragmented. Market participants are also seeking higher levels of granularity in data to address their need for better market color around pockets of liquidity. #### The vision for 2024 The APAC bond markets are poised for a dynamic 2024 with a mix of caution and optimism. The markets are evolving, and with our data and insights, clients can navigate this landscape more confidently and effectively. As we continue to observe and analyze market trends, we are committed to enhancing our products and developing new, innovative solutions to build on the resilience and adaptability of the APAC bond markets. Join us on this journey as we shape the APAC bond markets of 2024 and beyond. Want to know how we are transforming the APAC bond markets? Find out [more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/transforming-asia-bond-markets) ### Related content #### UBS-AM case study: Powering performance in APAC bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # What if fixed income ETF baskets could mimic the index with accurate real-time NAVs, premiums and discounts? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/what-if-fixed-income-etf-baskets-could-mimic-the-index-with-accurate-real-time-navs-premiums-and-discounts One of the most significant differences between fixed income and equity ETFs is the creation/redemption experience. Typically, with equity ETFs, a market maker knows exactly what constitutes a valid basket – both security and size. The basket composition doesn’t tend to change for size, daily activity or side. Essentially, the basket is the index. With fixed income ETFs, the baskets that are exchanged for creation and redemption units are, more often than not, customized baskets that are a subset of the overall index. If basketing activity is especially heavy on a given day, a market maker may have to wait to receive a transactable basket that would hedge their risk. This mismatch between the immediate transparency of the exchange-traded ETF shares and the OTC nature of the underlying securities creates market inefficiencies. #### Enter MarketAxess CP+™ and eNAV Our breadth of liquidity data and the real-time pricing capability of CP+ (fka Composite+), put us in a unique position to build indices that are comprised of tradeable securities which are priced accurately in real-time. This enables fixed income ETF issuers to offer ETFs where the baskets are the actual index, much like equity ETFs currently. With baskets comprised of tradeable constituents that are supported by real-time CP+ pricing, we can also offer real-time NAVs for the funds, or eNAVs, via our partnership with Virtu. Combining real-time eNAVs with live ETF share pricing allows us to offer real-time premiums and discounts for a suite of tradeable ETFs. And because the eNAV is calculated using a transactable basket, market makers can make more competitive markets. These improvements in pricing and accessibility of bonds will help advance the fixed income and ETF industries so that they are on par with the equity markets. For questions or follow-up, get in touch with John at [jkeller@marketaxess.com](mailto:jkeller@marketaxess.com) This is the final blog in our series that dives into the rapidly changing fixed income index market and the issues that will need to be addressed to improve efficiencies in that market. John Keller, ETF Product Manager, utilizes his extensive industry experience to highlight areas of opportunity in Fixed Income indexation. In case you missed it, read the previously published blogs in the series here: - [What if fixed income indices were comprised of securities that were investable?](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-if-fixed-income-indices-were-comprised-of-securities-that-were-tradable) - [What if fixed income index constituents were accurately priced in real-time?](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-if-fixed-income-index-constituents-were-accurately-priced-in-real-time) - [What if fixed income index constituents traded on live order books with visible depth of market?](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-if-fixed-income-index-constituents-traded-on-live-order-books-with-visible-depth-of-markets) --- # What if fixed income index constituents traded on live order books with visible depth of market? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/what-if-fixed-income-index-constituents-traded-on-live-order-books-with-visible-depth-of-markets I’m frequently reminded about the lessons fixed income credit market can learn from equities. Our President and COO, Chris Concannon, has an equity market background and is very open about the topic. One difference between the two markets that he is known to highlight is the contrast between the prevalent trading protocols. In equities, participants generally post levels at which they wish to trade (aggressors provide liquidity). In fixed income, the participants generally request levels where the market will trade (aggressors take liquidity). It’s a subtle but significant difference and it reinforces the dichotomy in liquidity profiles of the two markets. There are a number of reasons why the credit market hasn’t offered a protocol whereby institutional investors can efficiently express their intentions in this way (not enough data, too many cusips, etc). MarketAxess believes the credit market is poised to overcome these hurdles, adopt an equity-like trading protocol and bring about greater price transparency. #### Enter MarketAxess and Live Markets Live Markets is the first order book, click-to-trade protocol for institutional credit markets. Dealers, ETF market makers and the buy side can now anonymously stream or enter one or two-sided markets into an order book that is fully visible to our extensive client base. This creates unique trading opportunities but also significant amounts of pricing content. #### What does this mean for fixed income indexing? As we laid out in the earlier blogs, fixed income indexing has always struggled with timely and accurate pricing of the underlying constituents. Levels posted in Live Markets are fully executable with the ability to “sweep the stack”. This means that if all of an investable index’s constituents are populated on Live Markets, an index trader (ETF, TRS or basket) that is coded to our APIs will have the ability to instantaneously value index trades of various sizes. Imagine a client asks a dealer to quote $100 and $200 million of an index. The dealer will have visibility down the stack to size and price the hedge of both sizes. Imagine an ETF market maker being able to automate the execution of a basket much the way they do in equity ETFs today. Imagine an ETF Issuer being able to display the liquidity of the basket underlying a new small ETF as opposed to the liquidity of the ETF shares themselves (which traditionally would be narrow for a new, small ETF). Live Markets will help to evolve the fixed income indexing space by addressing these issues in the market. For questions or follow-up, get in touch with John at [jkeller@marketaxess.com](mailto:jkeller@marketaxess.com) This is the third in our series of blogs that dives into the rapidly changing fixed income index market and the issues that will need to be addressed to improve efficiencies in that market. John Keller, ETF Product Manager, utilizes his extensive industry experience to highlight areas of opportunity in Fixed Income indexation. The final topic of this series will be available soon: - What if, fixed income ETF baskets could mimic the index with accurate real-time NAVs and premiums and discounts? In case you missed it, read the first blog in the series here: - [What if fixed income indices were comprised of securities that were investable?](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-if-fixed-income-indices-were-comprised-of-securities-that-were-tradable) - [What if fixed income index constituents were accurately priced in real-time?](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-if-fixed-income-index-constituents-were-accurately-priced-in-real-time) --- # What if fixed income index constituents were accurately priced in real-time? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/what-if-fixed-income-index-constituents-were-accurately-priced-in-real-time Fixed income indices generally provide an official valuation once per day. Historically this has been because pricing for the underlying constituents wasn’t available outside of published end-of-day prices. Given the OTC nature and infrequent trading of some bonds, even one-time end-of-day pricing can be challenging. With advances in pricing capabilities and demand from the market, predominantly ETF Market Makers who need to provide real-time liquidity for the ETF shares, some pricing vendors began providing pricing at more frequent intervals during the trading day. However, the challenges around data availability, modeling capabilities and subsequently, accuracy, remain. #### Enter MarketAxess and CP+™ Our unique position within the capital markets and electronic credit trading market share of over 70%, give us a broader view of pricing inputs than competitors. Approximately 20% of TRACE-reported US IG volumes and 12% of US HY volumes are executed on our platform. Not only do we have access to the TRACE-reported data for these trades, we see all prices submitted for a given inquiry which provides greater visibility into depth of market leading to more accurate real-time pricing. Additionally, our unique vantage point helps better understand the context and pricing implications for non-standard trade patterns such as dealer-initiated transactions. We have been able to harness all this data with a machine learning algorithm that produces two-sided markets every 15-60 seconds for the vast majority of TRACE volumes. The access to additional data points combined with the innovative approach to modeling bond pricing has allowed MarketAxess to quickly build [CP+](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) into a recognized leader in real time valuation of fixed income securities. #### What does this mean for fixed income indexing? We have already seen the impact of accurate real-time pricing as clients have embraced CP+ as a pricing benchmark in our auto-execution and crossing trading protocols. As we roll out indices that utilize CP+ as the pricing source, the intra-day transparency will provide significantly greater confidence to market participants as to where they can execute while also providing where those constituents will be officially marked at end-of-day. With increased certainty around pricing comes lower execution costs and tighter markets. When accurate real-time prices are combined with investable index construction, fixed income indexing and index products can trade more like equity indices. This means transparent execution and hedging costs, the potential for full index baskets which eliminate basis risk and timely basket negotiations, the potential for real-time indices and greater velocity of trading for credit vehicles. Most market participants recognize the impediments holding back fixed income index trading. We feel that CP+ removes the most significant hurdle and will help usher in a new stage for bond indexing. For questions or follow-up, get in touch with John at [jkeller@marketaxess.com](mailto:jkeller@marketaxess.com) This is the second in a series of blogs that dives into the rapidly changing fixed income index market and the issues that will need to be addressed to improve efficiencies in that market. John Keller, ETF Product Manager, utilizes his extensive industry experience to highlight areas of opportunity in Fixed Income indexation. Be on the lookout for the following topics that will be published as part of this “What if” blog series: - What if, fixed income index constituents traded on live order books with visible depth of markets? - What if, fixed income ETF baskets could mimic the index with accurate real-time NAVs and premiums and discounts? - In case you missed it, read the first blog in the series here: [What if fixed income indices were comprised of securities that were investable?](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/what-if-fixed-income-indices-were-comprised-of-securities-that-were-tradable) --- # What if fixed income indices were comprised of securities that were tradable? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/what-if-fixed-income-indices-were-comprised-of-securities-that-were-tradable One of the more widely followed US investment grade corporate bond indices is comprised of more than 6,500 securities and a popular broad US. high yield corporate bond index includes almost 2,000 securities. Even “liquid” investment grade and high yield indices can include around 2,000 and 1,000 bonds, respectively. The issue is that these indices were generally created for use by active managers that weren’t necessarily focused on the liquidity of the constituents and therefore the tradability of the bonds themselves. After all, active management entails the selection of a subset of a universe, not investment across the entire universe. With the consistent growth of the fixed income ETF market and the expansion of electronic trading, “beta” trading has become more prevalent in the fixed income market. However, the issue with trading existing credit indices and products is that the illiquid tails of the indices present difficulties in pricing, sourcing and hedging, which leads to greater costs and less efficient markets. These investment challenges are also prevalent for newer investment strategies, like smart beta or those based around ESG and green bonds. Smart or alternative beta models can identify a subset of securities as attractive or inefficiently priced when lack of liquidity is the predominant issue. This further highlights the need for accurate data to ensure that the securities identified by these newer strategies are actually available to trade when needed most. So how can MarketAxess help? While we can’t make bonds magically appear on bid lists, we can help better define benchmarks and expectations. Because of our unique position within credit markets, MarketAxess has greater insight into the tradability of individual securities and the construction of accessible betas or indices. For example, greater than 20% of the daily TRACE-reported trading volume in US investment grade corporate bonds occurs on MarketAxess. Unlike other market participants that have access to TRACE-supplied details for these trades (price, size, dealer or client direction) MarketAxess has additional data points including whether the trade was offer-wanted or bid wanted, number of responses and prices for each response. Potentially more powerful is the access to similar data for inquiries that DNT’d (did not trade) on our platform as TRACE provides no visibility. We have incorporated this data into unique products (Composite+™, Relative Liquidity Scores) which are the backbone of our index construction process and lead to our advantage in constructing tradeable indices. Credit markets are evolving with smarter trading protocols and more defined investment strategies. Index construction needs to evolve as well. For questions or follow-up, get in touch with John at [jkeller@marketaxess.com](mailto:jkeller@marketaxess.com) This is the first in a series of blogs that will dive into the rapidly changing fixed income index market and the issues that will need to be addressed to improve efficiencies in that market. John Keller, ETF Product Manager, utilizes his extensive industry experience to highlight areas of opportunity in Fixed Income indexation. Be on the lookout for the following topics that will be published as part of this “What if” blog series: - What if, fixed income index constituents were accurately priced in real-time? - What if, fixed income index constituents traded on live order books with visible depth of markets? - What if, fixed income ETF baskets could mimic the index with accurate real-time NAVs and premiums and discounts? --- # When Delayed Spotting Meets Delayed Reporting: Distortions in the Corporate Bond Index Close Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/when-delayed-spotting-meets-delayed-reporting-distortions-in-the-corporate-bond-index-close ## When Delayed Spotting Meets Delayed Reporting: Distortions in the Corporate Bond Index Close --- # Why AI won’t take your fixed income job Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/why-ai-wont-take-your-fixed-income-job #### A conversation with ChatGPT. There's been so much talk about how AI could replace human workers across virtually every industry sector, from telecoms to retail to trucking and beyond. Lately, following the proliferation of generative AI, the conversation has turned to us, and whether AI might affect fixed income jobs. So, I figured I should have a conversation with ChatGPT, the ubiquitous AI chatbot, to see what’s in store for my fixed income career. ChatGPT is a bit long winded, so I’ll just provide the interesting bits. Me: Will AI take my fixed income job? ChatGPT: AI is best suited for tasks that involve repetitive, rule-based processes, such as data analysis, pattern recognition, and decision-making. These are tasks that can be automated to increase efficiency and accuracy, potentially reducing the need for human intervention. However, there are other aspects of fixed income jobs that require human skills and judgment, such as relationship building with clients, communication, and problem-solving. It sounds like AI can’t do soft skills and problem solving, which is good for me since that’s the fun part of my job. Perhaps AI is more of a helper than a replacement—something that can handle the time consuming or mundane parts of our jobs, freeing up time for us to innovate and collaborate with clients. Me: Which fixed income tasks can AI help automate? ChatGPT: 1. Portfolio Management: AI can assist with portfolio management tasks, such as identifying investment opportunities, conducting risk assessments, and optimizing portfolio allocations based on market conditions. 2. Risk Management: AI can analyze data related to fixed income securities and identify potential risks that could impact investment returns. 3. Trading: AI can automate fixed income trading by using algorithms to analyze market data and identify trading opportunities. 4. Credit Analysis: AI can assist with credit analysis by analyzing financial statements, credit ratings, and other relevant data to assess the creditworthiness of issuers of fixed income securities. 5. Compliance Monitoring: AI can assist with compliance monitoring by analyzing transactions and other data to identify potential regulatory issues or violations. I’m not sure if ChatGPT is bragging or what, but that’s an impressive list. At MarketAxess, I work on CP™+, our AI-driven real-time fixed income pricing, which is used in the first three areas. Large dealers and algo funds use CP+ data in their own AI models to optimize trading strategies. Similarly, clients are creating AI models with our CP+ data to identify patterns in the market to inform their investment decisions and track portfolio risk in real-time. With more than 50 million levels per day, price updates as fast as every 15 seconds and 100% coverage in its markets, CP+ is taking these workflows to new levels of efficiency and scale. My fixed income career may still have some legs! But there are a lot of choices for fixed income data out there, so what’s the difference? One would think that better quality data would lead to better AI results… Me: Does AI need good data to work? ChatGPT: Yes, AI needs good data to work effectively. In fact, the quality of the data used to train an AI model is one of the most important factors in determining the accuracy and performance of the model. If the data used to train an AI model is biased, incomplete, or otherwise flawed, the model's predictions and decisions may be inaccurate or unreliable. On the other hand, if the data is of high quality, the AI model will be better equipped to learn the patterns and relationships needed to make accurate predictions and decisions. Our data products leverage unique and quantifiable trading insights from our platform (think depth of book). This data eclipses what you see in trades alone. In Europe, we also use our TraX market data as a key input for CP+. Unique data + strong models (yes, we use AI models too) = high quality data products. The numbers support it too: last year more than 20% of trades on the MarketAxess platform used CP+ Auto-X™ trading protocols. While it dawned on me that ChatGPT (a.k.a. the AI talking robot) has some major conflicts of interest in this discussion, I think the conclusion is irrefutable—AI is driving greater efficiency in the fixed income market. But it’s not going to take your job, or mine, just yet. ### Related content #### CP+™: AI-powered real-time pricing [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Auto-X™: A simple yet powerful suite of automatic execution tools [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_global-credit-market-bid-ask-spreads-return-to-normal) #### Data is king [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/data-is-king) --- # Why axe quality matters in electronic credit trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/why-axe-quality-matters-in-electronic-credit-trading ## Why axe quality matters in electronic credit trading --- # Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets Institutional firms investing in Asia’s fixed income markets face the unique challenge of dealing with a wide range of countries and investor segments. They also are challenged with the availability and transparency of data. During times of heightened market volatility amid an uncertain economic environment, access to new and deeper pools of diversified liquidity and visibility on pricing is more vital for bond investors and traders. This leads to an increased appetite for platforms that can provide access to enhanced liquidity, analytical tools to optimise trading execution and actionable data to aid decisions. MarketAxess addresses these challenges through its bond trading tools and data solutions. It delivers actionable data insights and market transparency through [CP+™](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus), its real-time artificial intelligence-powered pricing engine. The platform allows investors to leverage machine learning to predict prices more accurately based on actionable transactional data rather than indicative price data. It uses data from public, proprietary and platform trading data. The platform generates prices through a two-step, machine-learning algorithm. Its prediction engine is trained daily on historical data. Next, the engine generates predictions in near real-time while incorporating intraday trading information. Predictions generated by the platform are combinations of time, bond and price, meaning bids and offers are generated independently. Paulo Costa, head of data for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific at MarketAxess, says over the past year, CP+ was enhanced to expand pricing for more than 290,000 bonds, covering global corporate, rates and EM markets. “Today, CP+ refreshes every 15–60 seconds to generate nearly 30 million levels per day. The range of data that flows into the pricing tool is what differentiates CP+,” he says. CP+ sources data from public TRACE, [TraX® data](https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data) – derived from executed trades reported by the MarketAxess buy- and sell-side community – including MarketAxess platform inquiries, responses and pre-trade data. The platform was a key driver in MarketAxess achieving record data revenue and automated trading volume of $69 billion in the first quarter of 2023. Riad Chowdhury, head of Asia-Pacific at MarketAxess, adds that CP+ was instrumental in helping MarketAxess clients achieve improved trading outcomes, and it now also serves as a benchmark for the firm’s automated execution protocols. MarketAxess will continue to grow TraX data coverage through its community of buy- and sell-side contributors and more inquiries, responses and transactions on the MarketAxess platform globally. Costa says the firm will expand the CP+ coverage in the next few months to price new currencies such as Hungarian forint, Thai baht, and South Korean won bonds. “Working closely with the international buy- and sell-side players, MarketAxess has now made CP+ size dependent through CP+ Inquiry to address their evolving needs, ie, CP+ Inquiry now helps clients predict their best response level when they send an inquiry through MarketAxess,” he says. This is useful for clients with size-specific trade cost analysis to ensure they are meeting best-execution requirements and for algorithms to have a better understanding of the market’s capacity to handle larger sizes, Costa adds. Other enhancements MarketAxess has worked on include new tools to enrich CP+ data feeds, such as CP+ Responder. CP+ Responder helps traders respond to requests for quotes (RFQs) by offering pre-trade analytics with over 300 scenarios per bond. It also answers questions such as the required level response for a desired hit rate and the expected hit rate from a desired response level. MarketAxess also enhanced its intuitive measure [Relative Liquidity Score](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/relative-liquidity-score), which provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds, to provide EM Hard Currency liquidity scores. It is now available for euro, sterling and dollar-denominated bond markets, covering close to 36,000 bonds daily, with scores ranging from 10 – the highest liquidity level – down to one. Costa says investors today require a more dynamic, rather than static liquidity measure. In response to this need, MarketAxess has launched its AI-drive liquidity metric tool, [Tradability](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth), which offers a dynamic prediction of liquidity across the side and size of an order to provide insight on depth-of-market. It has been designed to provide real-time prediction for the total number of responses clients can expect an RFQ to receive on the platform. Costa says Tradability has supported electronic trading inquiries and automated trading strategies across US and EU markets. “It does so by including both disclosed and anonymous responses to offer a more holistic picture of liquidity to optimise order handling; whether taking or providing liquidity,” he says. He stresses that MarketAxess is a market-driven data vendor. The data it captures and publishes is 100% based on client activity, requirements and their understanding of the changing market structure. Costa says MarketAxess will launch several enhancements following client and dealer consultations in the next few quarters. These include Portfolio Trade flags in TraX Volume file – an end-of-day solution disclosing aggregated volumes at the Isin level to manage risk, portfolio construction and market share analysis – and the inclusion of spreads, yields, benchmarks, direction and CP+ closing prices in its TraX Pricing files. Originally published on Risk.net | September 28, 2023 ### Related content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) --- # Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/why-marketaxess-leads-the-way-in-bond-trading-for-global-emerging-markets ## Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets --- # Why systematic strategies are the next big thing in fixed income Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/why-systematic-strategies-are-the-next-big-thing-in-fixed-income Fixed income credit investment and trading has changed substantially over the past decade and a half with recent changes leading to the increased viability of systematic strategies. The global financial crisis and subsequent events have irreversibly changed fixed income market structure giving rise to increased automation, as well as a growth in alternative liquidity providers and electronic trading venues. The way in which investors seek to allocate capital has also evolved, as have the strategies they favour and the returns they expect. This has been most evident in the ‘rise of passive’ credit investment, as well as the growing penetration and assets-under-management of ETF asset managers. However, a strategy previously reserved for other asset classes has recently started to make greater inroads in fixed income credit – Systematic. Systematic investing has become more applicable to fixed income credit precisely as a result of the market structure changes taking place. Through the growth of alternative liquidity providers – and, vitally, because electronic platforms can now connect end-investors to that alternative and/or natural liquidity – fixed income systematic credit strategies now have a higher likelihood of execution when signals are received. In essence, systematic trading strategies can realistically be employed and the signals won’t be wasted. MarketAxess [Open Trading™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading), the anonymous all-to-all trading marketplace, plays a key role here as the market leader in connecting end-investors to natural and alternative liquidity sources, which they would not otherwise be able to access. Open Trading is uniquely placed to assist systematic strategies with asset sourcing (or offloading) and the subsequent alpha capture/defence within this new market structure. Alongside this developing execution landscape, markedly better-quality data is helping to improve signal generation and accuracy. The improved quality and cleanliness of the data assists in validating the applicability and profitability of prospective systematic strategies and, once launched, the same data allows those strategies to identify live and relevant signals and act accordingly. Choosing the ‘right’ data is important – not all data is of equal applicability, especially in markets where regulatory reporting requirements differ. In this regard, MarketAxess Data Solutions via Trax and its multi-market predictive composite pricing tool, Composite+, (which provides over 30 million levels per day), provides data through which signals can be deciphered. Contrary to some suspicions, systematic fixed income investment does not always seek to eradicate the role of ‘humans’ from the investment process – rather it seeks to apply human input where its value is most keenly felt. Although substantial changes have occurred, fixed income credit remains relatively illiquid when set against standard commodity trading advisor (CTA) trading products, underlining the requirement for some level of human involvement. Equally, the strategies are not black-box, mysterious operations. Without devaluing the complexity involved, particularly with regards the construction of the machines, the machine processes must be simple to the extent that they can be explained. However, what is undoubtedly true is that as the global investment landscape keeps evolving and potentially becomes yet more complex, the foundations are laid for fixed income systematic credit strategies to prosper. For questions or follow-up, get in touch with Max at [mcallaghan@marketaxess.com](mailto:research@marketaxess.com) --- # Predictions: Will 2023 be the year of transparency in fixed income markets? Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/will-2023-be-the-year-of-transparency-in-fixed-income-markets #### Will 2023 be the year of transparency in fixed income markets? If 2022 will be remembered for something in bond markets, it will certainly be the highest volatility and some of the most challenging liquidity conditions we’ve seen since 2008. Now the question on everyone’s mind is, what does 2023 hold in store for these markets? Volatile conditions in 2022 driving unusual bid-ask spreads have ultimately made it very difficult for market participants to operate as they would normally. Increased market transparency can be helpful at times like these and is what I think will be a driving trend in 2023. Transparency, to some degree, has always been part of fixed income markets – and it has certainly improved over time. But 2023 will be an inflection point for transparency as recent market turbulence once again underlines the urgent need for real-time data that helps participants see their way forward. It is what the market seeks and is what regulators are focused on as they look for ways to help capital markets function smoothly. In Europe, in particular, transparency is at the heart of initiatives to address, among other things, the current data quality and fragmentation issues in EU capital markets. For example, a fixed income consolidated tape which we would expect to emerge in 18-24 months will help bolster and deliver a strong capital markets union as Europe charts its own post-Pandemic recovery. This kind of regulatory evolution will only serve to drive more transparency into markets. To paint a picture of why this is important: if the market conditions we’ve experienced over the past year are a thick fog obscuring a windy mountain road, then pre-trade data is the powerful fog lights that help you see the way. In bond markets, a trade is important not just in its own right, but because it enables you to prepare for the next one. Against the backdrop of the equities sell-off this year, bonds are today more appealing to investors. Widened credit spreads along with increased base interest rates have pushed yields to levels not seen in years. With the current changes to the interest rate environment, investors would potentially be able to achieve more solid returns from credit instruments. And while the standard model of 60:40 equities to bonds has had one of its worst years on record, there is understandably more talk about reshaping portfolio construction by reviewing its weighting. This trend will once again boost the requirements for access to market data and the need for more market transparency in the bond market to support the changes to the investment pattern. These data-driven measures that boost transparency and indicate clear price action will only help investors capitalise on these opportunities and re-position themselves for the year ahead. Transparency also has an important role to play in the evolution of passive markets. BlackRock notably upgraded its forecast this year that it expects bond ETF inflows to triple to $5tn by 2030, as higher yields and uncertain markets push investors to diversify their portfolios. Bond ETFs are revolutionizing the way people invest in fixed income and have brought access, liquidity, and efficiency to many fixed income investors. Data-powered pricing and pre-and post-trade reporting will help to entrench these products in the fabric of financial markets in the years to come. Technology that helps to deliver transparency is light-years ahead of where it was during 2008 – technology that can help to determine accurate pricing like the MarketAxess Composite+™ pricing engine and provide liquidity metrics like MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score. The power that transparency can bring in terms of market access will change the face of fixed income forever. Not only will we see participants show an increased appetite for new technologies and practices such as automation and Best Execution, long a staple of equities execution. But we will see a wider and more diverse liquidity pool enter the market, deepening and enhancing capital markets. Moreover, as bond markets continue to evolve and embrace newer initiatives like green bond secondary markets, a more transparent market with a wider base of investors will only help these new initiatives thrive. So, the question is will we see this level of change in 2023? At their heart sits the all-important theme of increased transparency. If we see this widely adopted across these markets, then the rest is bound to fall into place. This article originally appeared on [The Trade](https://www.thetradenews.com/blog/will-2023-be-the-year-of-transparency-in-fixed-income-markets/) on December 22, 2022 ### Related Content #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Why data matters for the Asian fixed income markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-data-matters-in-Asian-fixed-income-markets) #### Trading US credit on MarketAxess [View the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-usig-infographic.pdf) --- # Asia Pacific Top Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/asia-pacific-top ### The electronification of Asia bonds With an array of innovative protocols and data solutions consolidated into one single trading platform, you are in the driver’s seat. - Network of 90+ global and regional dealers. - 2000+ active client and dealer firms globally. - 28 local currency markets—8 being Asian. - Best liquidity via Open Trading, our all-to-all marketplace. - A comprehensive data solution suite. - End-to-end pre- and post-trade support. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/transforming-asia-bond-markets) ### Powering performance in APAC bond markets through data and product innovation Learn how we provided UBS Asset Management with the agility that fixed income markets demand and the tools to deliver innovative strategies for its clients. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) ### The evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan As Japanese investors seek newer, higher-yielding opportunities away from home, electronic trading is playing an increasing major role in how they navigate the global market challenges today. We explore this in our latest white paper that was published in collaboration with Coalition Greenwich, which provides in-depth analysis of the rising demand for fixed income assets, the growing adoption of electronic trading, and the unique opportunities available to Japanese investors. [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper) +0% YOY trade volume by APAC clients +0% YOY Local Markets debt volume by APAC clients 0+ global and regional dealers --- # Bienvenue chez MarketAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/bienvenue-chez-marketaxess Bienvenue sur la plateforme leader du trading de titres obligataires ### Les obligations font leur grand retour. Et elles sont toutes là. Plus de 2 000 grandes institutions financières internationales utilisent quotidiennement MarketAxess pour négocier leurs titres obligataires. Nous sommes l’une des plus importantes places de marché électroniques pour les obligations IG et HY américaines, la dette des marchés émergents, les euro-obligations, les bons du Trésor américain, les obligations d’État européennes, les obligations municipales et plus encore. Ici, vous pouvez bénéficier d’une détermination des prix en temps réel dans un univers de plus de 250 000 obligations. Ici, vous pouvez accéder à la liquidité pré-négociation d’une obligation et à la probabilité d’une négociation réussie en un clic. Ici, vous pouvez négocier comme vous le voulez : demande de cotation unique, négociation de liste, négociation de portefeuille, enchères, négociations à faible ou forte intervention humaine... le tout au sein de la réserve de liquidité de crédits de trésorerie la plus importante au monde, avec plus de 19 milliards de dollars de liquidité quotidienne. Les obligations font leur grand retour. Négociez-les ici. [Contactez-nous pour une démo](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Étude de cas : Goldman Sachs Asset Management Réduisez le coût de vos transactions. Exécutez vos ordres plus rapidement et plus efficacement. Développez de nouvelles stratégies de négociation et de constitution de portefeuille. C’est ce qu’a fait Goldman Sachs grâce à nos données, nos outils d’exécution et nos réserves de liquidité. Consultez l’étude de cas pour en savoir plus. [Consultez l’étude de cas (en anglais)](https://cdn.bfldr.com/VLHKYIHS/as/gfxqkj6xn7433vjkbmjgfn2b/Case_Study_GSAM_2022) ### Données sur les prix en temps réel primées Un outil primé de tarification des obligations fondé sur l’IA, qui couvre les marchés de taux et de crédit mondiaux, incluant non seulement des obligations en USD, mais aussi des obligations d’entreprises en euros/GBP, des obligations d’État européennes (EGB) et des marchés mondiaux étendus comme le CHF, le JPY, l’AUD et plus encore. CP+ couvre désormais un univers de plus de 250 000 obligations dans le monde. C’est la base de la plupart de nos outils et protocoles de négociation, comme Auto-X et notre suite de négociation de portefeuille. Cet outil, continuellement mis à jour tout au long de la journée, est accessible à la fois par le biais de notre plateforme et de divers flux de données. [Regardez la vidéo (en anglais)](https://vimeo.com/808047865) ### Une liquidité plus importante. De meilleurs prix. #### Nous redéfinissons la négociation de titres obligataires. Il s’agit de la place de marché électronique universelle la plus importante au monde pour le crédit des entreprises, avec 19 milliards de dollars de liquidité quotidienne et plus de 2 000 sociétés de trading actives. Vous ne trouverez une telle liquidité nulle part ailleurs... même quand les marchés sont volatils. Open Trading permet des négociations plus intelligentes et plus efficaces, ainsi que des prix bien meilleurs pour les sociétés de trading. Essayez-le. [Téléchargez la brochure (en anglais)](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-brochure) ### Les obligations font leur grand retour. Négociez-les ici. [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Careers | Home Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers ## Careers ### Take Us There We're taking the largest, global, analog financial market into the digital age, revolutionizing the fixed-income industry in the same way streaming changed entertainment and the internet redefined the way we shop. Electronifying the bond market, making it more efficient and open, is the biggest thing to happen to fixed-income in decades. And, it feels like it's only the beginning. #### Search Jobs Clear Filters Search #### Our Teams [Dig Deeper](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/teams) #### Students [Explore Opportunities](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/students) ### Who we are MarketAxess is on a journey to digitally transform one of the world’s largest financial markets, enabling the shift from analog, phone-based trading to a fully electronic marketplace. [More about us](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/who-we-are) ### Life at MarketAxess The opportunity to electronify this industry will only happen once. You’ll grow in exciting, unexpected ways and stretch your talent and imagination in our fast-paced, dynamic environment. [More on our vibe](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/life-at-marketaxess) ### Our people stories #### From a "camping hut to a bungalow": our growth story in Singapore When Ashley Heng and Navaneetha (Nava) Kumar joined MarketAxess in Singapore, our presence in APAC was still in its infancy and much like a true start-up. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/singapore-office) #### MarketAxess Moves: Solenn's journey from NYC to London For Solenn Maton, a Senior Research Analyst, who’s been with us over 4 years since joining as an intern in NYC, she always knew that there was a possibility she may want to move back to Europe to be closer to her family in France. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/mktx-moves-solenn) #### Meet Colleen, Business Development, Post-Trade Repo Colleen works on our Post-Trade team in NYC and is tasked with expanding our Repo matching platform in the US, plus working with our clients to increase their post-trade automation. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-colleen) [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Current Openings Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings Refine job results Clear Filters Loading jobs... Important: Don't fall victim to job fraud. We care about you and the integrity of our recruitment process. All genuine MarketAxess job postings can be found through this site. We will never ask you for sensitive personal information or charge a fee for applying for any role. To learn more about signs of a potential hiring scam, click here. Should you have any concern and want to validate that the role you are interviewing for at MarketAxess is a legitimate open role, please email jobverification@MarketAxess.com. [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Digital Badging Program Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/digital-badging-program ### A digital version of your credentials MarketAxess and Credly are partnering to provide a digital badging platform to further enhance our career development strategy. Beginning in 2020, our Technology team will have access to a robust platform to document, display and share their skills and knowledge – both inside and outside of the organization! Benefits of digital badges: - Verified data that describes your qualifications. - Share who you are, what you know, and what you do. - Visual imagery to share via email signature and social media profiles. - Get noticed by peers and colleagues within and outside of the organization. ### How it works #### 1. Acquire the skill or knowledge We’ve partnered with Pluralsight and others to provide formal learning. #### 2. Demonstrate proficiency Successfully complete an assessment, MKTX approved certification, or on the job demonstration. #### 3. Earn, accept and share your badge Share your badge on social media, add it to your digital resume, include it in your email signature. ### Skills development areas You can earn a digital badge for a range of skills and technologies. These badge offerings cover a range of areas that are critical to success in a full stack environment. The skills and technologies offered will help you strengthen the skills that are critical right now, while also preparing you, and the organization, for the future. [View all our available badges](https://www.youracclaim.com/organizations/marketaxess/badges) ### Helpful links [How to share your badge](https://support.youracclaim.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020964272-How-do-I-share-my-badge-) [How to add your badge to your email signature](https://support.youracclaim.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021221691-Can-I-attach-my-badge-to-my-email-signature-) [How to add your badge to LinkedIn](https://support.youracclaim.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024678532-Video-How-to-add-your-badge-to-LinkedIn-) ### Frequently asked questions #### What is an open badge? Open badges are web-enabled versions of a credential, certification or learning outcome which can be verified in real-time, online. #### How does my certification get displayed as a badge? We have partnered with Credly to translate the learning outcomes you’ve demonstrated into a badge, issued and managed through the company’s Acclaim Platform. The technology Credly uses on its Acclaim Platform is based on the Open Badge Standards maintained by IMS Global. This enables you to manage, share and verify your competencies digitally. #### What are the benefits of a badge? Representing your skills as a badge gives you a way to share your abilities online in a way that is simple, trusted and can be easily verified in real time. Badges provide employers and peers concrete evidence of what you had to do to earn your credential and what you’re now capable of. Credly’s Acclaim Platform also offers labor market insights, based on your skills. You can search and apply for job opportunities right through the Acclaim Platform. #### Who is Credly? Credly is the end-to-end solution for issuing and managing digital credentials. Credly works with credible organizations to provide digital credentials to individuals, worldwide. #### How will I know if I’ve earned a badge? You will receive an email notification from the Acclaim Platform ([admin@youracclaim.com](mailto:admin@youracclaim.com)) with instructions for claiming your badge and setting up your account. #### What if I don’t want my badge to be public? You can easily configure your privacy settings in the Acclaim Platform. You’re in complete control of the information about yourself that is made public. #### Is there a fee to use Credly’s Acclaim Platform? No. This is a service we provide to you, at no cost. #### What’s to keep someone else from copying my badge and using it? While badges are simply digital image files, they are uniquely linked to data hosted on Credly’s Acclaim Platform. This link to verified data makes them more reliable and secure than a paper-based certificate. It also eliminates the possibility of anyone claiming your credential and your associated identity. #### Where and how can I share my badge through Credly’s Acclaim Platform? You can share your badge directly from the Acclaim Platform to LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook; over email; embedded in a website or in your email signature. #### What are labor market insights and how can I access them through Credly’s Acclaim Platform? Labor market insights are pulled from live job requisitions. Based on your skills you can learn which employers are hiring, what job titles you might be qualified for, salary ranges and more. Search active job listings and even apply for them with just a few clicks through the Acclaim Platform. Access the labor market insights from your badge details page by clicking on Related Jobs, or by clicking on the skill tags assigned to your badge. #### Can I export badges issued through Credly’s Acclaim Platform to other badge-storing platforms? Yes, you can download your badge from the Share Badge page. Your downloaded badge contains Open Badge Infrastructure (OBI) compliant metadata embedded into the image. This allows you to store your badge on other OBI-compliant badge sites, such as the Mozilla backpack. #### Can I import badges issued from other platforms into Credly’s Acclaim Platform? Not at this time. #### I have a question about the Acclaim Platform. Where can I find support? You can find answers to frequently asked questions here: [support.youracclaim.com](http://support.youracclaim.com/) --- # Job Fraud Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/job-fraud ## Fake online hiring scams Don't fall for job fraud Some companies and recruiters use online job sites and video technologies as a convenient and cost-effective way to communicate with applicants. Unfortunately, fraudsters are using them too, and they aren’t looking to offer you a job. Individuals claiming to be involved in the hiring process for legitimate organizations—including MarketAxess—have turned to LinkedIn, Zoom and other online platforms as a way to phish for your personal information and money. In fact, similar tactics—and the tips to avoid falling victim—may also apply to phone interviews, mail and email exchanges, and even face-to-face job interviews. ### Signs of a hiring scam Whether you are participating in an online job interview or have already been offered a position, here are some red flags that may signal a scam: - Payment requirements. You should not have to pay an employer or an employment firm to get a job. Nor should you be asked to provide payment for any materials unless you have been hired and clearly agree to pay for something associated with the job, such as supplies or equipment. Even then, be sure to thoroughly vet the company to confirm whether any required purchases are truly necessary and, if so, the process for making those purchases. Be especially suspicious of requests to deposit checks from the company and then provide reimbursement or payment to a third party using those funds. In instances of fraud, the checks eventually bounce, leaving you responsible for repayment of the fraudulent funds and associated fees. - On-the-spot interviews or lack of preparation by hiring personnel leading up to the online session. Be wary of any request to do an online video job interview immediately, without any prior contact by the hiring organization. A legitimate online interview is generally preceded by initial outreach, as well as information such as interview time, names and titles of those who may be on the call, among other things. A lack of advance preparation could be a red flag. - Requests for personal information such as your Social Security number (SSN), credit card information or a bank account number. Employment experts warn that asking for this type of information is a red flag that may signal job fraud. While some areas allow employers to request SSNs on job applications, be aware that bank account information, for instance, is generally requested only after you are hired—not during an interview. And even then, you should contact the company directly to confirm that the position and requested forms are valid before providing any personal information. - Prompts to download documents or files. Files may contain malware that captures keystrokes or mouse movements, or that even takes control of your webcam. If a file is sent to you via a virtual platform, the safest move is not to open it and to end the session. Other red flags include: - Odd or poorly written text, including typos or unusual wording, on the online platform page or in other communication. - Pressure to commit to a job quickly or make equipment purchases. - Language—spoken or written—that suggests a job is “guaranteed” or “waiting for you” or that personal funds are required for purchases. - Interviews arranged for “previously undisclosed" jobs. Many organizations, including MarketAxess, post jobs on their website making the information publicly available. ### How can I protect myself? Here are six tips to avoid an online hiring scam: - Don’t respond to unsolicited requests for an online interview. If you are not certain you applied for the job, don’t engage in a session. - Do an internet search to research the company and the hiring manager or recruiter responsible for the job posting. - Contact the company’s human resources department to verify that the company does, in fact, use the designated technologies to conduct interviews remotely and that the company has scheduled an interview for you on the date for which you receive a request. - Verify through the company that the person leading the online interview or engaging in follow-up conversations is a current company employee or has been hired to represent the company. - Terminate a call immediately if you are asked to provide personal or financial information or to pay a fee that you did not expect, and do not respond to similar written requests. - Trust your instincts: If anything about the way the job interview or hiring process seems suspicious, contact the organization directly on your own to confirm the legitimacy of the position before taking any further action. ### Where to turn for help If you’ve been targeted by a job scam, you can [file a complaint with the FTC](https://www.ftc.gov/complaint). If you encounter problems with an employment-service firm, contact the appropriate state licensing board (if these firms must be licensed in your state), [your state Attorney General](http://www.naag.org/) and [your local consumer protection agency](http://www.usa.gov/directory/stateconsumer/index.shtml). ###### Source: Finra --- # Life at MarketAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/life-at-marketaxess ### Everyone is essential to the journey When we say we have a flat structure without endless layers, we really mean it. And we rely on every team member to take us forward. You’ll work alongside talented colleagues of all skill sets and experience an environment where every voice is valued equally. Expect to be in the middle of the action, where your contributions will be seen and recognized. ### What it's like to work here ### We're all about culture Our culture of collaboration has been the secret sauce to our success. We asked our people around the world to describe what it’s really like to work at MarketAxess. Their input helped us develop our culture principles, which keep us grounded in who we are, how we work together, and inspire where we’re going next. #### We are proud of what we do #### We have fire in the belly #### We work hard We have fun #### We are welcoming #### We make transparency our currency #### We give creativity oxygen #### We think client first #### We get it done #### We are changemakers #### We think globally ### We offer pretty great benefits and perks globally. Here are some of our favorites. #### Generous PTO We ensure our people have the time to recharge and rest when they need it. #### Long Service Award Employees receive an extra two weeks of vacation for every 5 years they've been with us. #### Wellness Stipend We provide a generous stipend to employees to cover eligible wellness-related expenses, like gym memberships, standing desks and even ski lift tickets. #### Paid Charity Days Giving back to the community is something we've always valued, so we provide two paid days a year for employees to volunteer. #### Retirement Savings Plan + Company Match We offer 401(k) and pension plans, plus generous employer matching contributions. #### Free Lunch and/or Snacks We stock our offices with a variety of healthy snacks and provide free lunch in some locations. #### Explore our benefits around the world [US](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations/nyc) [UK](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations/london) ### We're committed to giving back Whether it's through charitable donations or volunteering our time, we've always valued giving back to the community. That's why, in 2021, we created the MarketAxess Charitable Foundation, enabling us to shape the future of fintech, by supporting those in underserved communities and creating opportunities for the next generation. We encourage our employees to volunteer with the partners that we support with charitable grants, as well as any other causes they're passionate about (which we give two paid days off a year to do!). #### What our people have to say “For any young person wanting to get into fintech - this is the place for you. You are not just making up the numbers here. If you are talented and driven, you will be given opportunities to help grow and carve out your career here.” Adam, Head of Relationship Management, Data “I love that every day is different. I've been here for 11 years, but it really feels like we're always onto something new. We're creating solutions for all these different client segments. And everybody works together. It's almost like a new adventure every day.” Maria, Head of Latin America Sales ### Our people stories #### A conversation with Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading & DealerAxess EMEA & APAC When Patrick Bailey joined MarketAxess in 2016, he brought with him a decade of experience as a sell-side trader. [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-patrick-bailey-head-of-open-trading-dealeraxess-emea-apac) #### A conversation with Sarah Bendl, Sr. Product Specialist, Portfolio Trading Sarah Bendl has been instrumental in transforming and expanding the Portfolio Trading business at MarketAxess. [read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-sarah-bendl-sr-product-specialist-portfolio-trading) #### A conversation with Zak Lenz, Head of Municipal Securities Zak Lenz discusses his journey at MarketAxess and his new role as Head of Municipal Securities at MarketAxess. [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-zak-lenz-head-of-municipal-securities) [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Locations Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations ## Our Locations ### Here, there and everywhere In order to build a truly global marketplace, we need to be global, too. Our 800+ people can be found all over the world in offices ranging from hundreds of employees to just a few. ### New York City Our global headquarters, home to over 400 employees across all functions and most of our global management team, can be found in New York City in the newly developed neighborhood of Hudson Yards (views of the Hudson River included!). [Get an inside look](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations/nyc) ### London About 250 employees work in our London office, making it our second largest globally, and with representation across all areas of the company, including our Post-Trade business. Located in the City, the heart of the financial industry, our open, newly renovated building promotes collaboration. [Get an inside look](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations/london) ### Amsterdam Located on a gorgeous street in a period building (yet still modern and updated) with canal views, our Amsterdam office is small but mighty —with team members spanning many different functions. [search jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) ### Hong Kong Our brand new Hong Kong office space is in the heart of the Financial Centre, which houses employees primarily from our sales and client services teams. [seach jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) ### Singapore Not far from the iconic Marina Bay Sands, you’ll find our glossy new Singapore office—home to employees within our sales, technology, and operations functions, plus a few in corporate roles. [search jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) ### Satellite Locations We have a number of smaller offices around the globe: Boston • Chicago • Frankfurt • Los Angeles • Miami • Paris • São Paulo • Zurich [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # London Location Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations/london ## London Our second largest office can be found at 5 Aldermanbury Square, close to the 17th-century St Paul's Cathedral and the prestigious Guildhall. In addition to two levels of open floor plans, plenty of collaboration spaces, and a living green wall, our London office has two recharge rooms for downtime and meditation, pool-playing and even the occasional virtual sports tournament. The kitchen space is always filled with coffee, tea, and snacks, plus we get free lunch delivered to our employees daily. ### Explore our office space ### Benefits you can look forward to Here's a snapshot of some of the great benefits and perks we offer our London employees: #### Core Benefits Besides a competitive standard benefits package, we offer private medical insurance for family, Cash Plan, health screenings, Menopause plan, dental cover, pension, car leasing, wellness stipend, interest-free season ticket loan, a "Share Incentive" plan, and more. #### Free Food We provide free lunch for employees when they are working in the office via our vendor, Feedr. Plus, our office is stocked with snacks and drinks from our free vending machines. #### Paid Time Off 25 days annual leave entitlement plus 2 charity days. #### Reward for your service We offer a bonus two week holiday after completing each 5 years of service. Plus personal and charity days depending on length of tenure. #### Tuition Assistance & Professional Training Benefit from on-demand learning, boot camps, and opportunities to attend conferences. #### Central Location Our office is conveniently located near St. Paul's. ### Explore jobs in London Refine job results Clear Filters Loading jobs... [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # NYC Location Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/locations/nyc ## New York City ### Check out our office ### Benefits you can look forward to In addition to our core benefits of competitive medical, dental, and vision programs, we also offer U.S. employees the following benefits: #### Free Food We provide free lunch for employees when they are working in the office. Plus, our office is stocked with snacks and drinks. #### Wellness Stipend Employees receive up to $1,000 annually towards gym memberships, home office equipment and more #### Paid Time Off Competitive PTO package including vacation and personal days, sick leave and charity days. #### Long Service Award Receive an extra two weeks of vacation for every five years working here. #### Generous Parental Leave Up to 20 weeks of fully paid leave. #### 401(k) Dollar-for-dollar employer match up to $17,500. #### Employee Stock Purchase Plan Employees can purchase MarketAxess common stock at a discount. #### Onsite Healthcare We offer convenient access to world-class care through Mount Sinai at our Hudson Yards location. #### Tuition Assistance & Professional Training Benefit from on-demand learning, boot camps and opportunities to attend conferences. ### Explore jobs in New York City Refine job results Clear Filters Loading jobs... [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Stories Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories ## InsideAxess Get to know us through our people and their stories. --- # The bond market & AI: how MarketAxess brings it all together Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/H2O-mktx-event This blog post was originally published on [H2O's blog](https://www.h2o.ai/blog/the-bond-market-ai-how-marketaxess-brings-it-all-together/). It has been republished with permission. --- The vast majority of the equities market trades electronically while the bond market is still in its infancy by comparison, but MarketAxess is seeking to change that. Recently, we hosted a virtual event with the MarketAxess team where they explained how they were solving challenges in the world’s largest bond marketplace while leveraging AI and the cloud. See below some of the key takeaways of the session (you can also check out the recording of the panel [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc0MN69ubKQ)): ### What does MarketAxess do? MarketAxess is the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities and the provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets. Julien Alexandre, Co-Head of Research at MarketAxess, explains how they electronified the trading process. ”MarketAxess came about 20 years ago, and it electronified the [trading] process. You can submit a request for a quote instead of calling many people at different times. Now, you just send a request electronically, get prices back, and have access to bigger leverage by doing that because more people can provide you with more quotes in a lesser amount of time.” ### How has MarketAxess worked with H2O.ai? Over the past five years, H2O.ai has partnered with MarketAxess in building their Composite+ product. Composite+, powered by H2O's open source, is a platform that delivers greater insight and price discovery in real-time, globally, for over 24,000 corporate bonds. Composite+ has won several awards for its use of AI, including the Risk Markets Technology Award for Electronic Trading Support Product of the Year and the Waters Technology American Financial Technology Award for Best Artificial Intelligence Technology Initiative. Julien further describes the two reasons why Composite+ was successful. #### Reason #1 – Partnership with H2O “The first one is the ability that we had to model the problem the right way. And that’s where H2O was very helpful to us when we engaged five years ago with your expertise and versatility in dealing with machine learning programs across many different sectors and many different applications. So being able to properly set the model and work on feature building and feature creation and was instrumental to the success of Composite+.” #### Reason #2 – Unique Data Julien continues, “The second reason is the unique data that MarketAxess has through its trading platform and really it’s a virtuous circle where we get liquidity on the platform and we’re able to use the information we have access to from the platform and repackage it into Composite+ into a precise pricing algorithm that then makes its way back into the platform by helping with data and the new protocols and new ways of trading that, have been built over the last few years.” ### What was MarketAxess’ journey to the cloud? Liz Brand, Global Cloud Engineering Manager, speaks to their journey into the cloud and how innovation was the true driving force on adopting the cloud at MarketAxess. She started the conversation with a few reflective questions. “When we looked at the cloud, we asked ourselves, how can we create environments that are focused on innovation? How can we do that dynamically and support our entire company? How would this allow people to experiment with new technologies and work with integrating them into our applications at a larger scale?” Further, she delves into the key things that were important to their team when evaluating the cloud: - Cost – the ability to scale their workloads without running 24×7 and saving money. - Velocity – speed to market. - Customer obsession – obtaining feedback and acting on it quickly. The event continued with multiple questions coming from the global audience (26 countries in attendance to be exact). One of them sparked the team’s interest in working at MarketAxess. ### What’s the day-to-day like working at MarketAxess? The MarketAxess team has a beautiful office occupying three floors of 55 Hudson Yards, as well as offices all around the world. There’s a focus on collaboration in their office locations, with an open floor plan and many different spaces, both formal and informal, for employees to gather. Creativity is at the core of what inspires MarketAxess employees to do their best work, and their NYC office space is no exception: they’ve commissioned a number of artists to produce murals and other works of art throughout. There is also a cafeteria where employees can pick up their company-provided lunch or snacks and eat together while enjoying views of the Hudson River. Liz explained the close-knit, collaborative team when she came into the office, “I think the greatest benefit of having desks and being around each other is you would overhear conversations. We’re not a massive company. People know each other really well.” While physically being in the office provides unique benefits and MarketAxess has certainly designed an employee-centric environment, the pandemic has given them the opportunity to entirely rethink their approach to hybrid working. They now offer a high degree of flexibility to their tech employees, as far as choosing the work environment that best suits them – something their people greatly value. Want to learn more about MarketAxess? Check out the recording of the virtual event below: Special shoutout and thank you to Kyle White, David Krein, Julien Alexandre, Liz Brand, Rakesh Malpani, Li-Kang Chen, Bari Polay, and the MarketAxess team! The H2O team is grateful for our continued partnership. Lastly, both of our teams are hiring! Check out the careers page for [MarketAxess](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers) and [H2O.ai](https://www.h2o.ai/careers/). --- # Celebrating International Women's Day 2021 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/IWD-2021 Women's History Month, and International Women's Day specifically, are important moments for celebrating the incredible achievements of women throughout history - and our own women as well! While we wish we could be gathered in person to commemorate this time together, we're taking things digital this year. This year's International Women's Day [theme of "Choose to Challenge"](https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Theme) is an important one: gender bias and inequality are still major issues that we face in society globally. We need to each do our part to call these out and work to create a more equitable, inclusive world. We asked some of our own women around the globe to join in on the conversation and share what they #ChooseToChallenge. Here's what they had to say... #### Trina (Business Analyst, London) "I choose to challenge the perception that women have to compromise in life. We all know that women compromise in life - no matter what stage they are at - whether it's at work or at home. I'm constantly surprised by the sacrifices that my female friends have made for their partners, their children, or even just their day-to-day life. I say no. I say a woman deserves what she wants and not what she's expected to want." #### Victoria (Sarbanes-Oxley and Financial Audit Associate, NYC) "I choose to challenge the perception that women aren't capable of being leaders. As a mother of a daughter, it is my duty to teach her to shatter glass ceilings - not to fit into glass slippers." #### Xia (Dealer Sales Representative, Hong Kong) "I choose to challenge the perception that women cannot balance both work and family. I believe it's totally possible to find a balance by setting goals and priorities and making constant adjustments." #### Solenn (Research Analyst, London) "I choose to challenge gender stereotypes and bias so that all children can pursue their dreams without limits." #### Aileen (Talent & Leadership Development, NYC) "I choose to challenge the idea that women and working parents aren't critical to the workforce. We've made so much progress over the last 50 years. We need to make sure we keep it up for the next generation." #### Camille (Head of Post Trade Straight Through Processing Business Development, London) "I choose to challenge: I want to encourage all young girls to believe that they can go into any career that they choose." Feeling inspired? There are more stories from our amazing women that will be coming your way this Women's History Month and beyond, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you're looking to join a company that truly values, supports, and empowers its women, browse our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Happy International Women's Day! Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/IWD-2022 Women's History Month and International Women's Day, specifically, are key cultural moments that we at MarketAxess have made a big deal of for years - and rightfully so. We celebrate our women and their achievements every day of the year, but having a dedicated month that's focused on highlighting the impact that women have had throughout history and the progress that's been made towards building a more equitable society - while still acknowledging the work that still lies ahead - is of critical importance to ultimately drive change. This year's International Women's Day [theme is "Break the Bias"](https://www.internationalwomensday.com/theme), which encourages us to actively call out gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping - a responsibility we should all take seriously. In celebration of International Women's Day, we had a great lineup of events around the world, with so much more to come throughout the course of Women's History Month. We kicked off the day with breakfast in each of our offices (we even sent breakfast to our Hong Kong colleagues at home, who currently are in lockdown!), sponsored by our Women in Technology group, which was a great way to bring employees together. Back by popular demand, we set up a post-it wall in our NYC office, encouraging our employees to write down on post-it notes how they will help #BreakTheBias. It was so inspiring to see both our female employees and allies state the commitments they will make to call out gender bias when they see it and promote gender equality. To close out the day, we were fortunate enough to be joined by Joann S. Lublin, Pulitzer Prize Winner, and former career columnist for the Wall Street Journal & Lara Spencer, Good Morning America co-anchor, and Creator/Executive Producer of Flea Market Flip on HGTV, for a virtual discussion on Joann's new book "Power Moms" and how much more must be done to make being a working mother easier. We asked some of our women around the world to share what THEY will personally do to help #BreakTheBias, and here's what they had to say: #### Jenny (Diversity and Talent Acquisition Specialist, London) "I will break the bias by being somebody that calls out and could be a potential disruptor - so I'll call it if I hear or see someone doing something that is discriminatory. I'll also listen, so that if we're in rooms and women are in the minority, we listen and are encouraged to speak out. And flip it, so if words are being used don't apply to both males and females, we should stop using them. 'Working moms', for example - we never hear people say 'working dads'." #### Shereen (Strategy Execution Lead, Singapore) "How am I going to break the bias? One, is to walk the talk myself - not to discriminate, not to stereotype anyone in all my daily interactions. And two, is to actively call out any positive and also any negative behavior to create more awareness of this topic in the community." #### Camille (Head of Post Trade Straight Through Processing Business Development, London) "This year, I'm going to be even more conscious of the unconscious bias that I and others may hold. Also, through working on the apprenticeship program, the intern program, and other recruitment initiatives, I will work to make MarketAxess an even more diverse organization than it is already." We look forward to sharing more about how we're commemorating this Women's History Month and continue to champion broad collaboration within MarketAxess and beyond. In the meantime, if you're looking to join a company that truly values, supports, and empowers its women, browse our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # A conversation with Geoff Morton, Global Head of Strategists, Data Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-geoff-morton-global-head-of-strategists-data When Geoff Morton joined MarketAxess in July 2024, he brought with him a unique combination of academic rigor and market experience—spanning physics research, structured credit trading, and algorithmic strategy development at some of the world’s largest financial institutions. Today, as Global Head of Strategists, Data at MarketAxess, Geoff leads efforts to transform data into intelligent, actionable tools that power the next generation of electronic trading. Geoff’s career path took an unconventional turn. After earning a PhD from Oxford and researching at Imperial College, he made the move from academia to finance. “It was partially practical,” he recalls with a laugh. “Working in universities on short-term contracts wasn’t easy with a growing family. The move into finance felt like a big change at the time—but it was also an opportunity to apply the same problem-solving mindset to real-world challenges.” He started his financial career at BNP Paribas, later spending nearly a decade at Bank of America, where he ran the global credit and muni algo strategy team. Geoff also spent several years running his own startup building tools for systematic credit and portfolio trading. “Those experiences gave me a deep understanding of both the quantitative and operational sides of trading,” Geoff says. “But when I learned about MarketAxess and the scale of its data, I saw massive untapped potential.” That potential is what drew him to MarketAxess. “I knew about the sheer volume and richness of the data here,” Geoff explains. “I thought—there’s so much value in this that can be unlocked for clients through smarter analytics and commercial products.” Since joining MarketAxess, Geoff has played a key role in advancing MarketAxess’s data capabilities—especially in transparency, analytics, and regulatory evolution. Among the most exciting initiatives, he says, has been the development of new data products which are still in progress. Additionally, Geoff mentioned the work related to Europe’s bond transparency regime, which is reshaping how firms access and interpret fixed income data, as a recent exciting venture. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market about how these new rules will affect trading and competition,” Geoff says. “Being part of that conversation with clients, understanding the regulatory side, and finding ways to turn those changes into new product opportunities has been fascinating.” That regulatory shift is creating momentum across the industry. “We’re developing products that not only align with transparency requirements but enhance them—helping clients extract meaningful insight from data that used to sit in silos.” | Geoff’s team is now focused on ensuring MarketAxess’s data products—like Trax® and CP+™—continue to evolve as the market does. “Transparency is a moving target,” he says. “As new consolidated tape providers launch, and post-trade reporting standards change, we’re adapting how our data feeds and analytics integrate with those frameworks. It’s about staying competitive, relevant, and forward-looking.” One clear trend shaping his roadmap is the growing influence of ETFs. “The ETF market has become a huge driver of activity in secondary trading,” Geoff notes. “There’s a two-way relationship between ETFs and bond pricing—they influence each other. We’re looking at how our data solutions can help clients better understand that dynamic.” Geoff is quick to point out that the MarketAxess data business is evolving beyond individual products. “We’re moving toward providing data solutions, not just data sets,” he explains. “That means understanding who our clients are, what challenges they face, and how our data can solve those challenges.” Rather than simply selling access to tools like CP+ or Trax, his team focuses on combining insights across sources to solve specific use cases—such as helping clients measure relative value within ETFs or model liquidity under different market conditions. “It’s a little cliché to say we’re solution-oriented,” Geoff admits, “but we back that up by sitting down with clients, understanding their needs, and showing them how our data can work for them. It’s a much more collaborative, customized approach.” When asked what he’s learned during his time at MarketAxess, Geoff points to the culture and the people. “There’s an incredible team spirit here,” he says. “Our sales organization, in particular, is best in class—they help us punch well above our weight. Compared to some of our much larger competitors, we’re nimble, innovative, and tightly aligned. That combination of scale and agility is what makes MarketAxess so effective.” Looking ahead, Geoff remains focused on innovation, especially at the intersection of data, regulation, and technology. “Getting the data right is crucial,” he says. “We’ve seen a lot of innovation in fixed income, but there’s still so much opportunity to make markets more efficient. The work we’re doing now is setting the stage for the next phase of electronic trading.” | ### Related content #### A conversation with Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-riad-chowdhury-head-of-asia-pacific) #### A conversation with Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading & DealerAxess EMEA & APAC [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-patrick-bailey-head-of-open-trading-dealeraxess-emea-apac) #### A conversation with Sarah Bendl, Sr. Product Specialist, Portfolio Trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-sarah-bendl-sr-product-specialist-portfolio-trading) --- # A conversation with Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading & DealerAxess EMEA & APAC Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-patrick-bailey-head-of-open-trading-dealeraxess-emea-apac When Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading® and DealerAxess EMEA & APAC, joined MarketAxess in 2016, he brought with him a decade of experience as a sell-side trader that had navigated corporate bonds through significant market volatility and challenging trading conditions. Nearly ten years later, Patrick has not only helped drive one of the most significant transformations in fixed-income electronic trading—the MarketAxess all-to-all network, Open Trading—but he also now leads the DealerAxess initiative in EMEA & APAC, which was launched in 2024. Patrick’s journey at MarketAxess has taken him to Singapore and Hong Kong, where he spent six years establishing Open Trading in Asia. Now, in London, he has seen firsthand how influential and essential Open Trading has become. "The size, scale, and reach have been the most important features of Open Trading since I joined," Patrick explains. The numbers tell a compelling story of growth. When Patrick joined MarketAxess, global Open Trading volumes stood at approximately $650 million. Today, that figure has surged to $4.7 billion. In Europe alone, Open Trading has grown from $50-80 million per day to more than $1 billion daily. This exponential growth reflects not just market adoption, but the fundamental shift toward all-to-all trading in credit markets, with MarketAxess leading the charge as the largest all-to-all network. One of Patrick's key initiatives has been recognizing that successful e-trading isn't just about technology—it's about adapting to how different market participants work. This understanding led to the development of DealerAxess, an initiative designed specifically for dealer trading styles and preferences that acts as a digital trading partner. DealerAxess provides dealers with continuous desk support and familiar interaction patterns, replicating the environment they experience in their daily sell-side operations. DealerAxess has been particularly successful in promoting dealer-initiated protocols, primarily Dealer RFQ and Mid-X. By providing dealers with the same level of on-demand support they expect from sales desks and inter-dealer brokers, MarketAxess has created a more inclusive trading environment where dealers feel comfortable engaging with all our available protocols. DealerAxess is an initiative that relies heavily on collaboration across Dealer Sales, Open trading and support functions which Patrick cites as key for its success. Mid-X, MarketAxess's anonymous matching sessions using CP+™ mid-price, represents one of the most exciting developments in Patrick's current roadmap. The protocol is rapidly expanding globally, with recent launches in Europe and Asia—including innovative Asia-European crossover sessions. While continuous matching is often seen as a long-term solution, Patrick explains that credit markets aren't quite ready for that step. "There's still an advantage to having concentrated pool liquidity rather than a dispersed pool," he notes. "There's still benefit to having predefined session windows where traders know it makes sense to enter their positions." Automation has become a critical outcome for Open Trading's evolution. Patrick describes Open Trading as the "catalyst to turbocharge the scale of potential liquidity" for both initiators and responders. The platform now supports systematic liquidity providers, hedge fund liquidity providers, and dealer bank algorithmic desks—who have scaled from responding to hundreds of trades daily to tens of thousands. "In order to recycle that risk, they need a broad and consistent liquidity pool, and Open Trading is the perfect option to maximize that capability," Patrick explains. This automation-driven growth has attracted a new generation of market participants while maintaining the human touch through dedicated trading desk support. Despite the push toward automation, Patrick emphasizes that high-touch service remains crucial. The Open Trading Desk, staffed by experienced ex-traders and brokers, provides the same level of service clients expect from their top dealers. Open Trading represented approximately 35% of platform activity in Q1 2025, making it the #1 counterparty on the platform, Patrick argues that clients should expect number-one-level service as a result. The desk handles sensitive trading information, facilitates upsizing, and provides broader facilitation services—particularly when clients are accessing newer and unfamiliar liquidity sources. Patrick adds that one of the most innovative recent developments is Disclosed Open Trading, a hybrid solution that addresses the market's growing demand for transparency while maintaining the benefits of all-to-all. The protocol allows clients to isolate dealer liquidity within the open trading network on a name give-up basis. They can continue to show the inquiry to the broader OT network or reduce it to a single bilateral interaction. “This throws up a lot of potential for new trading opportunities,” Patrick explains The solution serves two primary use cases: specialized dealers can demonstrate their superior liquidity by revealing their identity when responding, while clients and dealers can more broadly test new liquidity sources without the operational burden of full onboarding processes. This removes a huge operational and KYC burden for both the client and dealer." Patrick identifies several key trends shaping the current roadmap: dealer liquidity solutions, on-demand liquidity, and the persistent demand for transparency and data. Recent market volatility events have reinforced the importance of all-to-all platforms, with MarketAxess consistently serving as the number one provider of true all-to-all networks, according to a recent Coalition Greenwich report. "You can never predict volatility in the market, but what you can predict is the ability of Open Trading to respond during that volatility," Patrick says. This reliability has become increasingly important as both clients and dealers rely more heavily on all-to-all platforms during times of market stress. As MarketAxess continues to evolve its Open Trading platform, the focus remains on solving real market problems through innovative technology and service. From the global expansion of Mid-X to the transparency benefits of Disclosed Open Trading—and from the dealer-friendly approach of DealerAxess to the high-touch service of the Open Trading Desk, the platform continues to adapt to meet changing market demands. Patrick's journey at MarketAxess illustrates the broader transformation of fixed-income markets. As electronic trading becomes increasingly sophisticated, the winners will be those who can combine cutting-edge technology with deep market understanding and superior service—exactly what MarketAxess has built over the past 25 years. ### Related content #### A conversation with Sarah Bendl, Sr. Product Specialist, Portfolio Trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-sarah-bendl-sr-product-specialist-portfolio-trading) #### A conversation with Zak Lenz, Head of Municipal Securities [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-zak-lenz-head-of-municipal-securities) --- # A conversation with Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-riad-chowdhury-head-of-asia-pacific When Riad joined MarketAxess as Head of APAC in September 2020, he entered what he describes as a near-startup environment, albeit with the support of a publicly traded company, so “I didn’t have to worry about paying rent or the team’s salaries,” he jokes. Five years later, the buildout of the APAC region of MarketAxess has been nothing short of remarkable. What began as a 10-person team has grown into a 30-strong regional powerhouse, with an average daily volume (ADV) CAGR of 30% and a revenue CAGR of 21% (excluding our China offering)—which are several multiples of where the business was when he joined. Today, MarketAxess serves a diverse client base, including asset managers, hedge funds, private banks, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and banks, with every major buy-side and sell-side firm participating on our platform now. Riad brought with him a dual background in technology and fixed income sales & trading, having worked in global markets businesses across banks including Deutsche, ANZ, and Standard Chartered. He had long been a client of MarketAxess before joining, even leveraging the platform during his time at ANZ to connect with global clients. Over the years, he informally consulted with MarketAxess leaders on Asia product development, often sharing ideas with colleagues visiting from New York or London. “Simply put, I saw this role as the ideal blend of my tech background and my sales and trading experience,” he says. Riad has successfully built the APAC business as a microcosm of the larger New York and London offices—fully aligned in vision and purpose yet fundamentally structured to meet the unique demands of the APAC market. This approach is grounded in a strategic framework that emphasizes cross collaboration across functions and leverages deep local expertise. It’s a framework that not only drives operational excellence but also empowered Riad to assemble a strong, autonomous regional team. “We have all the key functions here—sales, product, client services, compliance, legal, marketing, credit analysis, and more,” Riad explains. “Building that out has been one of the most fulfilling parts of the job.” He attributes the growth of the APAC office to a careful focus on the most relevant products for the region: Asian local markets bonds, Asia hard currency bonds, and US investment grade (USIG) bonds. “In Singapore, the local markets ecosystem dominates, while Hong Kong still has significant Asia credit presence. And USIG is largely a Taiwan, Japan, Korea story,” Riad explains. “Our strategy has been about matching the right products with the right client segments in the right countries.” | He describes the APAC business as a Venn diagram: product, client segment, and country. This framework has been crucial given Asia's complexity, which requires a constant 360-degree view of the market landscape to identify the best risk-reward opportunities. Since Riad joined MarketAxess, key product milestones have included several major launches and innovations. "I was here when we properly built out RFM for local markets," Riad notes, referring to the successful rollout of our Request-for-Market protocol across the region. Under his leadership, the team also launched and distributed Korean Treasury Bonds and Chinese Government Bonds, which remains one of the biggest markets today in APAC, as well as the first fully electronic Indian Government Bonds (IGB) trading workflow. For Riad, one of the biggest lessons has been recognizing the complexity of APAC markets. “There is no such thing as ‘Asia,’” he says. “Every country is unique, with its own regulator and market structure. It’s very different from the UK, Europe, or the US, where you have much more regulatory consistency given the smaller number of regulators.” Regulation is a constant puzzle. From discussions with policymakers on data practices to navigating new licensing applications in certain countries, Riad has found himself working at the intersection of finance, technology, and policy. “This role has a huge regulatory component that I had limited experience in having come from a trading desk.” Client behavior also differs from other regions. Having personally covered and traded with clients in Asia, Europe, and the US for many years, patterns began to emerge in terms of client engagement. “Trust is important in everything, but in certain parts of Asia, it is particularly acute. In some of our markets, people need to trust you before they do business. The sales cycle is longer, and relationships are very important to begin any business discussions.” | As a leader, Riad emphasizes that people are at the heart of everything. “The single most important quality I look for is grit,” he explains. “What we’re doing at MarketAxess represents a fundamental shift in how trading is done—a behavior change that’s incredibly hard because people have been trading the same way for decades. At a big bank, success can sometimes be taken for granted, backed by a successful franchise. But here in APAC, we’re constantly swimming against the current. It requires a different kind of resilience and determination.” This resilience is paired with deep expertise: Riad has been intentional about who he has brought onto his team. He’s careful to hire people who understand both the financial and technological sides of the business —essential for navigating the complexities of the local markets they serve. “We have to understand the ‘fin’ to know what and how to build the ‘tech.'" The caliber of hires demonstrates how the perception of MarketAxess in APAC has evolved. “When I first joined, many were hesitant to leave established firms for electronic trading. Today, the caliber of talent we attract speaks volumes about how far we’ve come.” Riad also invests deeply in culture. He emphasizes giving the team a strong sense of purpose and the confidence that comes with success. “To be successful here, everybody needs an internal combustion engine,” he says. “After a while, a job is just a job. But if you’re succeeding, if you’re building something together, that’s what fuels people.” Riad’s approach to leadership goes beyond results—he’s deeply invested in cultivating a culture where people can grow and thrive. He created an environment where it’s okay to fail (ideally, quickly) and learn from mistakes that can be applied to the next iteration of the challenges we face. “The short-term trade-off is worth it because the impact on resilience and confidence within the team is invaluable,” he says. “Confidence is the secret sauce of performance.” He also experiments with different management styles, believing that effective leadership means adapting to each individual’s way of working. “A manager isn’t one-size-fits-all and the days of everyone in the team adapting to the leader’s management style are long gone,” Riad explains. “You need to understand your people and refine your approach to bring out their best—and in doing so, achieve the best outcomes for the business.” At the core of his philosophy is a simple yet powerful principle: listen more than you talk. Whether engaging with his team or with clients, Riad believes that truly listening is the key to building trust, understanding needs, and driving success. Riad is quick to point out that while the strategy for APAC is clear, execution is the key for the next phase of growth. The approach remains iterative: deliver results, secure more resources, reinvest, and build again. “I didn’t come in with a five-year vision or North Star,” Riad reflects. “It’s more about the power of tiny gains. Every day we do something a little better, and over time, the results compound dramatically...and we’re seeing this positive fly-wheel effect in our business.” Five years in, Riad says he has never worked harder—or enjoyed work more. “There are no Monday morning blues,” he laughs. “My days are incredibly diverse. From client meetings, to “geeking out” on new product design, to speaking with regulators, to speaking with media as a thought leader, to my weekly catch ups with the team—it’s all part of the job. It’s the most fulfilling role I’ve ever had.” With APAC now representing a growing chunk of the broader MarketAxess business, the foundation is set for the next phase of growth. “From linking APAC with the broader firm to fostering a strong, purposeful culture and a relentless mindset of excellence, everything centers around our people. That’s where I invest a great deal of my time.” | ### Related content #### A conversation with Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading & DealerAxess EMEA & APAC [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-patrick-bailey-head-of-open-trading-dealeraxess-emea-apac) #### A conversation with Sarah Bendl, Sr. Product Specialist, Portfolio Trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-sarah-bendl-sr-product-specialist-portfolio-trading) #### A conversation with Zak Lenz, Head of Municipal Securities [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-zak-lenz-head-of-municipal-securities) --- # A conversation with Sarah Bendl, Sr. Product Specialist, Portfolio Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-sarah-bendl-sr-product-specialist-portfolio-trading Sarah Bendl has been instrumental in driving the transformation and expansion of Portfolio Trading (PT) at MarketAxess. Joining the company in 2018 through the Operations Rotation program, Sarah has been at the forefront of the firm’s growth in Portfolio Trading, contributing significantly to its expansion and strategic development. Following her rotation in Client Services, Sarah transitioned to the Portfolio Trading desk during a critical period of business expansion. In her role as Senior Product Specialist for Portfolio Trading, she leads strategic PT initiatives and has managed key developments in the platform's progress, including expanding into new asset classes, the integration within X-Pro, and delivering consistent growth—establishing MarketAxess as a leader in electronic fixed income portfolio trading. #### The Explosive Growth of Portfolio Trading Portfolio trading has grown exponentially since Sarah joined the PT team three years ago—last year, PT grew more than 57% from the year prior. One of the most notable trends has been the increasing size of trades. "The aggregate trade size keeps getting larger," says Sarah. "If you look two years back, the average PT size for IG was somewhere around $60 million. Now it's around $100 million." This growth has led to the emergence of "jumbo PTs"—trades exceeding $1 billion in size. Sarah notes that jumbo PTs now occur daily, with baskets in the $8-10 billion range occurring more frequently. She attributes this growth in part to the efficiency that comes with PT. “The ability to price and process these significant risk transfers has dramatically improved; these trades can now be executed efficiently within an hour via PT,” she says. Another significant trend is the emergence of cross-asset portfolio trading. Over the past year, the market has been moving toward including diverse asset classes within a single portfolio trade. "Many of these jumbo PTs now incorporate Asset Backed Securities, Munis, and Treasuries, mirroring the diversity of assets in the commonly used ETFs and benchmark indices," Sarah explains. In the past year, Sarah also oversaw the launch of Muni PT, with MarketAxess announcing the [first Portfolio Trade for Tax-Exempt Municipal Bonds](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2024/MarketAxess-Announces-First-Portfolio-Trade-for-Tax-Exempt-Municipal-Bonds/default.aspx) in June 2024. Additionally, MarketAxess recently integrated ETF analytics within X-Pro, displaying ETF overlay and premium/discount using their CP+™ NAV on the pre-trade screen. #### X-Pro: The next generation of PT The X-Pro platform has contributed greatly in advancing MarketAxess's PT capabilities. It enables rapid integration of valuable data features including: - Pre-trade TCA (Transaction Cost Analysis) - ETF analytics on the pre-trade screen - Enhanced functionality for managing hundreds of line items on the live trade screen - Sector, maturity, and credit rating breakouts - Outlier analysis One of our most recent innovations is Axed PT, a first step in improving the ecosystem for dealers and clients to manage the exhaust from jumbo portfolio trades. "The goal of Axed PT is to help dealers more efficiently redistribute the risk, especially off the back of those jumbo PTs," Sarah says. "More efficiency around exhaust will actually promote better execution on the initial PT. Dealers know they can get out of that risk fairly quickly and seamlessly." Looking ahead, Sarah sees portfolio optimization as the next frontier for PT. The team is exploring how products like CP+—the MarketAxess AI-powered, algorithmic pricing engine for global credit and rates markets—can help clients make informed decisions. "Given the strength of CP+, how can we use that data to give clients an idea of portfolio optimization pre-trade? What bonds within the PT are impacting the portfolio, depending on what the client's goal is?" Sarah says. “If we’ve learned anything it’s that PT is not a static protocol. The use cases and pre-trade analysis will continue to evolve, and we want to collaborate with our dealer and client partners to provide them with efficiency alongside these transformations.” Sarah Bendl Senior Product Specialist - Portfolio Trading | ### Related content #### A conversation with Zak Lenz, Head of Municipal Securities [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-zak-lenz-head-of-municipal-securities) #### The power of data in trading protocol selection [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-power-of-data-in-trading-protocol-selection) #### The evolution of Portfolio Trading [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-evolution-of-portfolio-trading) --- # A conversation with Zak Lenz, Head of Municipal Securities Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/a-conversation-with-zak-lenz-head-of-municipal-securities Zak Lenz has been with MarketAxess for 17 years, first joining as an Analyst in Client Services during the volatile markets of 2008. Throughout his time at the firm, he has advanced through various roles, including several years on the corporate bond dealer desk where he contributed to IG and HY corporate bonds, US agency, and structured product businesses. Seeking new challenges, Zak transitioned to the Municipal Securities desk in 2016 and now serves as Head of Municipal Securities. He has seen firsthand significant growth and transformation at MarketAxess, including the recent launch of several new municipal bond products over the past year. As MarketAxess continues to evolve in the electronic trading landscape, Zak's story represents the kind of growth and dedication that has helped shape the company into what it is today. In fixed income trading, the municipal bond market stands out for its unique characteristics and relationship-driven nature, something that has been a driving force for Zak. When he first joined the muni desk nine years ago, he was surprised at how intricate the market is with a seemingly unlimited number of issuers and counterparties, paired with a staggering number of CUSIPs. He was also enticed by building a business from the ground up and entering a very tight knit community of municipal market participants. "When we first started, we didn't fully grasp how tight some of these relationships are and how counterparties interact," he admits. "It took a ton of focus to not only get our screens and products right, but, more importantly, to gain people's trust and interest. It has been a very pleasant surprise to not only grow a new business, but make long-lasting friendships in the process." In his nine years in munis, Zak is in awe of the innovation that has happened during this time. He says that the recent growth of ETFs in the muni space is something that can’t be ignored as they provide unique opportunities and a need for enhanced workflows. The massive growth of Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) has been another highlight he noted, helping the integration of Auto-X™ in the muni market. "SMAs have grown to $1.6 trillion now, which is significant growth from only a few years ago," he says. "That part of the market has so much money flowing in and out that they need to move fast, generally dealing with smaller sizes and an overwhelming number of line items,” a part of the market that can instantly benefit from our existing protocols. The rise of ETFs in the municipal space is another trend influencing MarketAxess's roadmap. "Like SMAs, ETFs are forcing people to need more efficient ways of offloading risk and sourcing bonds. Screens are an efficient way to do that," says Zak. In the past year, the muni team has been busy innovating to bring clients the best experience when trading munis. - CP+™ for Munis: At the end of 2024, MarketAxess expanded CP+ to cover municipal bonds. With this integration, MarketAxess clients trading municipal bonds benefit from accurate and unbiased reference pricing for the MSRB-reportable municipal bond universe. - Portfolio Trading: Earlier in 2024, MarketAxess completed its first-ever portfolio trade for Tax-Exempt Municipal bonds. By making Portfolio Trading available for munis, clients can send lists to multiple counterparties or a single dealer, negotiate price improvements, and trade discreetly on a diversified basket of Tax-Exempt Munis in one singular point of transaction. - Auto-X RFQ for tax-exempt munis: Auto-X RFQ for Tax-Exempt Munis is a parameter-based automated trading solution for buy-side clients and dealers looking to source liquidity through bid-wanteds and optimize trading. With Auto-X RFQ, clients can engage with a low-touch execution solution on MarketAxess while reducing firm times for liquidity providers. - Strategic partnerships and acquisitions: To bring greater efficiency to the municipal bond market, MarketAxess partnered with ICE Bonds to connect their respective liquidity networks. MarketAxess also acquired MuniBrokers to connect a broader network of market participants. Since joining the muni desk, Zak says the biggest hurdle to cross has been the transition from voice to electronic trading and helping clients to realize the efficiencies that e-trading can bring. He says this transition is more of repositioning a mindset than anything. “We can get all the feedback, build a great tool and present it, but ultimately getting people to move away from one way of doing things to a new way is a big lift and takes time,” says Zak. But that hasn’t held Zak and the muni team back from innovating and getting in front of clients. He says that despite the slower transition to e-trading, the muni market is ripe for change and most people are embracing this digital revolution. “The muni market is actually growing very fast in this direction of becoming more electronified and more efficient. Sometimes it feels like we're not making enough progress, but in fact, we are making tremendous strides as the market evolves.” Zak Lenz Head of Municipal Securities at MarketAxess | ### Related content #### Responding to pressure [Read the full article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-asset-servicing-times-maria-calderon-2025-outlook) #### Bringing transparency to the muni marketplace with AI-powered pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bringing-transparency-to-the-muni-marketplace-with-ai-powered-pricing) #### The importance of building enduring relationships [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/post-trade-sftr-emerging-talent-article) --- # Happy 5th Anniversary to our Amsterdam office Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/ams-office-5-year-anniversary To celebrate this important milestone, we asked five colleagues five questions, one for each year our Amsterdam office has been around. They told us what inspired them to join MarketAxess in the first place, their first impressions and how the office has changed, as well as what they're looking forward to in the next five years. Geoffroy VanderLinden, Country Head, the Netherlands Rhian Ravenscroft, Legal Frederick Gentis, Sales Georgy Golovanov, Compliance Kirsty Smith, Customer Operations #### What inspired you to join MarketAxess? Geoffroy: MarketAxess had a fantastic energy, a pioneering strategy combined with colleagues balancing high ambitions with care. When I started, it was still a fairly small company in Europe, so I was fortunate to join at that time and be part of the journey early on. It was not easy every day, but so happy to have seen the company grow and be so successful. The company leaders were also truly unique and inspiring. Rhian: I joined MarketAxess back in 2014, when I was looking to move from a law firm, where part of my work involved investments in and acquisitions of tech companies. I wanted to learn more about working as a lawyer at a technology company and saw the opportunity to join MarketAxess as regulated fintech is an exciting intersection for a lawyer. I really enjoyed the interview process, with Miranda Morad and Scott Pintoff, General Council, and got the impression it was a company that was moving fast, where I would learn a lot from my colleagues and I would be challenged. It turned out I was right on all counts, and each still holds true ten years on! Fred: MarketAxess is the personification of where Fixed Income – a market in which I had been working for a decade at the time and love – is heading. Being able to be a part of, and contribute to, this transition is really exciting! Georgy: Joining MarketAxess in August 2019 marked the start of an exceptional work experience, just on the brink of the pandemic's outbreak. Our Dutch team, still relatively small with about 8-9 members, occupied a charming early XVIII-century building overlooking the Amsterdam canal. The timing was intriguing as we had recently acquired our EU MTF and DRSP licenses from the AFM, setting the stage for a dynamic period of growth in every department, including my department, Compliance. Kirsty: The two main reasons I joined almost three months ago are the innovation that MarketAxess brings to the trading sector and the culture, which was very appealing during my interviews. This is my second role after university, where I studied Data Science, so I'm still new to the industry and I'm excited to learn more. #### What were your first impressions of the Amsterdam office and how have these impressions evolved? Geoffroy: It was such a unique experience to be able to open a new office and a new business in Amsterdam, put our own mark and grow the business. We were full of excitement but also had to navigate through the uncertainty. Five years ago, we were a team of four people, with no clients live on either the trading or the post-trade platform. Now, we have over 800 clients across both businesses, with 25 amazing people across five offices all over Europe. Rhian: While moving yourself and your family to a new country is never an easy process, I was very excited about the opportunity and the change that opening the Amsterdam office brought. It was a chance to do something beyond law and learn more about the business as a whole and to be involved in a project with a big impact. There was a lot to do, and not just in terms of getting the business ready from the regulatory side, so we had a few very busy years. Fred: I started working for MKTX during the COVID lockdown with no chance to go to the office or even meet any of my colleagues in person. Despite being remote, everyone gave me a very warm welcome and MKTX felt like a family from the start. Now, just over three years later, the feeling hasn’t changed. Both the Amsterdam and Sales teams are very tight and I consider many not just colleagues, but also friends. Georgy: The pandemic prompted a shift to remote work, but, I believe, this only strengthened our team spirit. Despite distances, we remained a cohesive group, always ready to support each other. Our small size turned out to be an advantage; we had a close-knit connection that allowed for easy and informal communication, which differentiates us from other companies. Kirsty: Everyone in the office was very friendly and I was lucky because our summer party happened to land on my first day, so it was a great time to bond with everyone over paddle tennis and dinner. The office is an open space where you can speak out, which is something that I now appreciate more fully. #### What makes you proudest to be part of the Amsterdam team and how are you helping Take Us There? Geoffroy: We have a very diverse team (with 15 nationalities!), all working in different departments and learning from each other. We are proud to welcome colleagues who have decided to work here, coming from other locations. And we have been able to grow the team across multiple regions in Europe (five offices) to be closer to our clients. Amsterdam has also enabled us to grow the business through multiple investments or acquisitions (Reporting Hub from DBAG, for example) and it will continue to be a platform that will grow and expand. Rhian: There are several different functions represented in the Amsterdam office and it is a pleasure to work with people with different skills and passions, all within the same business. Being in a smaller office, with people who have often moved from their home country to work or study abroad, means there are lots of opportunities to learn from others, outside of your function, as people here are always keen to get stuck in and try something new—which is a great collaborative atmosphere to be in. I believe collaboration is key to our growth as a company, as a whole. Fred: The Amsterdam team is a small team with many different roles represented. Small but very diversified, our team has 15(!) different nationalities. Making this global group feel like ‘family’ is characteristic of the culture we have and strive for at MKTX. At 43 years old (I know!) I’m one of the oldest in the office and it’s great to share experiences with younger colleagues and help them understand how to think outside the box in unexpected situations or explain why investors trade what they trade. Kirsty: I'm the newest member of the team and what I like most is the analytical side of my role. I sit within the Operations team, looking at the queries we receive from clients and answering them. To Take Us There, I want to get more involved on the client side, understanding and helping different clients with our overall system and seeing where I can improve it in the future. In the meantime, I'm learning everything – especially about how the regulations are evolving. Georgy: What I appreciate most about our team is the shared sense of connection. Beyond work, we engage in various activities, from crafting bikes using spare parts to enjoying cheese tastings or arranging festive Christmas decoration sessions. These moments not only break the monotony but also foster a positive and collaborative atmosphere. #### What's your favorite story from your time with us? Geoffroy: Beyond opening and managing the business in Amsterdam and all the fantastic social events we had here (building bikes for Africa, wreath making, cooking classes, paddle tournament…), it would have to be building and delivering the trade report and transparency business lines in 2018. It was truly a demanding but rewarding experience! I still remembered the go-live when we were all waiting to see the first trade to be printed. When it came through, we all had a sense of relief and achievement. Rhian: There have been a lot of stories over the past ten years, and some big projects completed that have been a lot of fun (for example the MiFID II implementation and various acquisitions), so too many to mention here—you will have to ask me about them! As a small office here, we have had some very good social occasions where we always try and introduce an activity of some sort. And while I can’t possibly choose which one was my favorite, our most recent one was an office paddle tournament, which was a new sport for most of us to learn and was great fun. Fred: Working in Sales I enjoy meeting (new) clients, especially when it’s outside the office. To me, FILS is the event that brings everyone together and offers the opportunity to meet up with friends, connect with clients (from other countries) and reconnect with peers and former colleagues. I have only missed one edition since starting in Fixed Income in 2008 and to me it’s the ultimate combination of mixing work with pleasure. The many Dutch clients that attend every year, of course, also helps. Kirsty: It must be the summer party - that was fun and I got to meet everyone. #### What excites you about the next 5 years with MarketAxess? Geoffroy: The innovation we are bringing to the bond market and expanding into a new frontier are all very exciting, paired with the new phase of the journey that we are embarking on. I can see that we will be bringing more automation, more data solutions, more trading and post-trade efficiency across multiple asset classes and moving closer to investment decision makers, all in a sustainable and agile approach as we adapt in a fast-paced environment. Rhian: With our cross functional representation here in Amsterdam (and across Europe as a whole), I look forward to being able to see how each contributes to our next phase of growth here at MarketAxess. I’m excited about various new initiatives across the business and seeing the increased use of automation and new technology to introduce change and benefits for both trading and post-trade, because the bonus of being in Legal is that we get to see and be involved in them all! Fred: Seeing how much the team has grown in just the past three years and the importance of Amsterdam as a location for the EU MTF, MANL, what excites me most is how we’re going to fit everyone in the office if we keep growing like this! More generally, we will continue to close the client gaps we still have, continue to grow and hopefully do it with the same and new colleagues bringing the same ‘fire in the belly’, so we grow hard and fast and do so while laughing and having fun. Georgy: Our business strategy for European development is clear and it's gratifying to see how seamlessly it is coordinated having the EU HQ in the Netherlands. With several EU branches established, we are well-positioned to support our clients locally. Being close to our clients allows for a more personalized and effective approach, contributing to a positive and successful working environment. And I am sure my colleagues would agree with me. Kirsty: As a company, I am excited about the work we are doing around emerging markets and I believe we will be creating a bigger image globally. Personally, I look forward to developing certain aspects of the post-trade system and helping make the customer area flow better – just learning more and getting more into client calls and scoping other impactful projects on the side. --- --- # Take Us There: get to know our employer brand illustrator Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/aron-illustrator It takes more than words to express our employer brand – who MarketAxess is as an employer, and why talent should join and stay with us. While we took an extensive research-based approach to unlock our authentic narrative around what differentiates us as an employer, we took it one step further to develop a “visual language” for bringing our employer brand to life. Enter: Aron Leah, a UK-based illustrator, who rose to the challenge of drawing illustrations to reflect our Culture Principles and Values – two important building blocks of our employer brand – in order to uniquely depict the essence of being a part of our company. We chatted with him to learn more about his background and how he approached this project, to both give more context for our own employees, as well as educate prospective talent who sees our branding when researching us as an employer and may be wondering what these little drawings are all about! --- #### Tell us about your background and how you became an illustrator. It’s quite a long story. But first, I have to say, I used to work for an insurance company in my early 20s. And it would have been amazing if they'd done something like what you’re doing, and describing what it's like in the office to attract new people. Anyway, I've always been into drawing. When I was younger, I used to always get told to stop putting so much into my drawings because I’d hit a point, and ruin them by overdoing it. I think that's something that I’ve become really conscious of as I started working in the creative industry. I grew up listening to punk and metal and was into the skate and BMX scene. The brands within those sports have always influenced my taste in graphic design, and as I got older, it influenced my work. I went to college to do graphic design. I did photography, videography, and fine art – but no one at any point was like, “hey, you could do this for a living.” I went on to go to art school, but then for about 10 years I didn’t do anything with my art. I was a green keeper on a golf course. I worked in petrol stations, insurance companies, landscape gardening, carpenter, all of that. I never really knew what I wanted to do. I traveled, did BMX, surfed and lived out of a van for a little while. I think all this gave me my own perspective on the world. I came back and started doing a little bit of freelance, doing logo design and brand identity, and really gaining a good understanding of graphic design. Going back to what I was saying about me putting so much into my work and overdoing it, graphic design helped me pare it back and go really simple and think about how I can communicate a complicated idea and emotional feeling in this simple form. As freelancing started to pick up, I started to be more selective about my projects and focus solely on illustrations. At that point, I was really bad at drawing people…which is funny because pretty much every project I pick up now is drawing people. As I've understood my work more and where it fits within the creative industry, I realize it has really become about communicating brand values, and doing it in a way that’s simple, but fun and witty. I take a lot of pride in it and really enjoy it. #### How did you feel about this project when you were approached about it? I've always been very drawn to New York and its culture. I went once when I was in college. I think I share the same sense of humor as New Yorkers, so when any client approaches me from New York, I get really excited. As soon as I jumped on the phone with your creative ad agency, [darling](https://www.darling.nyc/), we just hit it off. It was explained that you were celebrating an anniversary and launching your employer brand, and that these illustrations would be going in print, up on walls, etc. to celebrate your history and culture. I was told that you have these brand values and culture principles to use as inspiration. To me, if you write them down, they are a little boring, because it's just words. But you wanted to make them more engaging and drive a greater understanding amongst your current and future employees. It felt like the perfect fit for me as a project. #### What was the creative process like for developing these? This is probably one of the biggest projects I've done. I have various ways to develop ideas, but essentially, I tried to just use what you gave me, and this is what came out. And, by the way, some of the illustrations are just fun and completely random, like the ducks. You had all these prompts that express your values as a business. You know how you value your customers, your employees, your team, etc. And I thought, “give me the prompts, and let me work”. I asked if the illustrations needed to be a specific shape or more organic, and I was told, “Just draw. We trust it.” Normally, this is really scary. But I think the way you were all drawn to, for example, a duck with glasses that I drew on another project. I knew you understood what I was trying to do. Any fear or apprehension I would have when a client would say typically “do your thing”, because who knows what feedback is coming, wasn’t there. I've always been a huge fan of the New Yorker cartoons and that expression. There are subtle pop culture references in my illustrations and things that I'll latch on to. Like in your case, post-it notes. Putting a post-it note in a really silly situation can add so much character to a boring illustration. Or coffee cups with legs on them. I did have these thoughts where I asked myself, “why would this big, important company want my silly little drawings?” But I was told to just draw, and that's what I did, and I kept receiving such positive feedback that you loved everything and to keep going. It was a huge confidence boost for me. I didn't feel like I had to put on a front when talking to darling. And I could tell, even if I was going to be working with your team directly, I could show up in a hoodie and a hat and just be myself. I don’t want to change who I am, and I'm really lucky that I get to work with people like the ones at MarketAxess who seem to be on the same wavelength as me. That was felt throughout the whole project, which was really nice. I had zero problems. While this was the biggest project for me, it was also the easiest in terms of working relationship. I tried really hard to understand you, as the people who work at MarketAxess. Only you can provide authentic, interesting insights into how the business works, why you started it, the employees there – there's all these stories and I think people often forget from a branding perspective, that you don't have to do what everyone else does to stay on trend. You are really unique, and you just need to find a way to communicate who you are in an interesting way. The fact that my way of illustrating fits for you as a corporate company is pretty cool. #### What’s your favorite illustration you did for us and why? There were so many. I think my favorite is the astronaut holding the light bulb: “ideas can come from anywhere”. What went through my mind was the idea that your brain is trying to find the right answer and then ideas can come out of nowhere, from any person. Once I drew it all out, I realized just how cool it was. It’s quite funny. #### What do you want our future candidates and employees to take away from these illustrations? I want them to interpret the illustrations however they’d like. Even though there’s meaning to many of them. The world's pretty bleak right now, and if they make them smile, my job is done. Want to learn more about Aron and see more of his work? Visit his [website](https://www.friedcactusdc.com/%C2%A0). Follow him on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/fried.cactus.studio/?hl=en%C2%A0). Connect with him on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aron-leah-8407b5123/%C2%A0). --- # At this fintech company, engineers don’t need to know finance to thrive Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/at-this-fintech-company-engineers-don-t-need-to-know-finance-to-thrive When Bryan O’Connor joined fintech company MarketAxess in 2018, he feared he was in over his head since he only had a cursory understanding of finance. “Early on, I felt really inexperienced: I didn’t think I was smart enough to pick up all the knowledge that was required," says O’Connor, who is a senior software engineer at the firm, which is digitally transforming the way the $120-plus trillion credit market trades bonds, enabling the shift from analog, phone-based trading to a fully electronic marketplace. Indeed, fintech can seem like an intimidating field to break into, but people without experience in finance shouldn’t count themselves out. At MarketAxess, leadership is very open to hiring people from non-traditional backgrounds because of their diverse skill sets, says Christine Nolan, Head of Trading Technology and a hiring manager. “We are at the intersection of technology and finance, but we don’t expect new hires to have a deep knowledge of finance,” she says. “We are looking for people who can get to the root of the problem and think outside the box. That’s what allows us to make trading more efficient.” Here’s a closer look at how MarketAxess hires employees with varied backgrounds and then sets them up for success. #### Recognizing the importance of diverse skill sets O’Connor started his career developing flight control software for helicopters at an aerospace company. When he was ready for a change, he looked at opportunities in different industries, which led him to MarketAxess. At first, he wasn’t sure he’d fit in at an electronic trading company, but then he realized that his prior technical programming experience was highly valued. “When you’re starting out at MarketAxess, what they care about is your hard skills,” he says. Angel Zhang, another senior software engineer, was hired right out of school thanks in part to her technical skills. While most of her classmates went off to tech companies in Silicon Valley, Zhang set her sights on MarketAxess because she wanted the opportunity to build a career at an innovative business within the finance industry. “I knew I was missing skills like understanding the ins and outs of trading systems,” she says. “However, during the interview process, I felt confident that this would be a place where I could thrive, and I could see myself overcoming these learning gaps.” In addition to looking at hard skills, hiring managers like Nolan also want to see a candidate's soft skills, like problem-solving, collaboration, curiosity, and adaptability. In her two decades at the company, Nolan has seen firsthand how hiring employees with diverse backgrounds makes for a better, more well-rounded team. That’s why she likes for her teams to include a mix of people coming from small and large companies, with finance and non-finance experience. “It’s proven that the more diverse your team, the more creative solutions you arrive at,” she says. “We want people who think differently.” #### Providing employees a foundation in finance New hires at MarketAxess receive financial markets training as part of their onboarding, from learning the basics of trading to the way the company’s tech is built—all the essentials needed to thrive in a new job within a complex industry. “You learn things like how a bond yield is calculated and why bond prices are inversely correlated to bond yields,” O’Connor says. “And you’re encouraged to ask as many questions as you can. Everyone is receptive.” Beyond initial training, there are regular knowledge sessions in which team members and outside experts give in-depth talks about trading systems and new coding programs, Nolan says. “We are big on investing in our people,” she says. “If I hire somebody, I want to make sure they succeed.” And there’s ongoing, hands-on development work. For example, on Zhang’s team, senior members lead code reviews where they give feedback, teach best practices, and explain the business motivations behind the tech they’re building. “All these things helped me become more capable,” says Zhang, who is now a mentor herself. “I love to transfer my knowledge. My specialty is special domain knowledge, and I share it with all the incoming hires.” #### Creating a stimulating, supportive culture As O’Connor has found his stride at MarketAxess, he’s been able to enjoy a healthy work-life balance—something the company prides itself on. “MarketAxess offers a great combo of being properly challenged while also living your life and having time for yourself,” he says. Zhang agrees, and credits the strong focus on work-life balance for allowing her to pursue a number of hobbies and interests outside of work. Another important aspect of MarketAxess’ culture is the fact that it has never lost the energy and spirit of collaboration from its early startup days. “That sense of teamwork is still in our DNA,” Nolan says. “That’s why I’ve been here so long, and that’s why we have so many ‘boomerang’ employees who’ve left and come back.” O’Connor admits he was surprised by how supportive the work environment was at MarketAxess, which not only helped him overcome his initial fears, but also thrive in his job. He is just one example of how the company’s openness to hiring talent without finance experience—and then providing them with tools and guidance to grow—can lead to a successful career. “I started getting a lot of praise and recognition every time I developed a new feature, which helped me become more confident here,” he says. “You don’t have to be a master at finance. Be good at the technology side of fintech, and you can learn finance along the way.” [This article](https://www.themuse.com/advice/getting-hired-engineers-fintech-marketaxess) originally appeared on [The Muse](https://www.themuse.com/profiles/marketaxess#). --- # Challenges and opportunities in Japan: The story of Aya Asanuma, Sales Representative, Japan Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/aya-podcast "I had the opportunity to really think about what I would have liked to do, instead of what I was expected to do". Aya Asanuma, a Sales Representative for MarketAxess in Japan, tells her personal story about navigating stereotypes and cultural challenges across Asia-Pacific and Japan in particular. --- # Employee Spotlight: Abraham Angel, Product Analyst, New York Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-abraham Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share, and each essential to our journey. Abraham joined us fresh out of college in our Analyst program as a Product Analyst, where he's had the ability to rotate between a number of teams and gain exposure to different product areas and protocols, before landing on the Municipal Bonds (Munis) team. Learn more about what his MarketAxess experience has been like, and the impact he's been able to make in a short period of time. --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? I'm a Product Analyst for the Municipal Bonds (Munis) team. I was part of the Analyst rotational program for product after I graduated from college. I've been able to rotate between a few different teams, and now I’ve landed at Munis and this is my permanent placement. But in the simplest terms, I’d say I help build software products and solutions for a fixed income trading platform, if people ask and they're unfamiliar with what we do. #### What inspired you to pursue your career path? I went to USC in California and studied economics and math. Little by little, I started getting into more of the innovation and entrepreneurship routes, and I saw that product management could be a good path to pursue when it came to product innovation and building out and scaling products. At USC, I had the ability to join specific clubs that dealt with product management, including one called Lavalab, which helped me understand product management as a position – what it’s like to work with engineers, product designers, and build out a product that would be useful to the end user – and I found that I really enjoyed it. #### Why did you join us? When I started looking for jobs, I came across this product management position online on [Built In](https://www.builtinnyc.com/company/marketaxess). I then discovered it was within the realm of fintech, plus economics and math, which bridges my interests from college. But I didn't know much about MarketAxess or what they did, so I researched and read a little bit more about the company, and I became more and more excited about the opportunity. The recruiting team was great to work with, and it made the whole interview process extremely fast and efficient. I am a strong believer in collaboration and being able to be curious. When I interviewed, MarketAxess seemed to check those boxes. They were looking for someone that is willing to ask questions and not be ashamed about that. I was also really attracted to startup mentality of MarketAxess, but in a bigger corporation with more structure and stability. #### What teams do you collaborate with? We follow the agile methodology, so I’m a part of a Scrum team, which is comprised of developers, QA and product people, plus a scrum master. We’re building out specific features for clients within a PI (Program Increment), which is a range of three months. So there’s that type of collaboration, and then there’s collaboration within the product team, which is really important, because you’re the subject matter expert about a specific feature, and you have to understand how that feature can impact other functionalities within the platform. Something I’m getting exposed to more and more in the Munis team is collaboration with Sales. Sales is really on the front lines with the client, and the client usually has a lot of requests about what needs to be built and what they want to see on the platform. So there's a lot of collaboration around what the next features are that can be built not only in the next PI, but then in the next year or two years. #### What’s been your biggest accomplishment since starting your journey with MarketAxess? I wouldn’t say it’s a specific thing, but more along the lines of being more accountable for the work I’m doing and feeling comfortable. I’m being given more responsibility, and I've had the opportunity to apply my knowledge to what we’re building. I have less than one year of experience and I now have the confidence to give direction to developers and QA leads that have over 10 years of experience in the industry. At first it was a bit intimidating being able to say "hey, I think you should prioritize this part rather than that part" because why would someone listen to a 22 year old that has nine months of experience in the job? At the end of the day, something that I've learned is that we’re working towards the same goal, but our jobs are very different. So that helps me reassure myself that what I'm learning can be valuable to what we're building, not only now, but in the future as well. One of the really great things about the Analyst program within product is that you rotate between multiple protocols and products. So whenever we're having a conversation right now within my team about a specific workflow that we want to incorporate into Munis, but it's something that I've seen during my time on the EM (Emerging Markets) or Portfolio Trading team, I feel like I have that knowledge that I can transfer over. It makes me feel empowered to contribute. #### What’s your “why work at MarketAxess” pitch? I really enjoy the people that I work with. I get really excited about going to the office and not just staying at home. I love how collaborative it is and especially the open door policy. You can honestly talk to anyone at whatever time. Whenever I have a question, I can just reach out to, for example, Robert Allison, who is our Head of Trading Solutions, and he'll have a conversation with me as if we're equal. Many other companies there is a strict hierarchy, but here, you can reach out to anyone and everyone is always happy to help. MarketAxess also invests in their employees. For me specifically, beyond the great benefits that we have, within product management, we've had agile training certifications had product management certifications. There's always this sense of the company wanting you to grow. #### How does the work that you do in your role help to Take Us There? Within my role, I’ve needed to gain expertise about a specific product and then try to understand how to build out a product that helps us drive not only more sales, but also more attention to the platform. You have to be very attentive to detail in what we build and how we want to market out how our solutions are helping to electronify the bond market. I was surprised to learn when I joined that 70% to 80% of the bond market is still trading via phone, and the fact that I'm able to collaborate within a team to build out products that can help drive that market share up is exciting to me. It feels like I am working to innovate a very old industry. #### What have the highlights of the Analyst program been for you? I really enjoyed the community service event. It was great to step away from work and be with the analyst class and do something fun while giving back to the community. We were broken up into teams and went to a food bank, and there was an activity where we were given a budget and did a supermarket sweep. It was fun running around this tiny little bodega trying to find all these items we needed to donate to a senior citizens center. I was really bummed that I wasn't able to make it to the cooking event at the Institute of Culinary Education, since cooking is one of my side passions. #### What do you like to cook? I can't say one thing in particular, but I think for me it's expanding my cooking abilities and trying many different things. In my last semester of college, I actually opened up a restaurant with a friend in their bedroom. We would design a specific prefix menu around an artist because my friend liked art and we wanted to create a fine dining experience that incorporated the perspective of a specific artist. For example, one day we did Jackson Pollock and we had a couple of dishes, but the whole idea of the plating had to do with just splattering everything about. This was more of a passion project in which we donated all the proceeds to charity. Want to work with Abraham at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Adam, Head of Client Services, EMEA & APAC Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-adam Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. We spoke to Adam, who is based in London and leads client services in EMEA & APAC, to learn more about his experience at MarketAxess and what's kept him here. --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? To oversee and ensure all Client and Account services teams in UK, EU and Asia are providing first class Client Service and Operational Support to our clients, dealers and internal teams across all MarketAxess business lines. #### How did you come to MarketAxess, and why did you say yes to joining? I originally joined as a junior on the Trax Client Services Team. I said yes to joining because didn't want to sit there on a Sunday evening, dreading going to work on a Monday... When the Trax acquisition took place, I was seconded to Trading to look for synergies between the two Client Services teams. The trading UK office only had around 25 people at that time in a tiny office on Fenchurch Street, which resembled a corridor. 11 years later, I am now running the Trading and Post-Trade teams across 2 continents. #### What keeps you at MarketAxess? Growth. Anyone who does their research will see how quickly we have progressed and there is so much more to come. #### What is your proudest moment working here? Seeing individuals progress from juniors in the Client Services team, to go onto become leads/managers or transition into other roles within the organization and watching them grow in their careers and be successful. I have seen around 12 individuals do just that, under my leadership. #### Which of our culture principles resonates most with you? "We have fire in the belly." Something I have always lived by, on a daily basis. #### How would you describe our culture? Diverse and inclusive. I sit around our global sales team in the office and we have so many different nationalities all working together and pulling in the same direction. I have learnt so much with regards to peoples backgrounds and cultures. #### How did you learn to think client-first? ''If we don't get that trader into the platform, we've lost them", a manager told me on my first day. That stuck with me and something I since pass onto every team member. #### What makes someone successful who works for us? Realising that we will only achieve all that we need to, by working together globally. This is where the MarketAxess 'family' term comes into play. #### What is something you wish people knew about working at MarketAxess? For any young person wanting to get into FinTech - this is the place for you. You are not just making up the numbers here. If you are talented and driven, you will be given opportunities to help grow and carve out your career here. Want to work with Adam? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Amit Kumar Yadav, Core Trading Product Owner, New York Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-amit Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. Amit, a Product Owner based in NYC, joined us 4 years ago, in what he calls "destiny". Read on to see what he's worked on during his time here, and what being a Product Owner at MarketAxess is all about. --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? As a Product Owner, I along with other key stakeholders get the opportunity to analyze and prioritize strategic initiatives targeted to expand our market share. In my role I also get to explore the latest technologies, whether it is Cloud or Machine Learning. #### How did you come to MarketAxess? Destiny has its own way of working, and in this case, I just showed up for my interview 4 years ago, back at our 299 Park Ave office, at 9:38 AM EST on my birthday. #### What is your favorite part about your job? Being a Product Owner of Core Trading, I am honored to work with two very talented yet humble Scrum Teams, which includes not only talented but fun people too. Working with these two teams on daily basis does not feel like working at all. #### What is an interesting project you're working on here? Hedging has been one of the most challenging yet interesting projects, not just for the complexities it presents, but also the opportunity to create something that will have lasting effects on how our clients trade on our platform. #### What is your proudest moment working at MarketAxess? Nothing makes Product Owner prouder than when the product starts to make an impact in the market. Recent growth in Portfolio Trading on our platform and positive feedback from customers have inspired us to keep building innovative products in the Fixed Income space. #### What keeps you working at MarketAxess? Passion to create something new to meet the challenges in the market. The ever-changing Fixed Income market keeps work very interesting, and provides us the opportunity to brainstorm solutions in collaboration with amazing people who know market very well. #### What are you passionate about? Grooming and shaping young talent. I think early on in their careers, it is important to help them understand their potential, guide them to identify their passions, and create a plan of action with them. I attempt to do my part, whether it is meeting graduates via the [PENCIL program](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/philanthropy-sub-scrum), or working with interns on our team, or meeting children at schools in India. #### Which of our culture principles resonates most with you and why? "We work hard. We have fun." Collaborative culture is something that I value a lot because teams perform better when working together to find a solution, or explore new frontiers. #### What is something you wish more people knew about working at MarketAxess? Identify your passion, and MarketAxess will provide the opportunity to explore it and also provide platform to follow through. Want to work with Amit at MarketAxess? Explore our available job opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Antika Headlam, Global Head of Technology Risk, New York Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-antika Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. Antika recently joined us in New York as our Global Head of Technology Risk, a crucial role for our company at this point in our journey. We reached out to learn more about what her job is all about, what her experience has been like so far, plus some other fun facts (spoiler alert: one involves ice cream) we discovered about her along the way! --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? I’m the newly appointed Global Head of Technology Risk. As part of the risk function, I am responsible for building and managing the global second line of defense framework, risk processes, and capabilities aligned to technology. The role supports the business in identifying and management technology risks across the organization. In addition, I am partnering with our risk, security, and technology leaders to provide second line assurance in order to enhance our risk, control, and compliance environments across various Information Technology / Security domains (e.g. IT Infrastructure, Agile SDLC, Change Management, Cloud Security/Infrastructure, Information/Data Management, etc.) #### How did you come to MarketAxess and why did you say "yes" to joining us? I was looking to move into FinTech for a while. Prior to joining I was impressed with how fast MarketAxess was growing and had heard great things about the firm, including the culture. When I had the opportunity to join, I jumped right in. Additionally, being in risk management, I felt this was the perfect time to join the FinTech space due to the increasing regulatory attention and challenges facing the industry. #### How would you describe our culture? I’ve only recently joined the company, but what has stood out to me so far has been how empowered management has made me feel, the support from my colleagues, and commitment across the firm to deliver best in class products to our clients. #### What is your favorite part about your job? That it is never boring. We live in a technology driven world, and with advances in technology brings evolving threats and greater regulatory scrutiny. As such, there’s always something new to learn or to keep me on my toes. #### What is an interesting project you're working on? I am working on several projects geared towards improving the culture and the mindset of how we think, manage, and monitor technology risks within the organization. Through these projects, I want the risk function to be seen as partner/collaborator with the business and not just policing function. #### What makes you unique? I was a restaurateur and had an ice cream business while still working in the corporate world. This entrepreneurial spirit allowed me to express my creativity in an innovate way, balance risk and reward with running my own business, and parachute into new situations with an open mind and optimism. #### What are people often surprised to know about you? That I trained in martial arts and in boxing for several years. I even competed in several matches and won! #### What keeps you working at MarketAxess? The opportunities that I have to make a positive impact and change. Of course, in order to make this happen, there have to be enablers. The culture and people allow for this happen. #### What makes someone who works at MarketAxess successful? The default answer can be easily hard work and dedication. But what I think is valued here is someone who has an intellectual curiosity, passionate about their job, is a team player, and can pivot with change. #### What is something you wish people knew about working at MarketAxess? That people are approachable and employees are encouraged to form strong connections with their peers through open collaboration and communication at all levels. As the company is rapidly growing, there are also many opportunities and avenues to enrich your experience and the value you bring to the organization. Want to work with Antika? Check out our open roles [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Colleen Stapleton, Business Development, MarketAxess Post-Trade Repo, New York Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-colleen Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. Colleen works on our Post-Trade team in NYC and is tasked with expanding our Repo matching platform in the US, plus working with our clients to increase their post-trade automation. Her passion for her work and the excitement she gets from seeing its impact comes through loud and clear...read on to see how! --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? I have been with MarketAxess for 2 years and have been in charge of the US expansion of our Repo matching platform (FYI: you can read up on what Post-Trade Repo is [here](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/term-repurchase-agreement.asp)). In addition, I work very closely with clients, new and old, to increase their post-trade automation and discuss additional opportunities for MarketAxess Repo across the value chain. #### How did you come to MarketAxess? I was approached by MarketAxess Post-Trade to help build out our Repo matching platform for the US market. I had been working on a strategic client service team at JPMorgan working to improve the client experience through automation, when MarketAxess offered me a role to practice what I preach. It was the perfect time for a career move and I couldn't be happier. #### What is your favorite part about your job? Every day is something different: a new problem to solve, people to meet, boundaries to push. I have been moved out of my comfort zone more times in the last 2 years at MarketAxess than in the prior 10 years of my career, and I consider that to be a great thing. #### What is your proudest moment working at MarketAxess? My proudest moments have been watching our Repo US client volume grow quarter over quarter. We have seen +300% increase in matched trades over the last 2 years and expect this to continue as our dealer community continues to grow and allows for greater scale and STP (Straight-Through Processing). #### What keeps you working at MarketAxess? Our people and problem solving for clients. I really enjoy how creative and collaborative our teams are. I am surrounded by supportive, encouraging, and incredibly intelligent teammates that I get to work with and learn from every day. Also, I love helping our clients. I geek out over raising STP rates. Working hand in hand to tweak this and that and watching match rates climb is my own little nerdy slice of heaven. #### What are your goals for your area of the business over the next 12 months? I’d like to grow our global community of Repo matching enthusiasts to over 100 firms with T0 match rates north of 90%. To do this, we will continue to build relationships across the Repo market as well as establish meaningful partnerships that bring our trade matching skill and expertise to a wider network of repo trading, OMS, and settlement platforms. #### How would you describe our culture? Inclusive and supportive. I am a Mom with 3 kids under 5 years old and the understanding my manager and team have had over the last 2 years of COVID has been incredible. The work had to be done, no question, but the hours had to shift every once in a while. The support and encouragement from the top down in our organization was a lifesaver. #### What are you passionate about? Gender equality and championing causes and initiatives that lift women up, support and protect mothers and push back on the 'double shift'. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on women, mothers and caregivers. #### What makes someone working at MarketAxess successful? A successful MarketAxess employee is driven, passionate and outspoken in all the right ways. Want to work with Colleen at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: LeAnne Branch, Customer Integration Engineer, New York Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-leanne Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. We chatted with LeAnne, a member of our Customer Integration team in New York, who loves the "solving mysteries" aspect of her role. Read on to see what she's referring to! --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? Customer Integration helps get clients set up with Financial Information eXchange (FIX) sessions (more on what this is [here](https://www.fixtrading.org/what-is-fix/)), so they can communicate with our system electronically. It may seem intimidating at first because the messages look like a bunch of numbers and equal signs put together, but there is a method to the madness! Many online FIX dictionaries do exist that will help you 'decode' the meanings of the tags and their values. We walk the client through our expected system behavior and test with them before setting sessions up in Production. #### Why did you say "yes" to joining us? The vibe! MarketAxess is definitely not a place where people are carbon-copies of each other. Everyone is so interesting and has a lot going on outside of just work. And even during work we tend to make things fun and interesting here. #### What is your favorite part about your job? Solving mysteries! My team hears me say this a lot, but we really are like Sherlock Holmes at times. Figuring out why a certain tag or value was sent via FIX requires a mix of industry knowledge and MarketAxess system knowledge, so we have to combine the two and figure things out. It's always nice to have a Eureka moment after working on a tough problem for a bit. #### What keeps you working at MarketAxess? The nice feedback we get from dealers and clients is really rewarding, particularly if the project is really complex. Sometimes we have to implement three or more FIX session types for a dealer or client at once and to receive emails where people are thanking you and telling you that you did a great job is really awesome. #### What is your proudest moment here? I received a 'great job' email that went to some very senior people around here and that really made my day. I felt like I was just doing my job in the moment, but for that to have had such a profound impact on volume and the relationship with that particular client was amazing. #### How would you describe our culture? Innovative. There is definitely the feeling in the air that we are always moving forward. #### What makes someone who works at MarketAxess successful? Just be helpful! We have many ways to communicate with each other, but that's for a reason. Whenever someone reaches out, I try to get them some information or direct them to someone who knows the material really well. It's all a matter of doing your best to make everyone else's job easier. #### What is something you wish people knew about working at MarketAxess? We do get to have fun even though we are in the financial industry! It's all a matter of envisioning what you are working on as some sort of puzzle to solve. Despite coming across many difficult issues, there's always a lighthearted Teams call to be had where you actually end up getting to the bottom of things. Want to work with LeAnne? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Lisa Hall, Risk Manager EMEA and APAC, London Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-lisa Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. Lisa Hall works as a Risk Manager for EMEA and APAC, but what she's really passionate about is dedicating her energy to wildlife conservation efforts. Read on to hear about her experience with both! --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? My role is to expand risk culture and awareness and embed the Risk Framework within the company. This involves rolling out Risk & Control Self-Assessments to each function to facilitate identifying our business risks. Incident Management is also a large part of my role. #### How did you come to MarketAxess, and what made you say "yes" to joining? My previous CRO had worked with Grant Blackaby, our Head of Risk for EMEA & APAC, and said I would enjoy working with him. Which I do, as we have similar work backgrounds and similar sense of humour. #### What are you passionate about? I am passionate about wildlife conservation, land and ocean. I have been lucky enough to see Orangutans in the wilds of Borneo and Kalimantan, dragons on Komodo Island and many more endangered species. My husband and I even bought a plot of land in Borneo and planted some trees. #### What are people often surprised to know about you? I was a Manager of a conservation volunteer program in Zimbabwe for 6 months. This entailed looking after volunteers from all over the world and managing the staff and rangers at the sanctuary. And the best bit by far was walking the lion cubs twice a day. It really doesn't get better than that! #### What is an interesting project you're working on? I am in the process of rolling out Risk & Control Self-Assessments throughout the company, which gives me an insight into the different departments and the employees daily processes. As an innovative fintech company, we are always introducing new products for our clients which have to be risk assessed, so there is always something new to learn about. #### Which of our culture principles resonates the most with you? "We are inclusive" is the one that stands out for me the most as I personally believe it and I feel it makes it a nicer and much more interesting environment to work in. #### What makes someone who works at MarketAxess successful? I think being open, collaborative and be able to listen to others and not be afraid to ask questions. #### What keeps you at MarketAxess? It is really a diverse and inclusive company which cares about it's employees. I also feel really valued within my team. #### What is something you wish people knew about working at MarketAxess? Your opinion matters - you can put forward suggestions and they will be listened to and valued. And the effort that the company have made to keep people connected and social throughout the pandemic is fantastic. Want to work with Lisa? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Maria, Global Sales Manager for Hedge Funds, ETFs and LATAM Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-maria Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. We sat down with Maria, who's based in NYC and leads sales for Hedge Funds, ETFs and LATAM, to learn more about her experience at MarketAxess and what motivates her. --- #### What's your role at MarketAxess? I lead the dedicated global Hedge Fund and ETF sales team, and as of last year, I also started running the LATAM sales team. The effort of the two teams is quite different, but both areas are focused on bringing in new business and growing our presence in the distinct client segments. I love the challenge! My role has evolved over the 11 years I have been at MarketAxess from all different kinds of sales coverage and focus - which has kept my entrepreneurial spirit alive, and I'm always learning something new! #### What is your proudest moment while working at MarketAxess? Being in sales requires thorough work daily with some disappointments and a lengthy process of bringing in clients. But it carries many rewarding moments, as we change clients' behavior towards the efficiency of trading on MarketAxess - along with meeting interesting people in our industry. Changing behavior and generating wins for the company has given me many proud moments of accomplishment! However, my proudest moment was when I was invited to dinner with Rob Kapito (BlackRock's president and a founder), Richie Prager (BlackRock’s former global head of trading, liquidity and investments platform, and now a MarketAxess board member), and the entire fixed income management team at BlackRock, in addition to our senior management. The dinner was to celebrate our successful fundraiser donation to the American Cancer Society and Hopes for Heroes gala, where I helped Rick, our CEO, raise a significant donation to the two great causes, coming from our clients, staff and friends. #### How would you describe our culture? It literally has a "fire in the belly". It never stops, it wants it all...just like me! I never stop, I want it all, and I insist I get it, especially from clients. Above all, the culture is collaborative and it really feels like we're all in this together. When we could visit clients in person, anyone from senior management down to the analysts would be ready to help and join the meeting to achieve our common goal. This still happens now virtually. #### When was a time that you felt like a changemaker? With Cordelia's (our former head of HR) leadership, we put together a fundraiser to help build homes for the people most affected by the two devastating earthquakes in Mexico during 2018. It was incredibly rewarding to unite and create awareness within MarketAxess staff and our clients for a mission that not only gave homes to those who needed them desperately, but also created sustainability and employment in the communities we selected. #### What cause matters to you? I am passionate about mentorship and inclusion for minorities and love the community work that MarketAxess has started to do in the space. Being Latina, I am convinced that without mentorship from my older sister throughout the critical years that led me to attend college at UT Austin, I would not be where I am now! I believe that student and professional capacity starts very young, thus inclusion efforts for the Latinx and Black communities should start young. #### What is the best advice you ever received? One of my elementary school teachers in Mexico City taught me this saying and it's always stuck with me: "Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you will be doing the impossible!" #### What are you most proud of? My trajectory having a beautiful family on top of running Hedge Fund, ETF and LATAM sales at MarketAxess. From growing up in a tiny apartment in Mexico City to where I am now, I have come a long way and feel that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. #### What is something you wish people knew about working at MarketAxess? This is an exceptionally successful S&P 500 company; however, inside it has an entrepreneurial culture where everyone's contribution matters distinctly. Our visionary management are always tuned not only to driving growth and earnings results, but to the health of our corporate culture. Want to work with Maria at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Mit Saru, Principal Site Reliability Engineer, London Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-mit #### What is your role? My focus is systems reliability and operations, primarily in Post-Trade. SRE, or Site Reliability Engineering, is an IT Operating framework devised by Google. It has since been adopted by numerous companies including Facebook, Apple, JPMorgan and Netflix. #### What attracted you to join MarketAxess? I was drawn in by the opportunity to implement something from scratch, armed with the knowledge of how to avoid mistakes that I have seen and made in the past. We have a long way to go in our journey to SRE maturity and it's an exciting time to join the company. #### What keeps you here? I love that everyone at MarketAxess is keen to move the organisation forward, and I am really pleased with how collaborative people are. There is a real sense here that people want to innovate and grow, and I think that's great! #### How would you describe our culture? I have never worked anywhere that looks after its employees as well as MarketAxess does. There is a real sense that the staff here are what makes the company, and that is reflected in the great benefits package and the lovely perks we have in the office. There is a positive vibe that resonates throughout the company. #### Which of our culture principles resonates the most with you and why? "We think client first". My first ever job was in customer services and it instilled a really strong sense of listening to what customers or clients need, and adapting myself to best serve them. I think it's really important that we partner with our clients and work with them to innovate and offer them services that they want from us, and to keep ahead of their growth by growing ourselves first. #### What makes someone successful here? I think the real sign of success is the ability to get things done, working through complex problems and coming up with solutions for them. #### In my free time, I like to... Rollerblade. I marshal the London Friday Night Skate and you'll often find me at the front of the skate in hi-vis leading the pack. This involves considerable advance planning, drawing out a route on our mapping software, skating it with a few friends to check that it's smooth enough, making alterations and setting up the social media events. It's a really great way to meet people and we find ourselves partaking in lots of other activities together such as cycling, skiing or going to the opera. In fact, I met my wife while skating and we just got married in June 2022! Want to work with Mit at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Sade Edwards, Diversity & Talent Acquisition Specialist, London Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-sade Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share, and each essential to our journey. In Sade's role, she's having a major impact and helping to bring in the next generation of diverse talent to MarketAxess - the ones who, in turn, will Take Us There. Read on to learn about how Sade stumbled upon this career path and what her experience with us has been like. --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? I'm a Diversity and Talent Acquisition Specialist, and in this role, I support three main areas: - Our early talent - whether that's our internship or Analyst programs, or our newly launched apprenticeship program - Work experience placements and those who are just starting their careers - The experienced hiring process and our diversity initiatives, ensuring that we are encouraging and providing access to diverse talent and have a diverse and inclusive working environment #### What inspired you to pursue your career? It was my own experience of going through the university system. My mom influenced me in some way - looking at her journey and what she's accomplished without having gone to university. She’s very pro-education, but I was the first person in my family to go to university and I struggled to navigate the whole university application process. I eventually chose Kingston University where I studied English Language and Communications with Creative Writing. I wanted to become a journalist at first, but I was very indecisive and thought that if I didn’t figure out my career path, I could go into teaching. After graduating, I found the experience of finding that first job or graduate scheme very challenging. That's why I went into a career in early talent. And I recognized how much social class had an impact on your career and what job you entered once you graduated, which is where the diversity piece comes in. #### Why did you join MarketAxess? It's the ability to change things - that’s what I liked most about MarketAxess. When I looked at the job spec, I immediately thought “This role is perfect for me”. I could already see myself in the role and how I could make an impact. I had around 8 interviews, which at first you might think is a lot, but it made me realize the team was invested in finding the right person. So that also made me think that MarketAxess is a company that cares about its staff and people. #### And what's making you stay? The people, the team, the variety of work, and the ability to drive different initiatives like our apprenticeship program and other diversity and talent programs. Mark, my manager, is always stretching me professionally. #### How would you describe the dynamic in your team? Very supportive and collaborative - we work very closely together and at the same time it's nice that we all have our specialist areas, and we can use each other as a sounding board. We’re a very trusting team. #### What's been your biggest accomplishment since starting with MarketAxess? The fact that this year we've had the most diverse intern cohort we've ever had at MarketAxess. I have introduced some new diversity partnerships, and they have really elevated our brand visibility among candidates from diverse backgrounds, females, and ethnic minority backgrounds. Working with them shows candidates that we are committed to diversity and inclusion, and it reassures me that I'm doing my job well. And our new apprenticeship program…that was a lot of work. I started it from scratch and it was the first apprenticeship program I led. #### How does the work that you do in your role help to Take Us There? Working with early talent is a lot about the vision and seeing what people who are just starting their careers can accomplish. It's important to me that their experience is positive. Because I feel that everyone remembers their first job and it can have a big impact on how you look at your career. So, for me, it's important to ensure that all candidates feel that they belong where they are. It's about seeing their capabilities and what they can accomplish and instilling that belief in them, and then supporting them on their journey to flourish. It’s about taking them there to that next stage. It's always nice when I have interns or graduates that I've helped or hired in previous roles and they reach out to me and tell me what they’ve gotten up to and what roles they're in. What is exciting about early talent is that it's changing all the time. Talent is changing the way we do things. So it's important to invest in their perspectives, the way they see things, and their vision and give them the confidence to share their unique perspectives. #### How is MarketAxess different from other companies? I like the fact that I can have an idea at 10 in the morning and I’ll speak to Mark about it tomorrow, and by the end of the day, he'll say “Yes, it's happening”. That's not the norm with other companies. You’d have to put a business case forward; then meet with two or three managers who then consult their managers and check if there’s a budget. Being able to have such a strong impact and influence on talent and diversity initiatives is something that I love about MarketAxess. And personally, being a black woman in the corporate space, we’re not well-represented, and it’s something I have to consider when applying for roles: “Am I the only black person in my team or organization?”, “Is the culture going to be a culture that I feel comfortable with and confident being my true self?”. From the interviewing stage with MarketAxess, I had the assurance that it is a place where I can grow and thrive. More recently, it was an honor that I was asked to lead Elevate - our employee resource group (ERG) dedicated to the experience of Black colleagues. It’s something I'm very excited to be a part of. In my last two companies, I've actively been involved in ERGs and I'm hopeful that we can grow our membership and have a space where black employees can connect, learn, educate one another, and grow and build a strong network. It's equally important that we have the support and allyship from the wider employee base, those who don't come from the same experiences and backgrounds. When you're not as reflected in the workforce and the industry, it's important to have connections that help you to navigate it all. In a way, it's just the beginning of the journey, so I want everyone to feel like we’re pulling in the same direction. #### Who would you trade roles with if you had to with someone here and why? Claire Radford, our Head of EMEA & APAC Operations. Claire’s role is interesting, and as a person, she is inspiring, strong-minded, confident, and cares about her team. It's also inspiring to see women in senior roles and Claire is an amazing example of what a (female) boss should be. Want to work with Sade at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Sarah Redmond, Executive Assistant, New York Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-sarah Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share, and each essential to our journey. From Facilities Manager to now the Executive Assistant to our CEO, learn all about Sarah Redmond's experience with us and the journey she's been on to get to this point in her career. --- #### What is your role at MarketAxess? Here's what I'd put on my resume: my name, my phone number, and #getstuff done. That's what I do. It's basically everything an assistant would do - jump in on any strange project, answer any weird question, or support any need. People come to someone like me because I'm resourceful and know how to get stuff done. #### Can you talk about the evolution of your career at MarketAxess? When I joined MarketAxess, I thought it was going to be more of an Office Manager job, but ended up being more managing the building and the structure of the office. It was a very new experience for me. It was a whirlwind first year, and I learned so much, but I definitely was feeling like I had no business doing this job, as I was walking around in heels with my tool kit, dealing with the loading dock, the building and the engineers. When I joined in November 2021, the world was just reopening again, so there weren't many people here as we were coming back into the office. My role at the time was pretty light - I was restocking snacks, doing inventory, etc. We closed the office that December because of Covid and opened back up in February 2022, and at that point, everyone was coming back. I went from one of maybe 50 people in the office, to then one of 150 people, to now 250-300 people a day. It's been a really cool evolution to see the needs of the office change, plus all the hiring that we've done and the new people I've met. When the opportunity presented itself to become the assistant to our CEO, Chris, it was such a pleasant surprise. While I was bummed about giving up the facilities side of things, I was so proud of what I had accomplished and the processes I had created. Now being in this seat and supporting Chris and our CHRO, Julie, I realize the value of having a facilities background, since I've met everyone and worked with every single group. Whether employees had a problem with Fooda (our lunch service), their chair, or the lights above them not working, I worked across the board with everyone. Now that I'm working with Chris, that's served me well because people know me. They come over to chat and it's easier and more comfortable to get access to him. #### What inspired you to pursue your career? I graduated with a hotel and restaurant management degree. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, but I went to a recruiter after graduation, who set me up on an interview for an assistant role at a financial firm. I didn't know the difference between a stock and a bond at the time, and I told the hiring manager "I don't know why they sent me here." He said, "I'll teach you everything you need to know." That man, who I sat next to for five years, opened so many doors for me. I've been on the buy side, the sell side, hedge funds, and research shops - primarily in an assistant support role. I took my Series 7 and passed it. I tried sales, I was trading for a while, and I was a relationship manager...but this is where I like to be. I get to experience it all while still being adjacent to these functions. However, it has been my dream job ever since I started working in that first position to be an Executive Assistant to the CEO. I remember going up to the executive floor and meeting the CEO's assistant and being so impressed by her poise, maturity and influence that she carried, and that's when I decided that's what I wanted to be when I grew up. So it's incredible that I've made it to that point now in my career. #### What keeps you at MarketAxess? The people. The people here are so creative and energetic. There's a great vibe here. I love being able to interact with so many employees and getting to know them on a personal level. #### How does the work you do in your role help Take Us There? This is so clear for me. I believe in Chris as our CEO. I believe in his enthusiasm, his energy and his messaging that he's excited to change the world of fixed income. He's so down to earth and has such a passion for this business that it's infectious. I know I personally can't contribute to our revenue. But what I can do is be the support to the person who is leading this ship. His time is so valuable, so if I can help with anything - whether it's making sure he's on time to meetings, making sure his head is clear, or getting him something he needs, that, to me, makes me feel like I'm a part of helping to Take Us There. #### How is MarketAxess different from other companies? I've worked at startups, mutual funds, and big banks...this is the coolest atmosphere I've been in. It doesn't feel like we're a financial technology firm. It feels like we are a technology finance firm. We are very much focused on the technology. I have two kids, and they are both total nerds when it comes to tech. They flip out when I come home and tell them about some of the things we are doing, and how I get to talk to our programmers and QA and product people about what they're working on. That's something I've never experienced before. #### Who would you trade roles with if you had to with someone here and why? I'd love to trade roles with an intern or analyst and have exposure to everything. I think it would be really cool to be able to start all over again, come in with a beginner's mindset, and be able to pick and choose what I want to focus on. #### Why would you tell someone to come work at MarketAxess? This may sound a bit cheesy, but I really believe in Chris' message and his vision. What we are doing is so fascinatingly cool. The technology is so advanced, and we are doing things that are so innovative. We have such vibrant, creative people working here and the combination of the energy and entrepreneurial spirit and our beautiful office makes this a really great place to be. Want to work with Sarah at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Employee Spotlight: Yibei, Research Analyst Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-yibei Our employee spotlight series highlights our people spanning many different roles, teams and geographies—each with a unique perspective to share. We chatted with Yibei, a Research Analyst based in NYC, who shares what her experience at MarketAxess has been like, as well as her unique hobbies outside of work. --- #### How did you come to MarketAxess? I was working at Deutsche Bank in anti-money laundering on high-profile cases when a recruiter reached out to me about MarketAxess. It was apparent that this opportunity would enable me to work on cutting edge technology at a company that’s reshaping the Wall Street bond market. #### What are you most excited to be working on? Improving the accuracy and expanding the market coverage of Composite+™, our award winning real-time pricing algorithm! I enjoy using different machine learning techniques to discover hidden relationships among different variables. I am constantly thinking about new methods to effectively highlight MarketAxess’ competitive advantages using data mining and machine learning. #### What’s your favorite technology? Tableau is my favorite tool to build dashboards. It’s much simpler and more fluid than competing technologies, so I can concentrate on the design of the dashboard without spending all my time on the technical part. I also frequently utilize the data.table package in R for big data calculations. It helps me run analytics more quickly and disseminate actionable insights, which was indispensable during the pandemic when nearly every market participant was asking for data. #### What’s a fun fact about you? I have always had an interest in comedy, ever since I was designated a “class clown” in China. When I moved to New York, I decided to take a class in stand-up comedy. It has been an incredible experience! I really enjoy writing and then presenting my material on stage and hearing people’s reactions. One of my friends from class recently went on Jimmy Fallon, so who knows where it might take me! Since the pandemic has forced me to put comedy on hold, I’ve started acrylic painting. It is a little less of a thrill than being on stage, but I still find it incredibly cathartic. Want to work with Yibei at MarketAxess? Explore our available opportunities [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # Future Women in Fintech Program: a reflection Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/future-women-in-fintech #### “Who run the world? Girls!” That’s what I was singing in my head over and over again during our first-ever Future Women in Fintech program. I know it sounds cheesy, but there’s simply no better way to describe the overwhelming sense of inspiration and empowerment I felt after seeing all the female power in the “room”. Beyonce was really onto something... Financial services, and fintech specifically, aren’t necessarily known as female-dominated industries. In fact, they’re generally quite the opposite, and it’s no secret we have work to do to increase female representation. With campus recruiting getting more competitive, and the recruiting season starting earlier each year, we knew we had to change our approach to get top female talent to join us—especially when they have so many choices. So, I dreamed up a plan to run an event: invite bright, ambitious female college sophomores and juniors from around the country—who are considering a career in fintech—to meet our incredible women at MarketAxess, virtually of course. It would be our small role in helping to bridge the gender gap in the industry. Plus, the most impressive women from the program would be invited to interview for internships or full-time opportunities for the following summer; a win-win for everyone. And that’s how our first-ever Future Women in Fintech event was born! Twenty-six amazing young women—Business or Computer Science majors from top universities like UCLA, University of Texas at Austin, Harvard, and many more—joined us for a one-day immersive program. Virtually experiencing what we do and what it’s like to work at MarketAxess, and participating in a variety of professional development activities. Here’s some of my favorite highlights of the day: First thing in the morning, introductions and ice breakers. Many of the students had fascinating backgrounds. It struck me how incredibly diverse and impressive this group of women was. I was already fired up about the day. Students heard from Julie, our head of HR, about what we do at MarketAxess but, more importantly, she shared her personal experiences as a woman working in financial services, and how she was able to overcome the challenges she’s faced throughout her career. To watch the participants so engaged and energized from the outset was exciting for me. Next was an overview from Christine, who leads our trading technologies. It’s rare to see a woman in a senior tech leadership position, and students immediately recognized the influence of this female tech leader here at MarketAxess. They were captivated by her wisdom on how to stand out in a male dominated environment and how being the only female in the room can work to their advantage. The energy on the Zoom was indescribable after Christine spoke. Adrienne, a senior client relationship manager, took the participants through an overview of our Sales department and the unconventional career path that led her to this point. There was actual shock on everyone’s faces when they learned Adrienne first started in fashion. I was cracking up! It’s literally a testament to the Dr. Seuss book, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” (such a classic!)—you never know where life may take you, and the journey to get there is the best part. A personal highlight of mine was Jeanie Coomber, an external professional development coach, and her session on communication and confidence. She offered helpful advice about verbal and non-verbal cues and took students through a leadership exercise about how to best present themselves. Confession: When I first started out in recruiting, I was petrified of speaking in public, something required by my role. But the only way to overcome this was to practice, practice, practice—which was echoed by Jeanie in this session—so this really resonated both with me and students. I was blown away by the overwhelming support showed to one another as students put themselves out there in the exercise. A reminder that this program was truly worth the effort. To cap off the day, students applied what they learned by delivering team presentations. With the help of MarketAxess employees as buddies, the five presentations that were delivered were unique and spoke to the amazing creativity and teamwork of the day. The detail and effort showed an understanding far beyond your typical college-age student. I’m still in disbelief at how flawlessly executed this program was, with help from an amazing team of powerhouse female colleagues to help pull this off. It was incredibly gratifying to see my vision come to life. I’ve said, many times, that the young women who participated were impressive, and this group continued to impress as we interviewed them for our 2022 summer internship and full-time opportunities. This gives me hope that the future truly is female, and we can’t wait to share more about how we’re moving the needle at MarketAxess. --- # Celebrating Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month: our employees' perspectives Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/hispanic-latinx-heritage-month-2021 September 15 – October 15th marks the month to celebrate the rich histories, cultures and contributions of those with Hispanic or Latinx heritage. Throughout the month, we have been hosting cultural events led by some of our own employees, with the goal of fostering learning, community and togetherness. From virtual cocktail and ceviche-making classes, to breaking a sweat in a Zumba class, we've been loving commemorating the beauty of Hispanic and Latinx culture. We're also dedicated to amplifying the voices of our employees who identify as Hispanic or Latinx. We have asked five of our employees to share their unique perspectives on this celebratory month and what their heritage means to them. Read what they had to say below - or watch them [speak on camera on Instagram!](https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17911035664973453/?hl=en): Rambo Rolle Lee (Sales Analyst - NYC) Dale Bloom (Credit Analytics, Risk Manager - NYC) Diego Hentschel (Jr. Sales Representative - Miami) Maria Calderon (Global Sales Manager, Hedge Funds, ETFs and LATAM - NYC) Juan Araoz (Sales Representative - Miami) -- #### What does Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month mean to you? Rambo: To me, Hispanic Heritage Month is a month where we recognize those who have contributed great into society, and also have paved the way for people like me personally to be where I am today. One of my goals in the future is to ensure that I keep uplifting Hispanics and make sure they reach their full potential. Dale: This month provides an opportunity to reflect on how grateful I am for my ancestry. That my ancestors succeeded in raising their families in the face of poverty - 8 kids on my mom's side - and yet they still managed to pass on and imprint a multi-generational love of our cultural heritage through artistic creativity, paper artwork, recipes. But also in traditions. Like in the holidays, we celebrate Las Posadas, and we also get together for family tamale-making. Diego: It means a lot. I think it’s very important that this country does whatever it can to bring awareness and inclusion to minority groups of people. In this case, the community is huge in this country. A lot of us and our ancestors went through a lot of struggles to get to this country and to be able to provide for our families. Maria: I love it! It means I get to celebrate who I am and where I come from. It’s a moment to celebrate the culture and those who came before us to build this nation. They have had amazing contributions to the US melting pot and to the diversity here. Time to celebrate! Juan: It is the opportunity to create awareness of our influence in the US. Not only in food and music, but also in technology and in the Supreme Court. #### What does being Hispanic/Latinx mean to you? Rambo: Being Latino means the world to me. It means sharing a culture, a language, a history with others. Even though we speak the same language, we all come from our own unique backgrounds, so we have our own unique stories. It also allows me to stay connected to my roots back in the Dominican Republic, which is something I'll carry forever. Dale: When I reflect on being Mexican, I often ask myself "what are some of the cultural elements that I've lost or failed to pass on?" Unlike my mother, who as I was growing up, sewed intricate folklórico dresses, she choreographed dances outside of her own job and led family tamale sessions...I often feel that I haven't kept up with my own responsibility to my ancestry. I'm terrible at Spanish, I prefer Hip-Hop to folklórico, and let's not tell my mom this, but I never really enjoyed eating tamales. What I do, is I make a promise to myself to try to incorporate something along the way - like making enchiladas at home for the first time. I do have to place a frantic call to my mom to ask "am I doing something wrong?" Diego: It means a lot, honestly. It really turned me into the person that I am today. Especially growing up in Miami, where 99% of the people here come from up with a Latin background, it really gives you a sense of inclusion. You feel like you’re part of this different community that has such a strong sense of culture and pride for their countries. I think that’s amazing. I wouldn’t give it up for anything else in the world. Maria: It means that the party and the family travels with me. It’s everything...it’s who I am and I can’t change that. My accent probably doesn’t let anyone forget that, but more importantly it gives me the power to achieve. It gives me the fire to keep going and to pull through almost anything. It’s everything. Juan: As a Bolivian and Latino, it means my roots and my family, even though I have been living in the US for almost twenty years. #### What are some of your favorite foods that represent your culture? Rambo: The dish that always reminds me of my home country is Mangu Salami Queso Huevo, which means mashed plantains, eggs, salami, and cheese. It's something I try and eat every single morning because I feel like it keeps me connected with my home country. Dale: Ooh the food question, yay! My mom would always make a homemade pinto bean soup with ham hocks and queso fresco, corn and flour tortillas, so that was definitely one of my most favorite foods growing up. The other food that I really enjoy is something called Conchas. It's a kind of Pan Dolce, or sweet bread. It's not too sweet but it's really great with coffee. Diego: Well, being that Mexico has the best food in the world, the list is endless. Just to name a few: tacos, flautas, chilaquiles, mole, quesadillas. Really, the list is endless. Not just the flavor itself, it’s also the whole presentation in each Mexican dish. From the flavor to the different colors, it’s really second to none. Maria: Favorite foods! There are literally hundreds. We could start with the basics. I love tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas. I mean, you name it. Mexican food is one of the most robust, and I think we Latins were born to eat. Juan: My favorite dish is called Plato Paceño. It is fried cheese, white corn, lima beans and potatoes. It always comes with a spicy sauce called llajua. #### What is something you feel more people should be aware of as it relates to Hispanic/Latinx culture? Rambo: We all have different stories, but we come to this country with a similar goal, and it's to accomplish something. It could be anything different. A lot of us are first timers - first time graduates, first time home buyers, first time even car buyers. But I want to make sure we all think of Hispanics as hard working people with a goal to accomplish. Dale: If you met my mom, there's a good chance you might identify her as Mexican. She avoids eye contact by default - even now, at 76 years old - because after years of firsthand encounters of negative Mexican stereotypes, she'd rather lower her head than raise it. To my knowledge, my mom is the strongest person in the world. Her life cannot be distilled to a single label. Her story and her experiences should not be overwritten with media or political messages that attempt to authenticate Mexicans into a single story or image. My mother's experiences not only shaped her, they shaped her children, they shaped me. To the point where I've hidden my heritage from people around me - scared to be targeted by stereotypes, but after my first couple of decades keeping my head down, as a Mexican, a woman and a technologist, the last thing I want is to further any buy-in to normalizing ethnic and cultural fears. Diego: I think people should be aware of the fact that the community has so much pride and respect for their culture and their individual countries. When we speak Spanish to each other, it’s not to exclude anyone, it is us embracing our own culture and bringing ourselves together for a few minutes a day, whenever we can. I think that’s huge. Maria: What’s really important about the Latin culture is that it has a long history. It was here in the US way before the US became a nation. The Southern border – Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California – were all part of Mexico after its independence from Spain. So, that just gives you a hint of the long history of Hispanic and Latinx people in the US. I would just say, get to know our community. It is fragrant, it is beautiful, it is loving – it is truly a carnival. There are so many stories and history behind us. Get to know us. Juan: Even though Hispanics and Latinx people share the same culture as a whole and we have a lot of commonalities, we also have different traditions, music and foods. We have to be aware of the difference between countries and backgrounds as well. #### What advice can you offer to your coworkers to make MarketAxess an even more inclusive place to work for Hispanic/Latinx employees? Rambo: My best advice to my coworkers here at MarketAxess is to keep doing what you’re doing. Thank you so much for being so inclusive. Thank you so much for teaching me everything I know today. I want to make sure I pay it forward in the future, but as for now, thank you for everything you have done for me. Diego: My advice would be more for future employees. Give members of the community a chance. Not just in the Latin team at MarketAxess, but at every other department. I really think the community has a lot to offer. Such hard workers at the end of the day. I know as a company, we won’t be disappointed if we bring on more Latin employees to MarketAxess. Maria: I would actually say to my fellow Latinx colleagues: get everyone to know your name by doing something amazing for them, for your company or for your community. Let’s raise our profile by being amazing this month and beyond. I think we get to write our own stories. To my fellow Latin Sales team, you guys are killing it this year. We are unstoppable. Juan: MarketAxess is doing an excellent job including more minorities in the workplace. A clear example is a celebration of this month. My advice would be throughout the year, we could have more events not necessarily only in the span of one month. --- --- # How joining a growing fintech firm fast-tracked Kristen's sales career Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/kristen-clark-the-muse Kristen Clark has her mother to thank for inspiring her to pursue a career in sales. As a freshman in college, she tagged along with her mom on a business trip to New York City and saw her in action as a director of sales. “She let me sit in on her client meetings, and I was immediately interested in learning more about the sales process and connecting with clients,” Clark says. Upon graduating, Clark was back on a plane to NYC—except this time, she was starting her own sales career at the [MarketAxess](https://www.themuse.com/profiles/marketaxess), a fixed-income electronic trading platform. Over the next eight years, Clark has honed her skills, helped launch a new line of business, and moved up within the sales organization at the fintech company, where she is now a sales relationship manager. Here, Clark talks about how MarketAxess has supported her professional and personal goals, the project that skyrocketed her career, and why you need to be an active listener to succeed as a salesperson. --- #### What helped you realize that a career in sales was a good fit? At Florida State University (FSU), I majored in professional sales and marketing, which prepares students for a career in sales through training and hands-on experience. I knew it was a good fit for me when I was selected to join the FSU sales team. These students represent the university in sales competitions and get internships at FSU-sponsored companies that are looking for talent. By the time senior year came around, I knew I’d be applying for sales roles. #### What attracted you to work at MarketAxess, and what has kept you there for more than eight years? What initially intrigued me about MarketAxess was the culture and vision of the company. MarketAxess has become a leader in fixed-income electronic trading through consistent innovation. When I was learning about the company’s history and goals for the future, I saw significant growth ahead. And during the interview process, I noticed the excitement and level of ownership each person has in their role. Since joining MarketAxess, I’ve come to love the fast-paced, collaborative environment and startup-like culture, despite being an established S&P 500 company. The innovative culture and ever-expanding opportunities as we continue to grow have also kept me with the firm. All of these years later, I continue to be excited about my work and feel empowered to make a material impact on the business. #### Tell us about your trajectory within the sales organization at MarketAxess. Where did you start and where are you now? I started at MarketAxess as a sales analyst right out of college and spent the first year rotating across the sales and product teams. I then continued gaining experience and exposure to our client base on the New York sales team, where I learned from colleagues, including our leadership team, and asked as many questions as I could think of. A year later, I interviewed for a sales role to work on municipal bonds, a new product the firm was launching. I got the job and have been working on this product since. The role has advanced my sales career because I was given more responsibility and had the opportunity to gain new skills, work with different clients, and ultimately drive growth for the company in a new market. It continues to be an exciting role that has resulted in a successful growth product for the firm. #### What are you responsible for as a sales relationship manager? I’m focused on building and maintaining client relationships while marketing our trading capabilities—specifically focusing on municipal bonds—to both existing and prospective clients. I work very closely with clients to learn about their unique business, workflow, and individual needs so that I can advise them on how to leverage the data and trading solutions on the MarketAxess platform. This ultimately drives our trading volumes and increases our share of the electronic marketplace. #### How has MarketAxess supported you personally, and what impact has it had on your life and career? From my first day as a recent college graduate living in a brand-new city, I’ve always felt comfortable and supported at MarketAxess thanks to its open and collaborative culture. Each manager I’ve had here has not only supported my career development, but they’ve also taken the time to get to know me on a personal level. As a Florida native, I’d always hoped to move back to Florida to be closer to family and friends. After six years in NYC, I was able to relocate to our Miami office and continue my career with the firm. The move has allowed me to continue traveling for work while living in my hometown. #### What is one highlight of your career thus far at MarketAxess? Working on the launch and growth of a new product has been a highlight. MarketAxess has been a leader in the institutional fixed income e-trading space but was not involved in the municipal bond market until a few years ago. Once I learned about this new product team, I knew I wanted to be a part of it because it would have a significant impact on our business. Ever since, I’ve been able to help build out this product with our technology team based on client requests. The municipal bond offering has been one of the firm’s fastest-growing products and is now a core product for the company. #### How would you “sell” working at MarketAxess to a candidate? MarketAxess offers many different paths to pursue within the organization. During my career here, I’ve been able to learn both about the fixed-income market as well as grow in a client-facing sales role. At MarketAxess, you’ll be given the opportunity to gain exposure to our global client base and interact with everyone from junior- to senior-level team members. Over the last eight years, I’ve held several different roles, and I’ve been given the choice to work on projects that interest me. MarketAxess also has a culture of openness and collaboration. We’re all working towards the same goal as a team, which I find is the driving factor in our success. #### What does it take to be a great salesperson? What skills have helped you succeed in your career? To be an effective salesperson, you need to be a results-oriented and tenacious self-starter. Being a salesperson requires handling a new set of challenges and opportunities every day, so the ability to be persistent and move forward despite setbacks is crucial. Learning to anticipate clients’ needs and being proactive also helps. In addition, the best salespeople I’ve encountered are good listeners. It’s so important to take a genuine interest, actively listen, and learn about the client to identify what their needs may be. #### What is something more people would be surprised to know about you? Before deciding to work in sales, I was considering a career in psychology. Having been in a sales role for many years now, I can see that these two fields are related since they are both focused on understanding and working with people. I still find the study of the human mind and behavior one of the most interesting subjects, and enjoy reading and listening to books and podcasts related to psychology in my spare time. [This article](https://www.themuse.com/advice/sales-relationship-manager-marketaxess-kristen-clark) originally appeared on [The Muse](https://www.themuse.com/profiles/marketaxess#). --- # MarketAxess Moves: Chris's journey from London to Singapore Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/mktx-moves-chris Chris Chappell works on the global Open Trading desk at MarketAxess, helping clients and dealers with anything related to our flagship product from facilitating trades to resolving any trade issues that may arise. Prior to joining MarketAxess in 2014, Chris worked on the sell side for investment banks in the credit markets. Funny enough, he was previously a client of MarketAxess! When Chris heard that we were launching Open Trading, he jumped at the chance to be a part of transforming the industry and growing an innovative product that would address many of the sell-side issues he’d experienced firsthand working in banking. Sounds great, right? But you may be wondering, in a world where an average TikTok post has a 30-minute lifespan and the gig economy is exploding, how has working at MarketAxess remained compelling to Chris for the past 8 years? First and foremost, it’s the collaborative culture, which he describes as “the best of the banking world meets the best of the tech world.” And as it turns out, for both MarketAxess and for Chris’s career, the journey to modernize the bond market infrastructure has offered no shortage of plot twists. What that looks like most recently for Chris is accepting an internal role that required relocating to Singapore from London in February 2022. Faced with the fatigue that was common to many of us coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris was in the market for a new challenge and began to explore other internal opportunities. Though he hadn’t necessarily been looking to make a geographic move, the Singapore role aligned well with Chris’s skill set and he felt certain it would offer him the new perspective he was after. At MarketAxess, we believe in embracing adventure, and that’s exactly what Chris did. Having spent the majority of his career in Europe, Chris tackled a steep learning curve in the transition to working within Asian markets, where the market structure, investor needs and cultural nuances call for a different approach than he has relied on in the past. It has been challenging and rewarding for him to help shape the way the company markets and sells Open Trading to Asian investors. Moving to a country where you don’t speak the language may sound intimidating, but Chris found it relatively easy to adapt given the tight-knit community of expats in Singapore and the support he received from his manager, team, and HR to ensure a smooth transition. The biggest downside so far? “In Singapore, we can’t get a good pint of Guinness.” Although it was difficult to leave behind his friends, colleagues, and local pub fare in London, the move has led Chris to new friends, new colleagues, and new experiences. Professionally, he says, “it’s given me the opportunity to develop, expand my knowledge, and learn a lot more about MarketAxess and the financial markets.” It wasn’t until he started looking that Chris realized how many opportunities MarketAxess offers for employees to grow and energize their careers in unexpected ways. If he could offer advice to his colleagues, it would be to “keep your eyes open for any opportunities, embrace anything that comes along, and go for it.” Had he not, he may have missed the chance to experience one of the very best perks of life in Singapore: “I can go from my desk to a beach in Thailand within three hours.” Want to work with Chris in Singapore? Check out our open roles [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/www.marketaxess.com/careers). --- # MarketAxess Moves: Solenn's journey from NYC to London Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/mktx-moves-solenn Career growth comes in many different forms at MarketAxess. But one of the most rewarding ways we’ve seen our people develop is through internal mobility – moving around to different offices, teams, or even entirely different functions, to broaden their experience within the company. Our new story series “MarketAxess Moves,” spotlights our employees and their individual journeys at the company, as they’ve navigated the changes that come with stepping out of their comfort zone and into a new opportunity. For Solenn Maton, a Senior Research Analyst, who’s been with us over 4 years since joining as an intern in NYC, she always knew that there was a possibility she may want to move back to Europe to be closer to her family in France. So, the stars really seemed to align when there was a need for a second dedicated team member to join our Research team in London to focus on our growing presence in EMEA and APAC. But let’s take a step back and talk a little more about what being a Research Analyst at MarketAxess really means. Our Research team is focused on analyzing all the data generated on our trading platform and looks at how we can inform data driven decisions. The team builds products to help our investors, clients, and dealers trade more efficiently, and make sure the information is transparent and available to everyone. Solenn is responsible for all the analytics we create for our dealer community (think: banks) and our client community (think: asset managers and hedge funds). Like many of our employees who find their way to MarketAxess, Solenn initially found out about the internship opportunity (as part of our first summer internship program!) through her university, where her now manager and current Co-Head of Research, Julien Alexandre, also attended. He mentored her during her internship, then brought her on as a part-time intern during her senior year, and ultimately, she joined in a full-time role in the NYC office after graduation. She still works for him to this day. In the past, there was a much smaller Research presence in the UK. Solenn shares that historically, one person from the New York team would spend a year working in London and then come back to the US, but there was a growing need for more permanent team members on the ground to focus on EMEA and APAC. Given that Solenn is French, she immediately came to mind – which happened to work out well because she was thinking about moving to Europe but wanted to remain within MarketAxess. It’s hard enough relocating to a new city (much less a different country!) under normal circumstances – but add a global pandemic to the equation, and it becomes even more challenging. “I won’t lie, it was difficult initially, particularly because it was the middle of Covid, and everything was closed in London.” shares Solenn. “However, the fact that I stayed in the same company made it easier, as I knew the UK team already.” Eventually the pieces fell into place: London started to reopen and Solenn could be in the office. The social nature of working in London has helped as well – going to the pubs and participating in other social activities has made it much easier to meet new people. When asked what the biggest difference was working in London vs. New York, Solenn tells us that she initially thought that NYC was the heart of the business and that it would be difficult not being in the main HQ. But things have changed dramatically, due in part to the pandemic: we are way more connected now. She no longer feels that London is a small office, and it’s much more connected with the rest of the world, which has been rewarding to watch. She of course misses the people in our NYC office and loved that the Research team had its own little section of the floor there. But on the flip side, in London, she can really see the diversity of clients we have, their unique needs, how they trade, and how they interact with data. Her biggest lesson learned throughout this whole experience? “There are always new challenges that arise, and not every time where you expect them to be. Even in a familiar environment, you continue to learn even more,” Solenn says. “Moving to London just opened the way I think about everything we are doing. Our European customers are much more data savvy, so they challenge us constantly. Facing these different views pushed me to innovate further, to improve our offering both for Asia, Europe and the US.” Want to work with Solenn in London? Check out our open roles [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings). --- # A Deep Dive into our Philanthropic Efforts Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/philanthropy-sub-scrum Volunteerism and philanthropy have always been engrained in our DNA – we've prided ourselves on using the resources we have and the passion our employees share to give back to communities in need. Only recently did we begin to formalize our philanthropic efforts globally and identify key partners for building ongoing relationships with, so we decided to put pen to paper and walk you through our journey... We went about this by creating a working group called our Philanthropy sub-scrum, which is derived from our larger Culture Scrum team – a cross-functional, multi-level and cross-regional team of culture carriers, who embody the very best of what the MarketAxess culture is all about. (FYI: we’ve adopted the Agile methodology here at MarketAxess, and our development teams are organized into scrum teams, which inspired us to use scrum teams in other areas of the company as well.) About our Philanthropy sub-scrum Our Philanthropy sub-scrum is deeply passionate about giving back to those in need in our surrounding communities. Unlike many large companies with dedicated social impact teams, this group of employees is focused on our philanthropic efforts in addition to their day jobs. Their primary focus is on establishing relationships with charitable organizations and organizing volunteer opportunities for our employees. While donating money to charities is something we are supportive of as a company (and there’s been many grassroots fundraising efforts here!), ultimately, our goal is to build meaningful, lasting partnerships with these organizations and empower our employees to get involved in volunteering efforts - and this wouldn’t be possible without the work our Philanthropy sub-scrum does. The MarketAxess Charitable Foundation In the last year, we have expanded our philanthropic and community partnerships and established the MarketAxess Charitable Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to work with organizations that support underserved communities, with an emphasis on youth education, equality, diversity, and inclusion. Our goal is to develop long-lasting relationships that provide opportunities for growth, both in terms of corporate involvement and employee participation. We thought we’d give a little more detail on how we support each one of our partners and how our employees play in active role in volunteer efforts. #### IntoUniversity [IntoUniversity](https://intouniversity.org/) is a UK-based organization that looks to address the problem of educational inequality and social exclusion by supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to aspire and achieve their full potential. It operates local learning centers for young people where they are provided with a combination of specially designed, aspiration-raising days and weeks, Academic Support sessions, mentoring and careers-based Student Enrichment. What makes IU an ideal partner organization for us? Nick Moss, Head of Post Trade Product Management here shares “their values are closely aligned to our own in that they look to provide more opportunities to students from all backgrounds and therefore help to push DE&I.” One of the key components of our partnership with IU is their Big City Bright Future program – something we’ve participated in since 2018 – where 5 university students joined us virtually this summer to give them the opportunity to experience our work environment and explore different career opportunities with us. The students were able to spend time with a range of different MarketAxess teams, giving them a sense of what the workplace is like by shadowing and hearing about what our employees do. The students also worked on a mini project involving researching and presenting solutions on a self-service ticketing tool to help our Client Services team, and even heard from our summer interns that were part of our official program about their experiences applying for internship programs and their time with us. Our hope is to see the BCBF participants join us in our summer internship program next year! We've been amazed by how eager our employees have been to step up and support the IU students, and they’ve jumped in and helped out in various ways. “There are a lot of interesting and exciting areas for MarketAxess employees to get involved directly in helping to support these students through mentoring, business simulation exercises and forums,” Nick says. The feeling is mutual. “We are hugely grateful for the crucial funding support that the firm is donating towards our STEM-themed learning centre in Brixton, and we are excited for the young people we serve to benefit greatly from the volunteering support of MarketAxess' staff teams across a range of transformative programmes,” shares IntoUniversity. “Acting as inspirational role models and sharing their professional advice and expertise with young people who are seeking careers in the STEM sector especially, MarketAxess' teams will make a vital difference in our young people's lives this year.” #### Bronx Lacrosse MarketAxess has partnered up with [Bronx Lacrosse](https://bronxlacrosse.org/) to give a helping hand in their classrooms and on the fields. The goal of the organization is to use lacrosse as a vehicle to build community, improve academic engagement as well as help children develop essential soft skills. The initiative also provides academic support and tutoring in order to help students reach their potential – which is where our employees come in. We kicked off our partnership with Bronx Lacrosse last fall with 5 virtual employee volunteers to provide mentorship and guidance to their mentees – all while the students were also learning the basics of playing lacrosse. Austin McDonald, a Client Sales Associate and one of our initial volunteers, found the experience to be incredibly rewarding, despite most of it being virtual. “I was impressed to see how eager my mentee was to not only complete his required assignments but also learn more and challenge himself during each session,” he shares. “I was able to attend a few practices and live games. It was amazing to see my student, as well as the whole team – many of which only just started playing lacrosse this year – compete at a high level and beat older teams with access to more resources.” Transitioning their academic and enrichment programming to a virtual setting due to the pandemic was no easy feat for Bronx Lacrosse, but we were there to support them every step of the way. Dan Leventhal, Founder and President of Bronx Lacrosse, shares, “MarketAxess provided Bronx Lacrosse with several dedicated and reliable volunteers to virtually tutor and mentor our students on a weekly basis throughout the school year. These virtual sessions conducted by MarketAxess employees were integral to our students’ success in the classroom during this very challenging year. Bronx Lacrosse is beyond thankful for MarketAxess' involvement, and we look forward to growing our partnership in the years to come." We had such a strong start with Bronx Lacrosse, that we are expanding our partnership for the coming year to help fund a year of tutoring and mentoring for 20 students – which means even more opportunities for our employees to get involved and make a meaningful difference in these students’ lives. It works both ways: “It was an awesome experience to be able to give back to the community,” shares Austin, “but I think I learned more from my student and these kids than I could ever teach." #### PENCIL [PENCIL](https://pencil.org/) brings together business professionals, educators and students in over 500 NYC schools to open eyes, open minds and open doors via numerous hands-on initiatives and immersive programs. We specifically partnered up with Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology (UAG) to work with 25 of their 11th graders for the 2020-2021 school year. The goal of PENCIL is to introduce students to different careers and tools within the fintech sector, as well as help them develop the necessary skills to successfully apply to internships – so we knew they’d be the perfect match for us as a partner. “From our first PENCIL meeting it was clear that the students of UAG had found their match in the MarketAxess team,” says Hannah Chan, Program Manager at PENCIL. “Our MarketAxess volunteers’ thoughtful guidance, mentorship and expertise has created impactful connections and shown students the many possibilities of working in the tech industry.” For Kate Sullivan, one of our employee volunteers and the Product Manager for Munis, getting involved in the PENCIL partnership was personal. “Gaining exposure to how tech companies operate through co-ops and firm partnerships as an engineering student was a major part of my own path towards a career in technology. I'm grateful that MarketAxess provides opportunities for employees like myself to pay it forward to current tech students like those at UAG through our partnership with PENCIL." So how exactly did we do this? Each week, PENCIL prepared an agenda on topics that would be helpful for the students to learn about, such as how to answer interview questions, how to prepare a resume, and creating a LinkedIn profile. And our employees, like Nithi Subbaian, a developer at MarketAxess, then met with students one-on-one in virtual breakout rooms. “This partnership with PENCIL allowed me to share what I've learned by working at MarketAxess, as well as get to know the students and learn their interests and what they're working on,” she shares. Kristina Dvorakovskaya, principal of UAG, sums it up the best: “For Gateway students, superheroes look a bit different. They fight cybersecurity attacks. They scour lines of code for errors. They build networks and develop software. Through our partnership with MarketAxess, our students were able to meet their superheroes and get a unique insight on what it takes to become one!” Talk about inspiring! It’s been so rewarding to see the results of the partnerships with these organizations, and we look forward to expanding the work we do with each of them...and bringing on even more employee volunteers in the future (hopefully in person!). --- # Creating an empowering workplace for women in APAC: the story of Rachel Chua, Credit Analyst, Hong Kong Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/rachel-podcast "I was pregnant when I joined MarketAxess and I thought there was a chance the company won’t be hiring me, but the firm has instead showed huge support." Rachel Chua, Credit Analyst at MarketAxess in Hong Kong, talks about how stereotypes and the expectations of a traditional Asian family can considerably influence the future career of a now successful woman like her. --- # Our 2021 Summer Internship Program is underway! Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/summer-internship-2021 #### Summer is our favorite season for many reasons: the sun is shining; the weather is warm; weekend getaways are aplenty...but perhaps nothing excites us more than welcoming our summer interns to MarketAxess! And while this summer’s program is (mostly) virtual, we’re still making the most of it and delivering the best experience we possibly can to this talented group of students. Our program by the numbers... - 32 interns, spanning 3 continents - 25 different universities represented - 6 MarketAxess departments supported Here’s a rundown of what our internship program looks like this year: Our nine-week summer internship program kicked off globally on June 7th with a full week of onboarding to expose the interns to our various functions and departments – plus to hear from our most senior executives and ask them questions. One of the most special things about working at MarketAxess is our flat nature and access to our senior leaders. This is why we make it a priority for our interns to be able to experience this too, so they get a real sense of what being a part of the company is all about. It was amazing to see the energy our interns brought from day 1, and it didn’t take long for them to impress us. Roxanne Jackson, our head of US campus recruiting shared, “The questions that were asked during the sessions have always been well-thought out and impressive, but even our presenters remarked on how great the questions were this time around." Over the course of the summer, we want to ensure our interns feel supported, which is why, in addition to having a manager, they're assigned two mentors to help them navigate the experience. Our campus recruiting team also hosts virtual weekly office hours, which gives the interns the ability to “stop by” and raise any questions or concerns. In addition to their day-to-day work on their respective teams, which is intended to be a good preview of what working at MarketAxess at full time would resemble, we also provide the interns with plenty of opportunities to learn about other areas of the company. What used to be our Lunch and Learn series – now called “Virtual Hours” – exposes the interns to various topics, like cloud engineering, corporate governance (led by our CEO and our lead MarketAxess board member!), and more. One of the most exciting aspects of the summer internship program is the group project, where our interns work together to make a recommendation for an enhancement to our platform to our Global Management Team (our senior executives). This allows our interns to develop their presentation skills and have further exposure to our most senior leaders, while also working on a meaningful, real-world challenge that has the potential to have a major impact on our business. Talk about a win-win! While we certainly keep our interns busy, it wouldn’t be the true MarketAxess experience without fun social events and team bonding activities throughout the summer. Some of these will be taking place virtually, while others will happen in person for those that are comfortable attending. The program culminates with our “Intern Finale”, an end-of-summer-party, which is a chance for interns, their managers and mentors, and our executives to come together and celebrate a successful summer. No better way to cap off the program! Despite the virtual nature of this summer's program (although some interns have been lucky enough to visit our offices), “I am so impressed even in a virtual internship environment across 3 continents, the interns have formed bonds with each other. It just goes to show you that you can bond even if you’ve never met each other physically,” shares Roxanne. Instead of us simply telling you about what it’s like to intern here day-to-day, later this summer we’ll share videos of our interns speaking to their experience firsthand. Stay tuned! Are you a student that’s interested in joining us as an intern or in a full-time position? Keep an eye on our [campus recruiting page](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/students) as we begin to recruit for next year's summer intern and full-time class. --- # Celebrating UK Black History Month Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/uk-black-history-month Our UK Black History Month celebrations have been in full swing since the month kicked off on October 1st. In case you weren't aware, this national celebration aims to promote and honor the valuable contributions of those with African and Caribbean heritage to British society and to foster an understanding of Black history in general. This year's theme is ‘[Saluting our Sisters](https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/41433196)’, which highlights the crucial role that Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities in Britain. Black History Month is commemorated in the US in February. Elevate, our Employee Resource Group for our Black employees and their allies, put together a series of events and programming over the course of the month that helps educate our employees in a fun, immersive way. We started off the month with a lunchtime screening of the documentary, "In Our Mothers' Gardens", which follows Black women from across the globe as they unlock the stories of their mothers to redefine holistic lives rooted in radical self-care and healing. We then had two back to back days of events: an expertly guided walking tour that explored the fascinating contribution of Black Londoners to the unique history of the Culture Mile BID area, and a conversation between Raj Paranandi, our COO of EMEA and APAC and Elevate executive sponsor & Michael Barrington Hibbert, Co-founder of [10,000 Black Interns](https://10000internsfoundation.com/our-programmes/). Our employees joined both in person and virtually to hear Raj and Michael discuss their personal journeys, the importance of networking, belonging in the City and how Black people have been creating space for themselves. This was then followed by a happy hour, where London employees were treated to Rum Punch and Patties! We then closed out the month with a final event - a book club discussion of "Black Cake" by Charmaine Wilkerson. Talk about a jam packed month! Our Black History Month celebrations wouldn't be complete without tapping into the perspectives of some of our own employees, so we asked four members of Elevate to share a little more about themselves and what this month means to them. Get to know: Ade Adeyelu, Technical Support Analyst Debbie Bell, Receptionist Marissa Brown, Technical Product Manager, SensAI Carlos Mendes, Software Engineer #### What do you enjoy most about your role? Ade: Every day is different, I’m on a great team and get to communicate with everyone in the business, which gives me a better overall understanding of people’s roles and responsibilities. I enjoy fixing issues and being the local IT problem solver, and I also like helping everyone get the most out of the tech/devices that we offer. Debbie: Welcoming all our staff and clients to the London office and making sure everyone is taken care of - we have such amazing people visiting from all over the US, Europe and Asia. My life experiences have taught me how to be a good team player and communicator. I understand my strengths and can easily relate to others by listening, showing respect, and supporting those in need - all of which make it easy to enjoy my job. Marissa: The role is highly collaborative. I find it rewarding to be at the intersection of technology, research, business and design. Carlos: I love the fact that I can use the data to tell the story of how the business is performing and help internally and externally to improve processes and grow the business. I've always liked to work around data! #### How do you/your family celebrate Black History Month, and what does it mean to you? Ade: We usually go to a few tech and creativity networking events and I like being around like-minded people. To me, BHM means reflecting on and celebrating the achievements and progress made by black people in the UK and globally. Debbie: We always spend it with family and friends: eating and drinking around the house, then we continue celebrating - whether it’s a rock night out at the O2 or a party presenting the history of our culture. As we move forward, people around the world are becoming more aware of the importance of diversity and inclusion and I want to make sure that those of mixed heritage also understand the black history and culture of various African and Caribbean countries. Marissa: It is a time of celebration and reflection, to embrace the history and honor the achievements of black individuals and their contributions to society. As a family, we attend many events to enlighten our black history knowledge. We recently went on a guided tour in Liverpool, which included a visit to the trading ports and the International Slavery Museum. Carlos: I’ve lived most of my life in Portugal where they don’t celebrate this occasion, so the Black History Month celebration is something new that I’ve experienced since I moved to the UK. I always try to provide my children with positive examples of people in different aspects of Black Culture that made an impact. From art, to literature, to sports, etc. Despite understanding the importance and the reason behind it, I would prefer not to have it celebrated in one month. Most other cultures don’t have a specific period to celebrate and highlight their traditions since it’s part of everyone’s narrative during the entire year, and in my specific culture, it’s hard to highlight all the positive aspects in a short period of time. #### What makes you proud of your background/to be Black? Ade: I take pride in my heritage, especially from a black British perspective, as there is a vibrant mix of different cultures, which enables me to appreciate the diversity amongst us all. I’ve always valued the sense of community that we often display. Debbie: I find everyone in the world wants to associate themselves with the Black culture, which makes me believe in our progress: from the Notting Hill and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnivals, so many other carnivals in the Caribbean islands have taken off, all celebrating Black culture… plus the St Lucian Jazz Festival, which, of course, started with our music. Marissa: In the face of historical and contemporary challenges, I feel as a race we are resilient. I am proud of my heritage, diverse culture and rich history that influences my identity and values today. Carlos: I love all the values that surround our capacity to climb the highest mountain and come out smiling on the other side. --- --- # MarketAxess gives back: stories of volunteering Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/volunteering-around-the-world [Philanthropy](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/philanthropy-sub-scrum) has been a longstanding part of the MarketAxess culture. Whether it's through employees volunteering for causes they personally are passionate about, or donating to or volunteering with the organizations we support through our recently established MarketAxess Charitable Foundation, we love to tell the stories of our employees in action around the world. #### New York City: Analyst + Mentor Community Service Day at The Bridge One of the highlights of the Analyst Program is the annual community service day, where both analysts and their mentors spend the day volunteering together. This year, our analysts and mentors took part in the "Do Good Bus" with [TeamBonding](https://www.teambonding.com/), which certainly checked both boxes of team building and giving back to the community! A bus picked the group up at the office and took them to a surprise location; a supermarket sweep at 99 c Plus. Naturally, the group rose to the supermarket sweet challenge - after being split into teams (complete with colored bandanas) and being given $50 to purchase essential items to donate to a Senior Citizens Center, the competition was ON to complete challenges and shop in a limited time window. The teams then took the items to the center and went over to The Bridge, a mental health and living solutions facility. Here, they assembled hygiene kits and cleaned out two rooms for renovations - which will be used to assist with interview preparation to get people jobs and interviews. It was a great experience, not to mention, it was nice for the analysts and their mentors to spend time together outside of the office while contributing to a worthy cause. #### London: City Harvest City Harvest is a surplus food redistribution charity, London's sustainable solution for rescuing food, people, and the planet. With inflation and prices rapidly rising, the number of families forced to rely on food banks is expected to increase further. Every £1 donated to the organization generates £12 in social return. We have been working with City Harvest London for nearly 3 years, supporting them both through our Charitable Foundation and employee volunteer efforts. Earlier this month, eight of our employees visited City Harvest’s HQ in West London to help as warehouse assistants. On the day, they got busy sorting and packing food that needed to be delivered to the 350+ charity network across the capital. Nutritious, in-date food should not be wasted, so we feel proud of our continued partnership with City Harvest, and contributing to their mission felt valuable. #### Singapore: Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) Therapeutic riding is an assisted activity that helps with physical and mental health. Riding and caring for horses can improve mobility, self-esteem, anxiety as well as physical and cognitive disabilities. Erika, a Senior Marketing Manager based in Singapore, is currently making the most of her charity days (employees globally receive two of these days every year!) by volunteering with the Riding for the Disabled Association Singapore (RDA) - an organization she's passionate about supporting. During the ten-week program with the RDA, each volunteer commits to oversee two kids with a disability for a couple of hours every Thursday morning. Kids come here with various disabilities and conditions, such as Down Syndrome, Autism, or other psychological disabilities. Volunteers are trained and briefed on the conditions and how to handle the kids according to their diagnosis. It’s a crucial step in supporting them appropriately throughout the program. The exercises are carried out with the kids on the horse and volunteers are engaged as side walkers - they walk alongside the horse during the therapy session, make sure the kids are safe, keep the right posture, learn how to manage the horse and help them with exercises to develop their language, emotional and mobility skills. They are responsible for getting the kids ready and safely equipped before and after the session. Volunteers also update a report at the end of each session and record progress every week. It's been such a rewarding experience for Erika, especially when she can clearly see how the kids evolve and improve over time. --- # Teams Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/teams ## Our Teams ### Make your mark at MarketAxess, and on the market Reshaping an established market takes perseverance, agility, and teams of innovative change-makers. Each function at MarketAxess plays a pivotal role in making that happen. No matter where you sit within the company, each team is essential in helping to take us there. ### Technology Our industry-leading platform wouldn't be what it is without our engineering, product, and research teams—full stop. If you're looking for a fast-paced, agile tech environment where you’ll be building the future of electronic trading, this is the place to be. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/teams/technology) ### Sales To put it simply, our sales team is on the front lines of changing the behavior of an entire industry. It’s a true collaborative effort within this group to both seek out new clients, and partner with existing ones to ensure they’re getting the most out of our platform. [search jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) ### Operations Passionate about client experience? Us too. In fact, delivering a great client experience is core to who we are. Our operations team is dedicated to keeping the lights on and the wheels in motion. [search jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) ### Corporate Our cross functional corporate teams are the backbone of MarketAxess. From HR, to marketing, to finance and more, these teams look after our people, processes and brand, while ensuring we are staying true to our values every day. [search jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) #### What our people have to say “I sit between our global client coverage teams and tech development teams. The client teams help to prioritize the most important wants and needs of our customers and in turn, the tech teams deliver solutions to tackle them. The teams are adaptable and open to change, allowing us to all work towards efficiently delivering creative solutions.” Stephanie, Senior Product Manager “One thing that really excites me about the company and the future is that I think that we've made great strides in the electronification of the bond markets, but there's still a long way to go. If we look at where we are and where we want to be, there's so much room for growth in the future.” Grant, Senior Quant Researcher “You don’t have to be a master at finance. Be good at the technology side of fintech, and you can learn finance along the way.” Bryan, Senior Software Engineer [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Technology Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/teams/technology ### Technology is essential to our journey Our clients are in finance and our product is our technology. That makes us a fintech company. Our tech team is directly responsible for driving the transformation that’s happening in electronic bond trading and making their mark on the industry for years to come. We’re looking for builders who have a curiosity about innovation in the financial markets, who bring a collaborative and entrepreneurial spirit, and have a desire to tackle complex and truly exciting technical challenges. ### Tech career: take it next level Why bring your tech talent to MarketAxess? It’s simple: we offer the best of both worlds. We’re smaller than big tech players and more established than the new startups on the block. While we’ve been around since 2000 and are an S&P 500 company, we haven’t lost our spirit from the early days. Our flat structure enables our culture of contribution and accessibility to leadership, and our smaller size means you’ll be seen and recognized for the impact you make. 0% of company works in technology 0 scrum teams 0 programming languages ### How we work Here at MarketAxess, we get things done by following the Agile framework. What does this look like in practice? Our dedicated scrum teams are assigned to different product areas or features of our trading platform—think municipal bonds, for example. Within each scrum team, you’ll find a mix of 5 – 7 engineers, a scrum master, a product manager and product associate, 1 – 2 quality assurance team members, and even a representative from sales. As we think about the full picture of delivering a great experience for clients, our setup allows scrum teams to have total ownership and autonomy over the build cycle. Talk about a win-win for all. ### Meet Priyanka ### How we hire Here’s a high-level look at what to expect when you interview with us for an engineering role: Step 01/06 30-minute recruiter screen Step 02/06 One or two 45-60 minute live code pair sessions with an engineer Step 03/06 45-minute technical interview Step 04/06 One or two 45-minute behavioral interviews Step 05/06 30-45 minute leadership interview Step 06/06 Offer! ### Explore our tech roles Refine job results Clear Filters Loading jobs... #### What our people have to say “We are at the forefront of blending technology and finance, but we don’t expect new hires to have a deep knowledge of finance. We are looking for people who can get to the root of the problem and think outside the box. That’s what allows us to make trading more efficient.” Christine, Head of Trading Technology, New York “Because our team manages their own projects, the decisions we make drive our success rather than external variables. We feel better about our work because we choose it. Since we actively volunteer for tasks, the team is naturally more engaged and invested in creating a well-functioning product.” Alex, Senior Software Engineer, New York ### Our people stories #### Meet Abraham, Product Analyst Abraham joined us fresh out of college in our Analyst program as a Product Analyst, where he's had the ability to rotate between a number of teams and gain exposure to different product areas and protocols, before landing on the Municipal Bonds team. [read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/employee-spotlight-abraham) #### The bond market & AI: how MarketAxess brings it all together The vast majority of the equities market trades electronically while the bond market is still in its infancy by comparison, but MarketAxess is seeking to change that. [read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/H2O-mktx-event) #### At this fintech company, engineers don’t need to know finance to thrive News flash: you don’t need to have a finance background to succeed as an engineer with us. Hear from our engineers, as they discuss how we welcome employees with diverse experiences and give them the tools they need to excel in the world of fintech. [read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/stories/fintech-the-muse) [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Who We Are Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/who-we-are ### We’re transforming the way the world trades fixed-income. #### And we’re not done, yet. Our platform makes bond trading more accessible, ultimately improving transparency, efficiency and competition in the marketplace. Over two decades into our journey with a long way still to go, we offer the best parts of a start-up culture along with the stability and resources of a mature company that's proven we're here to stay. Want to know more about what we do? Check out our video! ### A future packed with possibilities 0+ employees globally, powering our success and growth 0+ years of digitizing an analog market ~0% of the market still to transform¹ ### Our Values We collaborate When we collaborate with partners, co-workers and clients with different skills, knowledge and experiences, magic happens. That’s collective intelligence at work. That’s how we build trust. And that’s how we win. We imagine Reinventing the way markets work to create more opportunity for all is our collective goal. We think beyond today’s reality and strive to be better at what we do. We look at things from different angles and constantly challenge the status quo. That’s how we give creativity oxygen. We are transparent Markets need transparency to thrive. And so does innovation. But it doesn’t just happen. We make it happen. By being open and authentic. And by holding ourselves accountable. Perfection isn’t always possible, but integrity is. We are tenacious Improving how the world's markets work is incredibly rewarding. But it takes relentless perseverance. That's why we keep striving for the right answers, not just the obvious ones. That spirit shows up in the bold pursuit of taking on our clients' toughest challenges. We roll up our sleeves and get it done. We are agile Progress doesn't happen in a straight line. It has ups and downs, zigs and zags. So we stay nimble and focused, ready to invent and reinvent solutions for our clients. We learn from our successes and our setbacks, as we keep moving on to the next challenge. We have integrity We follow the letter and spirit of the many laws applicable to our business, while breaking the status quo. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of ethical business conduct and operate with honesty and integrity to meet our commitments to the financial institutions, communities, employees, and shareholders who depend on us to open global markets. ### Our history of innovation Since 2000, MarketAxess has emerged as a leading force in institutional electronic trading in fixed-income securities, one of the world’s largest asset classes. Our long record of industry firsts and our continuously expanding global network has brought vast improvements in cost efficiency and transparency, benefiting the institutions, companies, and individuals who rely on these critical markets. [Explore our Interactive Timeline](https://www.marketaxess.com/timeline_milestone) ### Recognized among the best places to work We think our workplace is pretty exceptional. That’s why we’re so proud to have been recognized by Built In as a Best Place to Work for four years in a row. U.S. Best Places to Work U.S. Best Midsize Places to Work NYC Best Places to Work NYC Best Midsize Places to Work [Search Jobs](https://www.marketaxess.com/careers/current-openings) --- # Contact Us Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us #### For direct access: #### AMERICAS CLIENT SERVICES +1 877 638 0037 [uscs@marketaxess.com](mailto:uscs@marketaxess.com) OPEN TRADING DESK US Hotline +1 212 813 6262 [opentradingdesk@marketaxess.com](mailto:opentradingdesk@marketaxess.com) RATES/TREASURIES US Hotline +1 646 630 7410 [lesupport@marketaxess.com](mailto:lesupport@marketaxess.com) PRODUCTION SUPPORT US Hotline +1 212 813 6222 07:00am – 6:00pm ET [productionsupport@marketaxess.com](mailto:productionsupport@marketaxess.com) POST-TRADE CLIENT SERVICES [ptcs@marketaxess.com](mailto:ptcs@marketaxess.com) MUNIBROKERS SUPPORT +1 201 492 6323 [mbsupport@marketaxess.com](mailto:mbsupport@marketaxess.com) NY HEADQUARTERS 55 Hudson Yards Floor 15 New York NY 10001 T +1 212 813 6000 F +1 212 813 6390 SÃO PAULO Av. Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek 1455-4 andar - sala429 - Vila Olímpia São Paulo - SP 03178-200 Brazil T +55 11 3080 8400 #### UK & EUROPE CLIENT SERVICES +44 20 7709 3105 [eurocs@marketaxess.com](mailto:eurocs@marketaxess.com) OPEN TRADING DESK +44 20 7709 3290 [opentradingdesk@marketaxess.com](mailto:opentradingdesk@marketaxess.com) RATES/TREASURIES UK Hotline +44 207 709 3111 7:00am – 6:00pm UK [lesupport@marketaxess.com](mailto:lesupport@marketaxess.com) PRODUCTION SUPPORT UK Hotline +44 207 709 3111 7:00am – 6:00pm UK [productionsupport@marketaxess.com](mailto:productionsupport@marketaxess.com) POST-TRADE CLIENT SERVICES [ptcs@marketaxess.com](mailto:ptcs@marketaxess.com) T +44 (0) 20-3655-3440 T +31 (0) 20-8888-040 LONDON OFFICE 5 Aldermanbury Square London EC2V 7HR T + 44 20 7709 3100 F + 44 20 7709 3101 AMSTERDAM OFFICE Keizersgract 264, 1016EV Amsterdam T + 31 2088 88010 #### ASIA PACIFIC CLIENT SERVICES +65 6916 1300 [asiacs@marketaxess.com](mailto:asiacs@marketaxess.com) OPEN TRADING DESK +852 3845 3011 [opentradingdesk@marketaxess.com](mailto:opentradingdesk@marketaxess.com) PRODUCTION SUPPORT AP Hotline +65 6916 1310 8:00am – 6:00pm SGT [productionsupport@marketaxess.com](mailto:productionsupport@marketaxess.com) POST-TRADE CLIENT SERVICES [ptcs@marketaxess.com](mailto:ptcs@marketaxess.com) SINGAPORE OFFICE One Raffles Quay #10-04 North Tower Singapore 048583 T +65 6916 1300 HONG KONG OFFICE Unit 1201, 12F LHT Tower No.31 Queen's Road Central Central Hong Kong T +65 6916 1300 [Investor Relations](https://investor.marketaxess.com/contact-us) [Media Relations](https://www.marketaxess.com/about-us/media) [Transfer Agent](https://investor.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # DealerAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/dealer-execution-services ### Your digital trading partner The world of fixed income trading is changing. Dealers have been at the forefront of this shift to electronic execution in their interactions with the buy-side through the proliferation of algorithmic trading but have often overlooked the opportunity to embrace the electronic markets to source and manage their own risk. Relying on traditional voice trading with inter-dealer brokers can mean missing out on the full spectrum of liquidity available. While the personalised service they provide is excellent, the depth of liquidity is not. The DES team links key elements of our Dealer Relationship Management and Open Trading® desks to give you the best of bespoke service and depth of liquidity. ### Mid-X: Anonymous matching sessions at the mid-point price Join daily anonymous mid-point matching sessions using unbiased mid-price levels established by our award-winning CP+™ pricing tool. Confidently submit full positions without concern over information leakage with our no name give-up protocol where only the matched size is revealed. ### Dealer RFQ Trading today requires an agile and flexible approach to managing risk. With Dealer RFQ you can capture liquidity from the world’s largest credit liquidity pool. Leverage our all-to-all Open Trading network of global dealers and non-dealer counterparties to source liquidity from the entire market! Dealer RFQ allows you to anonymously send inquiries directly to the entire market and receive levels on screen in an RFQ model similar to your clients. Or you can connect to our platform via API to trade from your internal systems. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/dealer-rfq-brochure) ### More than just machines Aside from access to best-in-class liquidity, our DES team can help provide a more hands on service. If we are going to be your #1 trading counterparty on the platform, you should expect a premium trading desk service in return. Leverage our market specialists with decades of combined experience in trading, sales, and broking as well as on-desk operations and settlements expertise. We’re here to provide comprehensive support throughout your trading journey. Our services include assisting with upsizing trades, reflecting targets, facilitating complex transactions, and offering expert advice on settlements. Reachable by chat, email, or a phone call our team is here to help. ### Want to learn more about DealerAxess? [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Demo Training Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/demo-training-now ### ttest ### Test --- # Executive Management Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/executive-management ## Executive Management --- # Goldman Sachs Asset Management Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/gsam-case-study-sep-2022 ## Smarter, more efficient trading ### Goldman Sachs Asset Management In our latest case study, Goldman Sachs Asset Management discusses how their use of electronic trading has helped lower trading costs, accelerate execution speed, and develop new trading and portfolio construction strategies. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/gsam-case-study-sep-2022.pdf) --- # Index Center Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/index/CPP-basi/4 Charts - #### CP+ Bid-Ask Spread - [Corps & EM](https://www.marketaxess.com/index/CPP-basi/4) - [Treasury](https://www.marketaxess.com/index/CPP-basi/5) ### CP+ Bid-Ask Spread CP+ Bid-Ask Spread is a group of indices that tracks bid-ask spreads across global credit, rates and emerging bond markets. These indices provide a useful gauge of general market liquidity as well as relative trading activity. When used alongside other market measures, the indices can yield valuable and actionable insights for various types of functions including trading strategy, portfolio construction and Transaction Costs Analysis (TCA). *USD IG excludes MME Bonds (<14 months to maturity). CP+ Corporate BASI is calculated as the weekly median of the daily CP+ EOD bid ask spread divided by par value. The Bid Ask Spread Index (the "BASI Index") referred to herein and all information and data in respect of such BASI Index are the proprietary material of MarketAxess, and are published on this website for reference only. Any other use of the BASI Index is prohibited unless under the terms of an express written license granted by MarketAxess. This prohibition includes but is not limited to uses referred to in Article 3(1)(3) of EU Regulation 2016/1011 (the "Benchmarks Regulation"). This notification serves to satisfy MarketAxess's obligations as an index-provider pursuant to Article 2(2)(h) of the Benchmarks Regulation. MarketAxess and each director, officer, employee, representative, delegate and agent thereof hereby expressly disclaims, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any liability for any error, omission, interruption or delay relating to the BASI Index as well as all warranties of accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to the BASI Index. MarketAxess shall not be under any obligation to continue the calculation, publication and dissemination of the BASI Index and may cease its calculation publication or dissemination at MarketAxess's discretion without notice. --- # US Investment Grade 400 Corporate Bond index Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/indices/us-investment-grade-400-corporate-bond-index This index is constructed to enhance the trading performance of a portfolio that tracks the profile and returns of the US Investment Grade Corporate Bond market, resulting in increased transparency and insights into credit market pricing, liquidity and trading costs. This is the first US corporate bond index to use liquidity as the primary index construction criteria. [Download Methodology](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MarketAxess-Index-Methodology.pdf) [Download the fact sheet](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/mktx-us-ig-400-corp-bond-index) --- # CP+ Muni Benchmark Curves Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/munis-benchmark-curves/historical Charts - #### Market Analysis - [HG Trading Activity](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/0) - [HY Trading Activity](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/1) - [Average Trade Size](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/2) - [HG Turnover](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/3) - [Traded CUSIPS](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/4) - [Corporate Debt Outstanding](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/5) - [Primary Dealer Net Positions](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/6) - [CP+ Bid-Ask Spread](https://www.marketaxess.com/index/CPP-basi/0) - #### CP+ Muni Benchmark Curves - [Intraday Curve](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/munis-benchmark-curves/intraday) - [Historical Curve Data](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/munis-benchmark-curves/historical) ### CP+ Muni Benchmark Curves The CP+ Tax-Exempt Muni Curve represents a composite of yields for 5% no-call 10 bonds across AA and AAA ratings. The curve refreshes every 15 minutes throughout the trading day to proactively capture market movement. A snapshot of this curve data is published here at 8am, 12pm, and 4pm ET. For further details on the curve and broader CP+ pricing methodologies, please refer to the CP+ for Munis whitepaper [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-cp-plus-for-munis-whitepaper-email). From To MATURITIES (select multiple) 1y 2y 3y 4y 5y 6y 7y 8y 9y 10y 11y 12y 13y 14y 15y 16y 17y 18y 19y 20y 21y 22y 23y 24y 25y 26y 27y 28y 29y 30y --- # CP+ Muni Benchmark Curves Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/munis-benchmark-curves/intraday Charts - #### Market Analysis - [HG Trading Activity](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/0) - [HY Trading Activity](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/1) - [Average Trade Size](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/2) - [HG Turnover](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/3) - [Traded CUSIPS](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/4) - [Corporate Debt Outstanding](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/5) - [Primary Dealer Net Positions](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/market-insights/6) - [CP+ Bid-Ask Spread](https://www.marketaxess.com/index/CPP-basi/0) - #### CP+ Muni Benchmark Curves - [Intraday Curve](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/munis-benchmark-curves/intraday) - [Historical Curve Data](https://www.marketaxess.com/inform/research/munis-benchmark-curves/historical) ### CP+ Muni Benchmark Curves The CP+ Tax-Exempt Muni Curve represents a composite of yields for 5% no-call 10 bonds across AA and AAA ratings. The curve refreshes every 15 minutes throughout the trading day to proactively capture market movement. A snapshot of this curve data is published here at 8am, 12pm, and 4pm ET. For further details on the curve and broader CP+ pricing methodologies, please refer to the CP+ for Munis whitepaper [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-cp-plus-for-munis-whitepaper-email). Comparison date --- # Introducing SensAI Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/introducing-sensai ## Regulators see the bigger picture, now you can too ### Introducing SensAI®: A completely new approach to reporting accuracy. When it comes to reporting, what you don’t know can hurt you. When you only see snapshots of your trades from your side, errors are hard to spot. And if a regulator finds them first, making amends can be time-consuming and costly. ### For more on SensAI intelligent reporting, click below. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sensai) --- # Is How Portfolio Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/is-how/portfolio-trading ## A promise to the bond market and everyone in it Deeper liquidity. Better data. Smarter trading. AI-enhanced portfolio trading ### Portfolio trading transformed. Our new supercharged UX offers seamless execution experience, pre-trade market depth, and our proprietary liquidity metrics. [MarketAxess Is How](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) ### The next dimension in bond trading. Design your interface. Choose your workflow. Set your goals. Take control of your trading with X-Pro, the next generation of the MarketAxess platform. [Experience X-Pro](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/x-pro) 0yrs of innovating global bond trading 0 trading firms around the world $0B in daily liquidity 0+ experts refining our products ### Data when you need it. There’s a reason our data keeps winning awards. Our data is everything you need to make the trade. With real-time pricing for over 250,000 bonds, our actionable, tradeable data cuts through the noise. [MarketAxess is how](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus) ### Liquidity for all. No matter the volatility. One thing is predictable—where to source deeper liquidity. All-to-all Open Trading® allows anyone to trade with anyone, anywhere, so you can always find the other side of a trade. [MarketAxess Is How](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) ### More ways to love trading munis. Join the fastest growing electronic marketplace for municipal bonds. With our automated execution suite and portfolio trading protocols, we deliver the innovation the muni market is asking for. [MarketAxess is How](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/municipal-bonds) ### Data, liquidity, and more ways to trade. See how ### The latest insights #### Elevate your trading with the next generation MarketAxess platform [Download user guide](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-cp-plus-for-munis-press-release) #### 2025 Outlook | Data & Technology [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/2025-outlook-data-and-technology) #### Case Study: Goldman Sachs [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/gsam-case-study) ### AI-enhanced portfolio trading [Marketaxess is how](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) --- # Form | Systematic Hedge Funds| Learn More Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/learn-about-systematic-hedge-funds ## Form | Systematic Hedge Funds| Learn More --- # Legal and Regulatory Center Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal #### Americas #### Americas MarketAxess Corporation MarketAxess SEF Corporation MarketAxess Canada Company #### UK & Europe #### UK & Europe MarketAxess UK Limited MarketAxess Post-Trade Limited MarketAxess Capital Limited MarketAxess NL B.V. #### Asia & Pacific #### Asia & Pacific MarketAxess Singapore Pte. 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[Notice to Participants – 21 Nov 2013](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_Notice_to_participants_November-21-2013.pdf) - [Notice to Participants – 13 May 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_Notice_to_participants_May-13-2014.pdf) - [Notice to Participants – 1 Oct 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_notice_to_participants_october-1-2014.pdf) - [Notice to Participants – 30 Jan 2017](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_notice_to_participants_ICE_Allocations_1.30.17.pdf) - [Response to Public Comments Regarding MAT Submission – 12 Dec 2013](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MarketAxess_SEF_Corporation-Response_to_Public_Comments_Regarding_MAT_Submission.pdf) #### Filings - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 31 Aug 2021](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-sef-corp-40.6-filing-aug31-2021.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 19 Aug 2021](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MarketAxess-SEF-Corporation-40-6-Filing_19Aug2021.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 9 Nov 2016](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MarketAxess_SEF_Corporation40.6Filing_November9_2016.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 18 Dec 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_12-18-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 14 Dec 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_12-14-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 23 Nov 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_11-23-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 30 Sep 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_09-30-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 7 Aug 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_08-07-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 8 Jun 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_06-08-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 15 May 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_05-15-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 17 Feb 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_02-17-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 13 Jan 2015](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_01-13-2015.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 8 Oct 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_10-08-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 9 Sep 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_09-09-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 25 Aug 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_08-25-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 25 Jun 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_Corporation_40.6_Filing_06-25-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 13 Jun 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_Corporation_40.6_Filing_06-13-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 26 Feb 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_02-26-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 14 Feb 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_02-14-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 11 Feb 2014](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_02-11-2014.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 20 Dec 2013](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_12-20-2013.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 5 Nov 2013](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_11-5-2013.pdf) - [MarketAxess SEF Corp 40.6 Filing - 17 Oct 2013](https://assets.marketaxess.com/MKTX_SEF_40.6_Filing_10-17-2013.pdf) ### MarketAxess Canada Company - [Privacy Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/marketaxess-canada-company-privacy-policy.pdf) - [Disclosures Pursuant to Section 10.1 of National Instrument 21-101 - Marketplace Operation](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/canada-disclosures.pdf) --- # Legal Center: Asia & Pacific Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/asia-pacific ### MarketAxess Singapore Pte Limited - [RMO Market Rulebook](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/RMO-Market-Rulebook.pdf) - [Global Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Anti-Bribery-and-Corruption-Policy.pdf) - [Data Solutions Overview](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/data-solutions-overview.pdf) --- # Cookie Policy Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/cookie-policy We use 'cookies' which may be sent to your computer. Cookies enable us to collect information on how our web sites and services are being used and to manage them more efficiently. A cookie is a piece of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your computer as an anonymous tag that identifies your computer but not you. We use the following cookies: Strictly necessary cookies: These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into the secure areas of our website. Analytical cookies: They allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our websites when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way that our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily. Performance cookies: These cookies allow us to monitor our site performance, and do not track individuals. 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[Regulatory Profile](https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001b000000MfinpAAB) [Legal Entity Identifier](https://search.gleif.org/#/record/213800O7QMOIZFJZ3K44) ##### MarketAxess Capital Limited MarketAxess Capital Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA as an investment firm. [Regulatory Profile](https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001b000002C2pkeAAB) [Legal Entity Identifier](https://search.gleif.org/#/record/529900CTXON8S5AOCB70) #### Entities: The Netherlands ##### MarketAxess NL B.V. MarketAxess NL B.V. is licensed by the Dutch regulator, the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (‘AFM’) as an operator of MTF. (referred to herein as “EU MTF”). [Regulatory Profile](https://registers.esma.europa.eu/publication/details?core=esma_registers_upreg&docId=ae35064) [Legal Entity Identifier](https://search.gleif.org/#/record/5299000UUYW66L5LT560) ##### MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V. 'MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V. is authorised and regulated by the European Securities and Markets Authority as a data reporting services provider (‘DRSP’) for the provision of ARM and APA services. [Regulatory Profile](https://registers.esma.europa.eu/publication/details?core=esma_registers_upreg&docId=ae35054) [Legal Entity Identifier](https://search.gleif.org/#/record/529900ATC8BZSUEI4F96) ### UK & EU MTF Regulatory Disclosures - [MAEL Order Handling Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mael-order-handling-policy.pdf) - [MANL Order Handling Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/manl-order-handling-policy.pdf) - [MTF Rulebook UK](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MTF-Rulebook-UK.pdf) - [MTF Rulebook EU](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MTF-Rulebook-EU.pdf) - [MTF Fee Schedule](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mtf-fee-schedule-pending.pdf) - [MTF Market Data Fee Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MTF-Market-Data-Fee-Disclosure.pdf) - [EU MTF Market Data Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/eu-mtf-market-data-policy.pdf) - [MTF Market Data Services Master Agreement](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mtf-market-data-services-master-agreement.pdf) - [MTF Market Data Services Master Agreement (effective 20 Sep 2026)](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mtf-market-data-services-master-agreement-pending.pdf) - [MTF Market Data Services Master Agreement (redline)](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mtf-market-data-services-master-agreement-redline.pdf) - [MTF MiFID II Quote & Trade Publication](http://traxapa.com/) - [MTF Bond Removal Request Form](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MTF-Bond-Removal-Request-Form.pdf) - [MTF UK - Post Trade Transparency Deferral Process](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mtf-uk-post-trade-transparency-deferral-process.pdf) - [MTF UK - Equity Pre-trade Transparency Waiver Procedure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mtf-uk-equity-pretrade-transparency-waiver-procedure.pdf) - [Data Solutions Overview](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/data-solutions-overview.pdf) - [MKTX Pre- and Post-Trade Data: Download and Use Instructions](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Post-trade-data-download-instructions.pdf) - [Instrument Removals, Suspensions & Restorations](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MarketAxess-Instrument-Removals-Suspensions-Restorations.pdf) #### EU DRSP Regulatory Disclosures - [EU APA Market Data Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/eu-apa-market-data-policy.pdf) - [EU DRSP Charges Schedule Effective 1 Jul 2025](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Post-TradeBV-EU-DRSP-Charges-Schedule.pdf) Applicable to those Subscribers outside of their Initial Term on or before 1 July 2025 and new Subscribers from 1 July 2025 - [EU DRSP Charges Schedule 2024](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Post-TradeBV-EU-DRSP-Charges-Schedule-2024.pdf) Applicable to those Subscribers within their initial Term as at 1 July 2025 until expiry of their Initial Term #### Financial Regulatory Disclosures - [MarketAxess Europe Limited - Pillar 3 Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MAEL-Pillar-3-Disclosure.pdf) - [MarketAxess Capital Limited - Pillar 3 Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/macl-pillar-3-disclosure-2.pdf) - [MarketAxess NL B.V. - Pillar 3 Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/manl-pillar-3-disclosure.pdf) #### Remuneration Disclosures - [MarketAxess NL B.V. Remuneration Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/nl-remuneration-disclosure.pdf) - [UK Remuneration Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/uk-remuneration-disclosure.pdf) #### Conflicts of Interest Policy - [Conflicts of Interest Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Conflicts-of-Interest-Policy.pdf) --- # General Information Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/general-information ### Global Policies - [Cookie Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/cookie-policy) - [Regulatory Disclosures](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Regulatory-Disclosures.pdf) - [Global Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Anti-Bribery-and-Corruption-Policy.pdf) - [Business Continuity Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/business-continuity-plan-disclosure.pdf) - [Human and Labor Rights Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Human-and-Labor-Rights-Policy.pdf) - [Modern Slavery Statement](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Slavery-and-Human-Trafficking-Statement.pdf) - [Political Contribution and Lobbying Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/political-contribution-and-lobbying-policy.pdf) - [PAC Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MKTX-PAC-Disclosure.pdf) - [Whistleblower Escalation](https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/whistleblower-escalation-procedures) ### Regional Policies - [Americas](https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/americas) - [UK & Europe](https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/europe) - [Asia-Pacific](https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/asia-pacific) ### Third Party Data - [Third Party Data Provider Terms & Conditions](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Third-Party-Data-Provider-Terms-and-Conditions.pdf) ### Security Information If you would like information about our information security program, please contact our Client Due Diligence team at [clientddr@marketaxess.com](mailto:clientddr@marketaxess.com). --- # Important Notice Regarding Scams Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/important-notice-regarding-scams MarketAxess reminds its customers, third parties and the general public of the importance of vigilance against scams, including impersonation scams where criminals misuse the names and/or logos of trusted organizations such as MarketAxess to deceive victims into transferring money to their accounts or revealing personal information. Under no circumstances shall MarketAxess be held liable or responsible for any claims, losses, damages, expenses, or other inconvenience resulting from or in any way connected to the actions of these imposters. Please exercise care and due diligence in scrutinizing any communication, offer or solicitation purporting to originate from MarketAxess. MarketAxess does not service individual retail customers, maintain deposit accounts, nor request or receive online money transfers. You are recommended to: - Only communicate with MarketAxess through our official channels—via websites with the [marketaxess.com](https://www.marketaxess.com/) domain and email addresses that end with @[marketaxess.com](https://www.marketaxess.com/) or @[pragmatrading.com](http://pragmatrading.com/). - Be cautious with unsolicited job offers for positions you did not apply for. - Do not transfer funds or share any personal information without first independently verifying whether the request is legitimate. If you suspect that you are the victim or target of a scam: - Contact your local law enforcement immediately; and - Take steps to secure your accounts immediately. Please note that while MarketAxess takes steps against misuse of our brand when we are aware, we are unable to assist with recovering funds fraudulently transferred to third parties. --- # Intellectual Property Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/intellectual-property ### Patents MarketAxess products may be covered by one or more of the following patents: - 7,499,883 - 7,539,641 - 7,526,443 - 7,555,455 - 7,590,585 - 7,822,677 - 7,860,796 - 8,165,955 - 8,185,465 - 8,195,558 - 8,392,314 - 8,527,396 - 8,682,777 --- # Privacy Policy Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/privacy-policy #### Contents - Who does this policy apply to - Purposes for which we collect and use your personal data - Personal data collected by us - Further information/marketing - Personal data retention - Sharing personal data - Monitoring of communications - Data Security - Disclosures applicable to individuals in Europe and the UK - 9.1 Legal basis for processing personal data - 9.2 Your rights in connection with your personal data - 9.3 Transfers of personal data 10. Contact details for data requests and complaints 11. Privacy Notice and Disclosures for California Residents #### 1 Who does this policy apply to This is the privacy policy of the MarketAxess group of companies (MarketAxess Holdings Inc. and its global subsidiaries) and is aimed at external persons only. This policy does not apply to employees. Existing or prospective employees should contact the MarketAxess Human Resources Department for a copy of the staff privacy policy. The amount of personal (PII) data that we hold on you and how we use it depends on your relationship with the relevant MarketAxess company and the products and services you use. Therefore, some of the information below may not be relevant to you. #### 2 Purposes for which we collect and use your personal data We collect and use personal data for the following purposes: (a) administering our existing and prospective business relationships and providing our services; (b) reporting to regulators, other relevant authorities and self-regulatory organisations; (c) obtaining feedback on our services, including conducting market or customer satisfaction research and statistical analysis (including behavioural analysis); (d) to improve and personalise our services and marketing, and provide individuals with information concerning products and services which we believe may be of interest; (e) compliance with any requirement of law, regulation, associations or voluntary codes adopted by any MarketAxess company, or good practice; (f) confirming and verifying an individual’s identity (this may involve the use of a credit reference agency or other third parties, as well as publicly available government and/or law enforcement agency sanctions lists); (g) the detection, investigation and prevention of fraud, breaches of our network security, the law or our contract terms, and other crimes or malpractice; and (h) for the purpose of, or in connection with, any legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings), for obtaining legal advice or for establishing, exercising or defending legal rights, together the “Specified Purposes”. Please see section 9 below for the legal basis for our processing of personal data of individuals within the EU and UK. #### 3 Personal data collected by us MarketAxess collects the following personal data in its day-to-day business: - identity and contact details which are required in order to provide our services, including business email, address and contact numbers and, for certain MarketAxess Services, this may also include your date of birth, nationality and national ID (for example, passport number); - data we obtain through our human interactions with you, including from phone calls and email correspondence, meetings with our staff, attendance and participation in events and certain relevant details about your preferences with regard to your interactions with MarketAxess or its products and services; - data digitally gathered by us in connection with your systemised use of our services, such as generic types of data accessed, times and volume of use of the services and traffic data. For information about our use of cookies, please refer to the MarketAxess [Cookie Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/cookie-policy); and - data required by us to comply with applicable law and our regulatory obligations. We may obtain personal data directly from you (e.g. when using our services and contacting us); from third parties (e.g. your employer, public databases and social media platforms and referrals), and automatically through your use of our website and services (e.g. technical data collected through cookies). If you do not provide the personal data which we require, we may be unable to perform or manage our contractual or legal obligations, and we may not be able to provide our products and services to you or your organization. #### 4 Further information/marketing If you have agreed to such contact, we may contact you about our other services to which you do not subscribe but which may interest you. We may, for example, invite you to attend a conference or a webinar. Such contact may be by post, email or other electronic communication, or by telephone from time to time. You have a right to ask us at any time not to contact you by way of direct marketing. #### 5 Personal data retention We will retain your personal data for as long as necessary, reflecting our need to provide our services, respond to queries and regulatory requests and resolve problems, and to comply with applicable law. We have established internal policies for the deletion of personal data in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations. #### 6 Sharing personal data We may share your personal data: - with others in your own organisation (i.e. we may pass certain personal data to your employer about your use of our service where the employer has a legitimate reason to receive it. Similarly, if you are the contact person in your organisation for a service, we may pass your contact details to those in your organisation for this purpose); - within our group in order to manage and provide our services, and for other legitimate business purposes; - with our business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors that supply services to us which require the processing of such personal data; - as required by law, including competent regulatory, supervisory and governmental agencies; - as part of any reorganisation, sale or merger of all or a portion of the MarketAxess group; and - where relevant in the context of services, we may disclose your personal data to other customers (such as trade matching or disclosed trading on a permissioned basis to customers or counterparties). #### 7 Monitoring of communications We may monitor some email and other communications between you and individuals at MarketAxess. The reasons we may do this are related to the security of the relevant MarketAxess company, its staff and others, regulatory compliance, for detection and prevention of crime and to identify correct recipients or to make sure communications are dealt with during staff absence. In the case of emails, we may reject, delay or remove content from emails which have a nature, content or attachments which may disrupt our systems or because they may pose security issues such as viruses. We may also filter out emails which contain certain content on the basis that content is offensive or the email is unwanted or spam. In certain circumstances, this may unfortunately result in ‘innocent’ communications being affected but we do try and reduce such occurrences. Telephone calls to our help desks or customer relations may also be recorded for quality control, regulatory and monitoring purposes. #### 8 Data Security We have developed strict corporate policies governing information technology and security and take appropriate and technical organisational measures to safeguard the personal data which we hold. These cover areas such as access control, authentication, audit, monitoring, data storage and back up standards and environment integrity. #### 9 Disclosures applicable to individuals in Europe and the UK This section 9 applies to the personal data of individuals within the EU and UK that is processed by any of the following MarketAxess firms as a data controller: MarketAxess Europe Limited, MarketAxess Capital Limited, MarketAxess NL B.V, MarketAxess Post-Trade Limited and/or MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V. ##### 9.1 Legal basis for processing personal data The legal justifications for the processing of personal data for the Specified Purposes (as set out in section 2 above) include: (a) our requirement to comply with applicable laws and regulations (for example, in relation to Specified Purposes (b), (e), (f), (g) and (h)); (b) fulfilment of our contractual obligations (for example, in relation to Specified Purposes (a) and (b)); and (c) other processing in pursuance of our legitimate interests where not outweighed by the interests of the relevant individuals (for example, in relation to Specified Purposes (c), (d) and (h)). As a general rule, we do not seek to rely on the consent of individuals for the processing of their personal data. Where we do require consent, the individuals or their organisation will be approached in order to obtain the necessary consents. If we provide services that involve the disclosure of personal data on behalf of a client or counterparty (including, without limitation, disclosures to third parties outside the EU and UK), it shall be the responsibility of such client or counterparty to ensure that it has all necessary rights to permit us to process and disclose the personal data accordingly. ##### 9.2 Your rights in connection with your personal data ###### Access If you are based in the EU or UK, you may request to: - look at or obtain a copy of your personal data, including personal data in electronic and paper format; and - be told the nature of personal data we hold about you, the purpose of processing such personal data and to whom the personal data may be disclosed ###### Accuracy You may request to have inaccurate personal data which we hold about you to be corrected, and any incomplete personal data to be completed. ###### Restriction, erasure and objection You may: - request that we restrict the processing of personal data where there is a problem with the underlying legality of the processing of such personal data; - object to our processing of your personal data where it impacts your fundamental interests, rights and freedoms and we are relying on a legitimate interest for such processing; and - request that we erase your personal data, subject to our data retention periods and policies as may be amended from time to time. Where consent was relied upon as the basis for processing your personal data, you may object, change or withdraw that consent. A withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing of that personal data that took place prior to such withdrawal. ###### Portability In some circumstances, you may request that your personal data be provided to you or to a third party in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable form. This right has a limited scope and only applies to personal data processed pursuant to a relevant contractual relationship and processing operations carried out by automated means. It also does not cover paper files and only applies to personal data available in electronic format. ##### 9.3 Transfers of personal data MarketAxess operates globally and therefore we may transfer your personal data internationally to MarketAxess group companies and third party service providers, including to countries which do not have the same level of legal protection for personal data. We seek to require those to whom we transfer personal data to protect it appropriately, including using EU and UK-approved data transfer contracts. In this way, we work to protect personal data transferred to countries which do not have data protection laws or whose laws are less strict. #### 10 Contact details for data requests and complaints Unless otherwise specified in Section 11 below, any request or other communication with respect to access to, correction of, or complaints regarding your personal data may be exercised by sending a written request by post or email to our Client Services team at: Level 10 5 Aldermanbury Square London EC2V 7HR Email: - [ptcs@marketaxess.com](mailto:ptcs@marketaxess.com) for MarketAxess Post-Trade clients: - [EUCS@marketaxess.com](mailto:EUCS@marketaxess.com) if you are a client of MarketAxess’ EU/UK trading venues; - [asiacs@marketaxess.com](mailto:asiacs@marketaxess.com) if you are a client of MarketAxess’ Singapore trading venue; - [marketaxess@marketaxess.com](mailto:marketaxess@marketaxess.com) if you are a client of MarketAxess’ US trading venue; - [complianceeu@marketaxess.com](mailto:complianceeu@marketaxess.com) for MarketAxess’ EU/UK compliance team; and - [complianceasia@marketaxess.com](mailto:complianceasia@marketaxess.com) MarketAxess Asia’s compliance team/Singapore data protection officer. We will use reasonable endeavours to fulfil a request within one month of receiving a formal written request, subject to any extensions which may be permitted by law. We will only fulfil formal requests where it is technically feasible and to the extent that we are legally permitted to do so. In circumstances where we are not able to fulfil a formal request or if additional time is required to satisfy a request, we will advise you of this in writing. If you have any concerns regarding our processing of your personal data, and we have not sufficiently addressed those concerns, then you may raise your concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office ([www.ico.gov.uk](http://www.ico.gov.uk/)) if you are based in the United Kingdom, or with the relevant privacy authority in your jurisdiction if you are not based in the United Kingdom. #### 11 Privacy Notice and Disclosures for California Residents This section 11 applies solely to the personal data of users who reside in the State of California ("consumers" or "you") and supplements the information contained in MarketAxess' Privacy Policy. We have included this section 11 to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and any terms defined in the CCPA have the same meaning when used in this notice. Your Rights and Choices: The CCPA provides consumers with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights. - Access to Specific Information and Data Portability Rights. You have the right to request that MarketAxess disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable request, we will disclose to you: (i) the categories of personal information we collected about you; (ii) the categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you; (iii) our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information; (iv) the categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information, if any; (v) the specific pieces of personal information we collected about you (also called a data portability request); (vi) if we sold or disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, two separate lists disclosing: (a) sales, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and (b) disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained. - Deletion Request Rights. You have the right to request that MarketAxess delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions. Once we receive and confirm your verifiable consumer request, we will delete (and direct our service providers to delete) your personal information from our records, unless an exception applies. We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to: (i) complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform our contract with you; (ii) detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities; (iii) debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality; (iv) exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law; (v) comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code§ 1546 et. seq.); (vi) engage in public or peer-reviewed research in accordance with Section 1798.105 (d)(6) of the CCPA; (vii) enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us; (viii) comply with a legal obligation; or (ix) make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it. - Exercising Access, Data Portability, and Deletion Rights. To exercise the access, data portability, and deletion rights described above, please submit a verifiable consumer request to us by either: Visiting [/contact-us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) or E-mail: [ccpa@marketaxess.com](mailto:ccpa@marketaxess.com) Only you, or a person registered with the California Secretary of State that you authorize to act on your behalf, may make a verifiable consumer request related to your personal information. You may only make a verifiable consumer request for access or data portability twice within a 12-month period. The verifiable consumer request must (i) provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative; and (ii) describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. We will only use personal information provided in a verifiable consumer request to verify the requestor's identity or authority to make the request. - Response Timing and Format. We endeavor to respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to 90 days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing. Any disclosures we provide will only cover the 12-month period preceding the verifiable consumer request's receipt. The response we provide will also explain the reasons we cannot comply with a request, if applicable. For data portability requests, we will select a format to provide your personal information that is readily useable and should allow you to transmit the information from one entity to another entity without hindrance. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request. - Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not (i) deny you goods or services; (ii) Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties; (iii) provide you a different level or quality of goods or services; (iv) suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services. However, we may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by the CCPA that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Any CCPA-permitted financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your personal information's value and contain written terms that describe the program's material aspects. Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt in consent, which you may revoke at any time. Contact Information: If you have any questions or comments about this notice, the ways in whichMarketAxess collects and uses your information described in this section 11, your choices and rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under California law, please do not hesitate to contact us at: Website: [/contact-us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us%EF%BF%BCEmail)Email: [ccpa@marketaxess.com](mailto:ccpa@marketaxess.com) Postal Address: MarketAxess 55 Hudson Yards Floor 15 New York NY 10001 Changes to Our Privacy Notice: MarketAxess reserves the right to amend this privacy notice at our discretion and at any time. When we make changes to this privacy notice, we will post the updated notice on the Website and update the notice's effective date. Your continued use of our Website following the posting of changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes. Version control Version | Date | Changes/Comments | Review conducted by | 1 | May 2021 | N/A | Legal | 2 | April 2023 | N/A | Legal | 3 | August 2025 | Clarified that we may use electronic communications as means for marketing contact where you have agreed to such contact. Clarified that we may be required under law to share your personal data with supervisory agencies. Updated contact information. | Legal | --- # Website TOC Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/website ### Disclosures ©2026 MarketAxess Holding Inc. (the "Company"). MarketAxess Corporation is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and as an introducing broker with the CFTC. It is a member of FINRA, the MSRB, the NFA and SIPC. MarketAxess Canada Company is registered as an Alternative Trading System with the Ontario Securities Commission, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, the British Columbia Securities Commission and the Alberta Securities Commission and is a member of CIRO. MarketAxess Europe Limited (04017160), MarketAxess Capital Limited (09777893), and MarketAxess Post-Trade Limited (01917944) are incorporated in England and Wales, and are each authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. MarketAxess NL B.V. (69592888) is incorporated in the Netherlands, and is authorised and regulated by the Autoriteit Financiële Markten. MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V. (69597774) is incorporated in the Netherlands and is supervised by the European Securities and Markets Authority. MarketAxess Singapore Pte. Limited (201702319R) is incorporated in and is recognised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. MarketAxess is a trading name of the aforementioned entities. The Company’s products may contain information sourced from, and proprietary to, MarketAxess Post-Trade Limited. Information obtained from third party sources is not independently verified. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, all warranties and representations are disclaimed. All information presented herein is considered to be accurate at the time of writing, provided "as is" with no express or implied representations or warranties—including, without limitation, in relation to fitness for purpose, accuracy, or completeness of contents—and is only intended to provide an overview of the subject matter and not an exhaustive treatment thereof. Proprietary information of the Company—all forms of copying prohibited. The trading platforms, data products, and related services offered by MarketAxess are intended solely for institutional investors, broker-dealers, and other qualified market participants. Access to and use of our platforms and services is restricted to eligible institutional participants who meet applicable regulatory and eligibility requirements. Retail investors are not permitted to access or use our trading platforms or services. Nothing on this website constitutes an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or to enter into any transaction. Neither the Company nor its subsidiaries nor its affiliates (collectively, “MarketAxess”) makes any representations that information and materials on this website are appropriate for use in all jurisdictions available on the web, or that services offered on this website are available or indeed appropriate for sale or use in all jurisdictions, or by all potential clients. Those who access this website do so on their own initiative and are therefore responsible for compliance with applicable local laws and regulations. MarketAxess, the MarketAxess logo, “Now you’re in the market”, Actives, Adaptive Auto-X, AutoSpotting, Auto-X, Axess 50, Axess All, Axess IQ, BondTicker, Composite+, DealerAxess, FrontPage, LiquidityBridge, MarketAxess Bid-Ask Spread Index (BASI), Mid-X, Open Trading, OpenAxess, Private Axess, SensAI, X-Pro, and Trax are trademarks of MarketAxess Holdings Inc. ### Website accessibility MarketAxess is committed to making our website's content accessible and user friendly to everyone. If you are having difficulty viewing or navigating the content on this website, or notice any content, feature, or functionality that you believe is not fully accessible to people with disabilities, please email our team at [legalny@marketaxess.com](mailto:legalny@marketaxess.com) with “Disabled Access” in the subject line and provide a description of the specific feature you feel is not fully accessible or a suggestion for improvement. We take your feedback seriously and will consider it as we evaluate ways to accommodate all of our customers and investors and our overall accessibility policies. Additionally, while we do not control such vendors, we strongly encourage vendors of third-party digital content to provide content that is accessible and user friendly. ### Website terms of use PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY PRIOR TO USING THIS SITE. Your access to and use of this website are expressly conditioned on your acceptance of the terms of use set forth below (the "Terms of Use"). By continuing to access or use this website and the content it contains (the "Site"), you agree to be legally bound by the Terms of Use. MarketAxess may, from time to time and without notice, change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use. Your continued access to or use of the Site after the posting of any such change will constitute your acceptance of the modified Terms of Use. Purpose. The Site is for informational purposes only and any reliance on any portion of the content on the Site shall be at your sole risk. None of the content contained on the Site constitutes a solicitation, offer, opinion or recommendation by MarketAxess to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments or to provide legal, tax, accounting or investment advice or services regarding the suitability or profitability of any security or investment. These Terms of Use apply solely to the Site and not to any product or service offered by MarketAxess, the terms of which are governed by their respective subscriber agreements. Although the content on the Site is compiled from or based upon information that MarketAxess considers to be reliable, MarketAxess does not represent or warrant that such content is accurate, current or complete. General Restrictions on Use. 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Any action arising from or in connection with these Terms of Use or your access to or use of the Site shall be brought and litigated exclusively in the appropriate federal or state courts of competent jurisdiction located in New York County, New York and you hereby irrevocably consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction, and waive in advance any objection to, such jurisdiction and venue. No Waiver. No delay or failure of MarketAxess to exercise any right or require compliance with any provision of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a waiver of such right or provision. Severability. If any provision of these Terms of Use is deemed unlawful, void or unenforceable for any reason by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision will be deemed severed from the remaining terms and will not affect the validity or enforceability of such remaining terms. Entire Agreement. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between you and MarketAxess relating to the use of the Site, save for any specific disclaimers on any MarketAxess website page. --- # Whistleblower Escalation Procedures Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/legal/whistleblower-escalation-procedures You can contact MarketAxess Holdings, Inc.'s Board of Directors to provide comments, or to report concerns or issues, anonymously and confidentially through the Corporate Governance Hotline, the Confidential Ethics Web Form, or by postal mail. You may also indicate whether you are a shareholder, customer, supplier, or other interested party. [Download our Whistleblower Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Whistleblower-Policy.pdf) Corporate Governance Hotline: +1 (877) 214-6628 (Toll-free) or +1 (402) 999-0434 Confidential Ethics Web Form: [www.openboard.info/MKTX/](http://www.openboard.info/MKTX/) Postal Mail: Corporate Secretary MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. 55 Hudson Yards, 15th Floor United States --- # MarketAxess Is How Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/marketaxess-is-how Deeper liquidity. Better data. Smarter trading. ### This is the High Yield Market MarketAxess is the largest and most dynamic electronic marketplace for US High Yield trading. The world's most sophisticated traders are here because this is where the market sets the standard. Trusted by the firms that move markets. Built for traders who lead, not follow. [Read our brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/us-corps-high-yield-brochure-web) ### An award-winning trading experience 0bn+ in daily credit trading volume 0+ global clients 0tn traded through automation ### Accurate, real-time pricing for global credit and rates markets CP+ has access to daily pricing on 80% more bonds than public sources alone, providing significantly more high-quality transactional inputs. Read our new white paper to understand how CP+ transforms our proprietary trading data into a strategic advantage. [Read the Whitepaper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) ### CP+™ real-time pricing and S&P Global's Evaluated Bond Pricing integration S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketAxess recently announced a new data partnership. Kat Sweeney of MarketAxess and Tasha Gonska of S&P Global Market Intelligence shared insights on the collaboration and its future implications. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/articles/sp-global-market-intelligence-marketaxess-collaborate) ### Markets - Emerging Markets Hard Currency - Emerging Markets Local Currency - US High Grade - High Yield - Agency - Eurobonds - Municipal Bonds - Leveraged Loans - US Treasuries #### Deeper liquidity at better prices A comprehensive product offering – including trading protocols and data – across 7 local currency debt markets and with a network of 90+ global and regional dealers. [Access today](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-marketaxess-is-how-contact-us) ### Access global liquidity and market data in real-time [X-Pro](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/x-pro) [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) [Auto-X™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) [Munis](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/municipal-bonds) [Emerging Markets](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) [US IG](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/investment-grade) [Data](https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data) [US HY](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/high-yield) ### The latest insights #### Uncover new opportunities across multiple territories. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets#page=1) #### CP+™ for ETFs: Improving ETF portfolio management with predictive pricing [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-for-etfs-improving-etf-portfolio-management-with-predictive-pricing) #### AxessPoint: Credit markets showed resilience through April volatility [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-credit-markets-showed-resilience-through-april-volatility) --- # Waters Wavelength podcast | Landing page Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/shaping-tomorrows-fixed-income-landscape-with-targeted-rfq ## Targeted RFQ | Waters Wavelength podcast On-air with Riad Chowdhury and Dan Burke ### Shaping tomorrow’s fixed-income landscape with Targeted RFQ From e-trading innovations to AI-powered execution, WatersTechnology speaks with Riad Chowdhury, Head of Asia-Pacific, and Dan Burke, Global Head of Emerging Markets, about how Targeted RFQ is evolving to meet the demands of today’s EM fixed-income markets. #### Listen to the podcast below [Waters Wavelength Podcast](https://soundcloud.com/waterstechnology) · [Episode 323: MarketAxess’s Chowdhury and Burke (plus some Cusip updates)](https://soundcloud.com/waterstechnology/episode-323-marketaxesss-chowdhury-and-burke-plus-some-cusip-updates) Originally published on WatersTechnology | 27 June 2025 ### Tap into new sources of liquidity around the world [Explore our EM offerings](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) --- # SURA Case Study Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/sura-investments-case-study ## SURA Investments Case Study How SURA Investments is transforming trading in Mexico with MarketAxess technology [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-sura-investments-case-study) ### Harnessing the power of a multi-protocol platform SURA Investments leverages multiple MarketAxess protocols such as request for market (RFM), request for quote (RFQ) and Open Trading® to streamline operations, reduce risk, and strengthen its investment solutions for institutional clients across Latin America. ### Open Trading: all-to-all in LATAM and around the world The Open Trading marketplace of over 2,000 global participants and more than $19bn in average daily liqudity has helped the SURA Investments team expand their opportunities and maximize transparency. ### At the forefront of electronic change As more LATAM participants tap into electronic trading, the network effect will begin to mulitply, offering increased efficiency, more data-driven decision making, and ultimately greater transparency and trading opportunities in this growing region. ### Powering performance in LATAM bond markets SURA Investments is a key example of a firm’s potential with MarketAxess technology to optimize trading workflows and execution outcomes. Uncover more insights in our latest case study. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-sura-investments-case-study) [Visit our LATAM page](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/latin-america) ### Transform your LATAM trading operations [Contact us](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/f/lp-sura-casestudy-contact-us) --- # Recent volatility in fixed income with Julien Alexandre Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/lp/techs-vital-role-in-fixed-income-pricing ## Recent volatility highlights tech’s vital role in fixed income pricing ### Hear from our experts Recent market turbulence has underscored the need for high-quality and timely data in fixed income markets. Read more as Julien Alexandre, Global Head of Quant Research at MarketAxess, sits down with [Risk.net](http://risk.net/) to discuss structural changes to fixed income pricing and new advancements in AI-enhanced tools for executing with more precision. [Read the article](https://www.risk.net/insight/markets/7959866/recent-volatility-highlights-techs-vital-role-in-fixed-income-pricing) ### Learn more about our award-winning AI-pricing tool [Visit our CP+ page](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus) --- # Mandarin QR Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/mandarin-qr ### 别错过最新报告和内容 关注我们的微信 --- # MarketAxess talks Municipal Bonds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/marketaxess-talks-on-investing-in-the-future-of-munis ### MarketAxess talks on investing in the future of Munis Hear from Adrienne Solti, Head of Municipal Fixed Income Client Sales at MarketAxess talk about the further electronification of the muni market with Kevin McPartland from Coalition Greenwich. Learn why the time is now for Municipal Bonds to finally go electronic. [Watch Video](https://www.marketaxess.com/Watch%20video) ### For more on Municipal Bond trading at MarketAxess, click below. [Visit our Muni Page](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/municipal-bonds) --- # Open Trading in modern fixed income markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/open-trading-in-modern-fixed-income-markets ## A different view of liquidity ### Open Trading® in modern fixed Income markets In this video, Patrick Bailey, Head of Open Trading and Dealer Axess for EMEA and APAC, explores how Open Trading supports liquidity across both volatile and stable markets, how it works alongside algorithmic strategies, and its role in dealer-initiated protocols. [Watch the video](https://vimeo.com/1208080172) ### The world’s deepest liquidity pool for corporate credit. [Dive in](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) --- # Polaris Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/polaris ## Pragma: Polaris EMS #### Overview Polaris is a high-performance EMS provided to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and customized for the unique requirements of the Floor Brokers and their clients. Clients must connect to Polaris to route orders to the Floor Brokers. Please see the FAQ for more information on Client Connectivity. Polaris supports the traditional workflow of routing orders to the floor brokers to work your orders ("HighTouch") and a more direct option (“OneTouch”). #### Documents Download for more information on: - [Polaris FIX Specification](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/polaris-fix-protocol-specification.pdf) - [UAT Polaris FIX Specification](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/polaris-uat-fix-protocol-specification.pdf) - [Disaster Recovery](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/polaris-disaster-recovery.pdf) ### Frequently asked questions #### What do Clients need to do to trade with NYSE Floor Brokers? Please discuss with your Floor Broker what steps you need to take to onboard with Polaris for order entry. #### What is the benefit of OneTouch? Clients can direct Closing dOrders to NYSE via a Floor Broker in an automated manner. The Floor Broker retains control over the order, including risk. For more information, please contact your Floor Broker. #### What Client connectivity testing is available? Pragma provides a UAT environment for certification. The UAT environment is connected to NYSE UAT for end-to-end testing. #### How can a network connection be established to Polaris? Clients can set up a connection through various extranet providers, including IGN, or establish cross-connects directly with Pragma. For more information on extranet providers, email [PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com](mailto:PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com). For Pragma cross-connects, complete the Cross Connect Order Form and email to [PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com](mailto:PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com). #### What fees are associated with connectivity to the Polaris infrastructure? Pragma charges $550/month per FIX session. Firms using a Service Bureau / OMS Provider may not need to purchase sessions if their vendor does on their behalf. #### I use a Service Bureau / OMS provider to connect to my Floor Broker relationships. Will my OMS connect for me? OMS providers are able to connect to Polaris on behalf of their Clients. The process is similar to that of a client connecting directly to Polaris. #### Can both buy-side and sell-side Clients connect to the Polaris directly? Yes — both buy- and sell-side Clients can connect to Polaris directly or via a broker OMS. Please discuss the connection with your Floor Broker to determine their connectivity preference. #### Will Clients be able to use existing Pillar Gateways to send orders to Polaris? No, Pillar Gateways cannot be used to route order to Polaris. You will need to establish connectivity to the Polaris infrastructure via the Polaris FIX specification. #### What do Clients need to do to trade with NYSE Floor Brokers? Please discuss with your Floor Broker what steps you need to take to onboard with Polaris for order entry. #### What is the benefit of OneTouch? Clients can direct Closing dOrders to NYSE via a Floor Broker in an automated manner. The Floor Broker retains control over the order, including risk. For more information, please contact your Floor Broker. #### What redundancy is in place for Pragma? Pragma has a primary site (Equinix NY5) with redundant hardware and applications. Pragma has a secondary site (Equinix CH4) for Disaster Recovery. Floor Broker Firms are connected to both; and clients may choose to connect to both as well. #### How do I connect to the Polaris secondary site? Polaris provides both a primary and a secondary site. Clients may choose to connect to the secondary site for a session; there is no additional session cost, however Clients will need a connection to the secondary site. #### How do I connect to UAT environment for certification? The FIX UAT environment is accessed via various extranet providers, including IGN, or establish cross-connects directly with Pragma. For more information on extranet providers, email [PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com](mailto:PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com). For Pragma cross-connects, complete the Cross Connect Order Form and email to [PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com](mailto:PolarisSubscriber@pragmatrading.com). #### Must I continue to send MPID and Sub-MPID (previously Mnemonic)? Can I continue to send Badge# or Agency? Polaris requires MPID and SubID (Mnemonic) on the New Order – Single message and passes this on to NYSE. Polaris supports Agency as an option. Badge# is not supported. Please see the Polaris FIX Specification for details. #### How will I identify myself on an order? As defined in the Polaris FIX Specification, you will put your Client identifier into FIX tag 115 for New Order – Single messages. This must be the same client identifier used for CAT reporting. Please see the Polaris FIX Specification for details. #### What is the capacity of Polaris? Polaris supports up to 500 trading messages per 100 millisecond per FIX session. Please contact Pragma for more detail on capacity, including system constraints, daily constraints, and the definition of trading messages. #### How is disaster recovery managed for Polaris? Our documented process is available [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/polaris-disaster-recovery.pdf). ### Onboarding #### Step 1 – Order form and agreement Please fill out the [contact form](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-pragma-polaris-ems-contact-us) to access the Client Connectivity Agreement and Client Connectivity Order Form on DocuSign. Contact [polarissubscriber@pragmatrading.com](mailto:Contactpolarissubscriber@pragmatrading.com) with any DocuSign issues. #### Step 2 – Network Firms must have a network connection to Polaris. Polaris supports the NYSE IGN extranet, the Pico extranet or a direct connection to Pragma via cross-connects in Equinix NY5 and (optionally) DR in CH4. - For IGN connectivity, contact your [IGN](https://www.ice.com/fixed-income-data-services/access-and-delivery/global-network) representative at [iceglobalnetwork-info@ice.com](mailto:iceglobalnetwork-info@ice.com). - For Pico connectivity, contact your [Pico](https://www.pico.net/connectivity/venue-access/) representative at [sales@pico.net](mailto:sales@pico.net). - For direct cross-connects with Pragma, please see the [Cross Connect Service Order Form](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/cross-connect-service-order-form.pdf) for details. #### Step 3 – Certification and Testing You can commence certification after your signed Agreement and Order Form are submitted. Please see the current [Polaris FIX Specification](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/polaris-fix-protocol-specification.pdf). To begin testing, contact Polaris FIX Support at [PolarisFIXSupport@pragmatrading.com](mailto:PolarisFIXSupport@pragmatrading.com) to schedule certification in the Polaris UAT environment. #### Step 4 – Production Upon completion of UAT certification, Pragma will work with your firm to provision production networking and schedule Polaris FIX session deployment. ### Need support? For questions on agreements, contact [polarissubscriber@pragmatrading.com](mailto:polarissubscriber@pragmatrading.com) All other inquiries, reach out to [polarissupport@pragmatrading.com](mailto:polarissupport@pragmatrading.com) Click [here](https://www.marketaxess.com/data/pragma)for more on Pragma --- # Post Trade Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade Unify your post trade experience. ### No trade is ever truly done until it’s confirmed, matched and reported. Now, you can take the pressure off your back office. #### Gain greater control of risks and costs during trade processing and simplify your reporting By continually working closely with regulators and trade associations, we understand the ever-changing rules brought about by regulation. We can help you with front to back processing; from T+0 confirmations to data enrichment and regulatory reporting. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) #### Derive insights from your data with powerful analytics and clear data visualization Our suite of intelligent tools enables you to benchmark post trade operations, examine reports ahead of regulators and communicate more effectively to the C-Suite. 0+ global clients 0bn+ transactions reported annually $0bn quarterly ADV ### Explore our unified solution: We provide greater control and simplified reporting to hundreds of firms. [Cash Match](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/match) [Repo Match](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/repo) [UTI Portal](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/utip) [SFTR](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sftr) [ARM](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/reporting) [APA](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/reporting) [SensAI](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sensai) ### The route to simplifying complex reporting workflows Whether you’re a money manager, a hedge fund, or a global bank, you’ll experience the same high level of service. We’ve developed quick and easy integration technologies to help you connect to our suite of reporting solutions. You’ll also benefit from our expertise in managing big data, along with our comprehensive regulatory knowledge, to upgrade and simplify your workflows. [View our reporting solutions](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/reporting) ### The true cost of a failed trade #### When trades don’t settle on time there are numerous direct and indirect costs and adverse impacts. You can be exposed to: - Fines - Treasury, funding, and borrowing costs - Risk monitoring - Collateral management - Reputational damage #### The later a problem is addressed, the higher its cost and the greater the resource drain. [View our Matching solutions](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/match) ### SensAI® Your new AI-powered regulatory assistant. Watch this video to understand how it can help you see the bigger picture. ### It's all about the data Regulators are increasingly becoming more focused on the quality of regulatory reporting data. We've built a brand new tool to help you understand the quality of your reporting data and how to fix any potential errors. Watch this video to find out more about SensAI the latest innovation from the MarketAxess Post Trade team. ### MarketAxess Post Trade wins Regulatory Solution of the Year This recognition at the 2026 Securities Finance Times Industry Excellence Awards reflects our continued commitment to helping firms navigate complex regulatory reporting requirements with confidence through innovative, scalable solutions and industry-leading expertise. --- # Post Trade Match Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/match Accelerate your T+0 confirmation process ### Match your economic trade details and settlement information as close to real-time as possible #### Join the broadest community of cash matching participants across the market. Reduce risk and exposure from the front office, and remove processing costs and capacity bottlenecks in the middle office while avoiding settlement-related fines and penalties in the back office. Join the extensive Fixed Income community of European and UK banks and inter-dealer brokers who rely on us to fulfill their confirmation requirements on T+0. [Schedule a Meeting](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Fast. Easy. Accurate. #### Track your matching rate throughout the trading day, and review exceptions by trade and settlement dates via our web-based UI. Our close match feature will also auto-pair and rank potential matches to quickly suggest and highlight discrepancies, bringing down the time needed to resolve mismatches with your counterparties. ### Meet and match with your community #### Shared access to our automated electronic platform creates an expansive community of sell-side firms. That's what allows you to achieve the benefits straight-through-processing as you confirm and match transactions with users and matching counterparties. ### Let the data do the talking #### The size of our community enables you to benchmark your matching performance against your peers. Powerful analytics and clear data visualizations enable you to quickly determine how you can improve STP, while drastically reducing costs and behavior-driven booking errors. MarketAxess Match supports FIX messaging and CSV connectivity via SFTP. Standardized trade files can also be dropped into the UI for a quick and easy option to begin centrally managing exceptions ASAP. ### CSDR #### Enforcing settlement discipline CSDR aims to make all securities settlement occur on the intended settlement date. Impacts from settlement problems include: - Daily settlement penalties. - Late matching charges. - Mandatory buy-ins for failed settlement. - Individual accountability. - Estimated to cost the industry billions annually. If you are transacting in securities that settle in a European CSD you are in scope, regardless of your location. MarketAxess Match and Repo provides a near real-time confirmation platform, allowing you to identify, investigate and resolve discrepancies that could prevent settlement. Minimize the risk of trade failure and become more operationally efficient through MarketAxess Post Trade services. [Schedule a meeting](https://mtax-drupal-ten.ddev.site/contact-us) --- # Post Trade Repo Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/repo Be confident every detail is accurate ### Join the broadest community of buy-and-sell-side Repo-matching participants across the market. Via our interactive web-based UI you quickly easily track your matching rate throughout the trading day, review exceptions by trade and settlement dates and monitor lifecycle events as they occur. For more detail, the full trade blotter and close match features are just a click away. - Reduce risk and exposure from the front office. - Remove manual work, processing costs and capacity bottlenecks in the middle office. - Avoid settlement related fines and penalties in the back office. [Schedule a Meeting](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) 0+ Firms on both sides of the Atlantic $0B 1Q26 matched trade ADV, up 56% YoY +0k Lifecycle events matched annually ### Fast. Easy. Accurate. #### Don’t spend time comparing trade details line by line. Our close match feature will auto-pair and rank potential matches to suggest and highlight discrepancies bringing down the time needed to resolve mismatches with your counterparties. ### Meet and match with your community #### MarketAxess Repo supports FIX messaging and CSV connectivity via sFTP. Standardized trade files can also be dropped into the UI for a quick and easy option to begin centrally managing exceptions ASAP. ### Let the data do the talking #### The size of our community and sought-after ranking system enables you to benchmark your matching performance against your peers. Powerful analytics and clear data visualizations enable you to quickly determine how you can improve STP while drastically reducing costs and behavior-driven booking errors. Seven canned MIS reports are included with the subscription to isolate recurring issues, track matching rates by day and month, and easily prepare for management/broker reviews with counterparty filters. [Schedule a Meeting](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Latest News #### Rewiring repo Originally published on Securities Finance Times | Sept 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/rewiring-repo-usa) #### Revolutionising repo trading Originally published on Securities Finance Times | Sept 2025 [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/revolutionising-repo-trading) --- # Post Trade: Reporting Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/reporting ## Post Trade Reporting Be confident every detail is accurate ### Take charge of your reporting requirements Our user-friendly GUI is an industry-leading tool that simplifies your report activity monitoring. A solution you can trust in a complex, shifting regulatory environment. Join a community of 700 global entities in smoothly and safely navigating regulatory complexities across regions and asset classes. [Schedule a meeting](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) #### Meet EU and UK regulations. We offer EU and UK regulated APAs and ARMs to meet the reporting obligations of all your Legal Entities. #### Get insight into your data quality. Our powerful analytics tool offers five-year trending and peer benchmarking. #### See the details that matter, fast. Visualise your entire reporting lifecycle with our unique, intuitive platform. You can address any breaks directly in the GUI. ### A single platform - A Rules Engine that ingests formats and filters your raw transaction data into MiFID or SFTR reports. - Report enrichment and natural person reference data solutions. - Online, self-directed access to 5-7 year historic transaction reports. - Out-of-the-box connectivity to several OMSs. - Quickly identify exceptions, address data quality issues, and retrieve data. Proven to be extremely robust during recent volatility spikes. ### Our NCA Network We connect to the following European regulators and are adding new NCAs on a regular basis. ### Securely connect to us via the most common data formats - CSV - XML - FIX We can also convert your data from its existing format to facilitate switching. ### MiFiD #### One comprehensive solution Use a single solution set regardless of your firm type: venue, broker/dealer, asset manager or reg-tech solution provider. Meet both MiFID II requirements in one streamlined interface. ### ARM Effectively and efficiently report transaction details. ### APA Simplify your trade publication to meet your APA requirements. ### A seat at the regulatory table As an EU and UK MiFID II Approved Reporting Mechanism (ARM) and an Approved Publication Arrangement (APA), our industry experts work closely with regulatory bodies to help shape the current framework. Need to speak to someone? [Contact a regulatory expert](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) We aim to remove the complexities of reporting and data sharing. [Learn more about our UTI Portal](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/utip) [Learn more about SFTR Reporting](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sftr) Interested in finding out more about how our solutions can help you? [Contact an SFTR expert](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Resource Centre Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/resources Find the post-trade information you need No system issues at this time ### Release Publications - [Release Notes September 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/bc172bb6-3a7f-405b-a791-6ccc9c1fd007/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_05_09_2026_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes August 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/bb340eb9-da5a-489b-8f98-f3435da1de08/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_15_08_2026_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes July 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/94df1788-b30f-480a-99a0-befefa759f5a/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_11_07_2026_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes June 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/81d71389-be6b-4f02-8785-8f509b5db0ff/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_13_06_26_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes May 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/e3eb14e7-46b3-456a-a606-840a1ba0e0cc/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_16_05_2026_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes April 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/af2bb5fe-4960-43a5-851e-5e04b47429a9/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_04_13_2026_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes Feb 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/5be5f73b-c4d0-4a71-a55c-92d83e45ed03/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_28_02_2026_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes Jan 2026](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/7ba9ef95-1be4-49ae-b042-ee4535bcbb5e/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_14_01_2026_Staging-2.pdf) - [Release Notes Nov 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/15e69a14-0f25-4fba-bcc5-f26a5de093cc/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_29_11_2025_Production-2.pdf) - [Release Notes Nov 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/44ec8568-60bc-4d22-b9a3-195ceabf1e9f/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_15_11_2025_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes Oct 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/a7961777-0e0a-4ca6-9df3-3ed2ab8ea8d8/Post-Trade_Release-Notes_11_OCT_2025_Production-(1).pdf) - [Release Notes Sept 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/af58fc71-af59-4e59-9f25-616ce1da87b2/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_6_09_2025_Production-2.pdf) - [Release Notes June 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/a7c5a8d4-b8fc-46cd-89be-0e07fe0aa080/Post-Trade_Release_Notes_14_06_2025_Production.pdf) - [Release Notes May 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/25402b76-7b29-486e-9499-a6cefb93c592/MKTX_Post-Trade_Release-Notes_May_2025.pdf) - [Release Notes Mar 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/d9f6a163-51ad-4824-8fd6-55d8c4bbfab0/MKTX_Post-Trade_Release-Notes_Mar_2025.pdf) - [Release Notes Feb 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/c3e35e58-66b1-4baf-8ec3-84f53393c73b/MKTX_Post-Trade_Release-Notes_Feb_2025.pdf) - [Release Notes Jan 2025](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/692b0b6c-80b3-4b91-aa5c-df8e10d3c7db/MKTX_Post-Trade_Release-Notes_Jan_2025.pdf) ### MiFID II Transaction Reporting: ARM - [ISIN Lookup Specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/ac1fa1e6-e959-4d82-8c63-fbc74f749898/ARM-ISIN-Lookup-Specification.pdf) - [MarketAxess Report Specification v 2.08 (Response Template)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/ad125c77-5955-4a4c-bee2-431386419259/MKTX-Post-Trade_Response-Template.xls) - [MarketAxess Report Specification v 2.08](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/f9e159a1-429e-483b-88d3-807d95447b89/Transaction-Template-v2.08.xlsx) - [DBAG CSV Report Specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/99ea1dec-3b19-4bd5-a10e-b6689aa06a9a/DBAG_Inbound-File-Specification_release_1.12_MKTX_mapping_v6-External.xlsx) - [DBAG XML Report Specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/107ca47c-7bf2-4540-9e80-2ca3b46497b3/Copy-of-Inbound-File-Specification_release_1.12_clean.xlsx) ### SFTR: Trade Repository Reporting - [SFTR Schema Nov 2024 UK - Excel download](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/edd49f52-a5fb-48df-bfed-9f30f163cfa4/PM3.-MarketAxess-SFTR-Schema---November-2024-UK-.xlsx) - [SFTR Schema Sep 2023 EU - Excel download](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/306190ca-d867-4e51-b063-1c43963f4a4c/PM3.-MarketAxess-SFTR-Schema---September-2023-EU.xlsx) ### European Data Store: Natural Person Data File - [EDS Technical Specification v1.01 (CSV)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/06f907d0-aba8-4537-8997-212b4d571463/EDS-Technical-Specification-v1.01-CSV.pdf) ### Systematic Internaliser - [Reference Data Reporting Message Specification (RTS 23)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/404fb762-3502-4662-9988-c035ccfa4eeb/Client-Spec---Trax-Instrument-Reference-Data-Reporting-v0.14.pdf) - [CSV Report File Specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/8ab1361a-1032-4a9f-8bb2-4e99efebfb50/SI-CSV-Report-File-Specification.pdf) - [Registry Specification - CSV download](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/0538b3ac-161c-45ea-8943-2af679eab62f/MKTX_SI-Registry-specification.csv) - [RTS 23 FIRDS CFI Validations and Enrichments - Excel download](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/843b0310-4128-497b-8aca-ba0719118ced/MKTX_RTS23-firds_cfi_validations-and-enrichments-1.zip) ### MiFID II Trade Reporting: APA - [Post-Trade CSV Upload Specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/fb1b058f-a9e6-455c-ac97-1c38eaef6514/Trax-Post-Trade-CSV-Upload-v0.08.pdf) - [Post-Trade FIX Upload Specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/222e9d85-31fc-4ee0-86ec-d1a37d2a3c0c/MarketAxess-APA-FIX-5.0SP2-Specification--v2.0.5.pdf) - [Pre-Trade FIX Upload Specification (Quotes - SI/MTF only)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/20d7bc0b-0929-4bc2-9e43-56a12402358c/Trax-APA-Reporting-via-FIX-v2.0.pdf) - [APA Market Data Fee Schedule](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/a0aa4dd7-11ab-450f-8e0a-3346ebc73f93/APA-DATA-Fee-Disclosure-2025.pdf) - [APA Market Data Policy - EU](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/apa-market-data-policy-eu.pdf) - [APA Market Data Services Master Agreement](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/apa-market-data-services-master-agreement.pdf) - [APA Market Data Services Master Agreement (redline)](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/apa-market-data-services-master-agreement-redline.pdf) - [APA Insight Reporting - service update (SI Registry)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/00747200-b2ce-4860-8374-0c13fa0857f0/MarketAxess-Post-trade-APA-Insight-Reporting-service-update-(SI-Registry).pdf) - [APA Rejection & Warning Codes](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/5d63526f-7efd-46a2-830d-a41f64a39ca8/APA-Business-Level-warning_rejection_reason_codes_v1.1.xlsx) - [Pre & Post-Trade Transparency Data - download instructions](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/f6e9b680-ae70-447d-997e-dc6eb09ba49c/Instructions-to-download-and-use-of-MarketAxess-MiFIR-Pre-and-Post-trade-transparency-data---v1.3-November-2023.pdf) - [Transparency Amendments EU - EU Bonds, SFP, EA & Equities (as of Mar 2026)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/2af56780-ef89-4780-b16c-3546e7801cd8/MarketAxess-Post-trade-APA-Insight-Reporting-service-update-(EU-Bonds,-SFP,-EA-&-Equities-implementation)-v1.4.pdf) - [Transparency Amendments UK - bonds and derivatives markets (as of 1 Dec 2025)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/0587cdc7-d62a-4c09-af38-2a6e23423716/MarketAxess-Post-trade-APA-Insight-Reporting-service-update-(UK-RTS-2-amendments)-with-MarketAxess-interface-Spec-Addendum_v1.6.pdf) - [Transparency Amendments UK - bonds and derivatives markets - FAQ (as of 1 Dec 2025)](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/3623e430-d607-4a98-bce0-a273c58fe518/MarketAxess-Post-trade-APA-Insight-Reporting-service-update-(UK-RTS-2-amendments)-FAQ-5-SEP-25.pdf) ### UTI Portal - [UTI portal specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/4736a6ff-4991-4df2-a6e5-0d0db3aadd02/PM5.-UTI-Portal-Schema---Sept-2020.xlsx) ### SI Registry - [SI Registry specification](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/000bdb4c-0087-47b1-aaef-c92497ffcca5/SI-Registry-specification.csv) ### Match (Repo & Cash) - [Match Service - PSET and SSI Matching](https://assets.marketaxess.com/twu/c0936f24-192e-48a6-8409-2458b84310d3/MarketAxess-Post-trade-Match-Service---PSET-and-SSI-Matching.pdf) ### Client Portal Access additional agreements and documentation. [Login Here](https://mktx.my.site.com/MKTXPostTrade/s/) --- # SensAI®: Intelligent reporting Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sensai ## SensAI®: Perfect Sense The industry's leading AI-powered reporting assistant ### Keeping you ahead of the regulatory curve Whether you already report to us or are a new customer, SensAI works for you. SensAI is your AI-powered regulatory reporting assistant, built with machine learning to catch all data inaccuracies across your transactions. SensAI keeps you error-free and ahead of the regulators. ### SensAI protects you from #### Reputational damage #### Costly reviews #### Large scale back reporting ### Leverage the largest market-wide data pool Regulators see the whole picture, and with SensAl, you do too. With over 20 billion transactions worth of multi-firm data, SensAl uses the MarketAxess data universe to benchmark your transactional reporting at a granular level, improving your data quality and flagging errors in near real-time. ### Real-time alerts SensAl assesses all your transactions daily on T+2 and alerts you to errors in near real-time. Through our state-of-the-art anomaly detection update, SensAl will prioritise and give a detailed summary of all your data quality issues via email. ### Complete coverage SensAI covers every single transaction, every day, with no days off, giving you and your team complete reassurance in your transaction reporting data quality. No more gaps, no more missed errors. ### Always learning SensAl?s machine learning algorithms evolve with your trading habits. By learning from you, our vast data set and industry trends, SensAl continuously improves its error detection, ensuring that your reporting remains accurate and predictive of future needs. [Schedule a demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Designed for everyone SensAI has unique features designed for your entire team. #### Senior Managers SensAl provides comprehensive reports that highlight your reporting performance. Our industry-first peer-to-peer benchmark scores your data quality against the wider industry, giving you a clear view of where you stand. #### Managers Receive instant email alerts as soon as reporting errors are detected. SensAl consolidates and summarises all errors, helping you prioritise and address them efficiently. Stay informed with real-time updates via email. #### Operations teams Take complete control with SensAl?s intuitive GUI. The daily dashboard offers detailed analyses, with drill-down capabilities to view transaction-level information. Quickly identify and resolve the root causes of errors with ease. ### A trusted Partner MarketAxess combines leading regulatory and industry expertise with cutting-edge technology to deliver sophisticated solutions tailored to your needs. We help firms safeguard their reputation, minimise Q/A and back-reporting costs, and enhance confidence in their transaction reporting processes. [Schedule a demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Latest thought leadership #### Control is the best defence Discover how an effective control framework can be your best defense against regulatory breaches and operational risks. Chris Roberts delves into what makes a robust control framework, its critical components, and why it’s a priority for investment. Learn how SensAI®, MarketAxess’s advanced AI solution can enhance your post-trade reporting accuracy and compliance. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/control-is-the-best-defence) #### Use AI and be more human [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/use-ai-and-be-more-human) #### Regulatory Reporting—A view from the SMF “hot” seat [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-a-view-from-the-smf-hot-seat) #### Regulatory reporting inaccuracies—It's better to know than be told [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/regulatory-reporting-inaccuracies-its-better-to-know-than-be-told) --- # SFTR Reporting Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sftr A streamlined solution #### Resolving reporting complexity ### Resolving reporting complexity The regulation mandates that all in-scope SFT’s must be reported to an approved Trade Repository within a T+1 timeframe, which has challenges for all firms across the industry. Our joint venture with EquiLend allows you to track your flow of data from trading to matching, to reporting and monitoring. We have built a solution that will help you automate, standardize and streamline. - Share key SFTR data with all of your counterparties within a timely manner. - Almost real time submission to a Trade Repository of your choice in ISO 20022 XML format. - A 'one-stop-shop' for exception management and full visibility of Trade Repository reconciliation breaks in one GUI. ### Discover how our SFTR solution can help you - Generate or share UTI’s with your counterparty from one location. Take advantage of our seamless integration with the MarketAxess UTI Portal. - Validate your trades against the regulation before being submitted to the Trade Repository. - Report on behalf of your counterparty through our delegated reporting service. - Full visibility of lifecycle event management through a customizable GUI. [View our Workflow](https://www.marketaxess.com/sftr-solution) [Learn about our UTI Portal](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/utip) --- # UTI Portal Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/utip Industry wide, community sharing, vendor agnostic ### Resolving the complexity of SFTR data sharing #### Designed to maintain compliance The regulation mandates that all in-scope SFT's must be reported with a Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI) to an approved Trade Repository within a T+1 timeframe, and one of the biggest challenges facing the industry in order to meet this requirement is the sharing of key SFTR data. Whether you need to share UTI's bilaterally with your counterparties, are a Lender who needs to share allocation data, or a Borrower who needs to receive allocation data - the UTI Portal is the solution for you. #### Discover how our UTI Portal can help you - Generate and share UTi's in the securities finance community. - Capture all data required for reporting of SFTs and their subsequent lifecycle events (-57 fields). - Comply with the UTI waterfall or with your bilateral agreements. - Upload UTI's received via email or other source for timely and efficient reporting. - Expand the community and provide access to your counterparties through sponsorship and without legal agreements in place. - Manage UTI exceptions using the MarketAxess #### Data sharing without the UTI Portal #### Data sharing with the UTI Portal ### Want to know more about SFTR Reporting? [Learn More about SFTR Reporting](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade/sftr) --- # Trade: Axess All Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all ## Axess All® A comprehensive suite of data solutions to support your trading decisions. 0K+ voice and electronic transactions 0K Axess All bonds published per day 0% estimated European activity in Europe 0% estimated Emerging Market activity in Europe ### See where the market is moving. Finally, true transparency lets you in on the action—in near real-time. View the most liquid fixed income instruments, with the most up-to-date pricing and market volumes at the ISIN level, refreshed every 60 seconds. Easy access to accurate pricing information—exactly when you need it—is the ultimate game changer. Today’s market is no longer about “who you know” but “what you know." ### Axess All® Prints: Real time pricing Axess All Prints is an enhanced, real-time transacted price service for the most actively traded fixed income instruments in the EU and UK. - Real-time trade-by-trade pricing data published throughout the trading day - 50,000+ executed trades included in daily pricing universe - 10,500 unique instruments covered If you are after real-time price ticks, then Prints is your best choice. [Upgrade now](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/axess-all) ### Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight Regulators in the UK and EU are introducing new post-trade bond transparency rules, aligning with the US TRACE system to provide clearer market data. Though consolidated data offerings have the promise to increase transparency, there are complexities. In this environment MarketAxess’ TraX® dataset stands out by refining data quality, ensuring actionable insights for trading strategies. Discover more key points of consideration and insights from Geoff Morton, Head of Strategists at MarketAxess, across this evolving market landscape. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight) ### Transparency defined Sourced from the MarketAxess trade matching and regulatory reporting engine, Axess All's transparent pricing is a reality across an ever-growing selection of fixed income securities: - Government bonds - Emerging markets - Corporate bonds - Covered bonds [Talk to our team](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/axess-all) ### How it works The Axess All dynamic model reflects real-time market conditions. A bond appears if: - The number of trades in a bond reported to MarketAxess Post-Trade as well as the number or Principals who have submitted said trades meets the publication thresholds aligned to specific market sector and currencies. The thresholds can vary between one to three trades (reported by two or more Principals). - A single trade has been published under the Trax APA. - Trade publication is delayed 15 minutes. Trade sizes are banded and volumes aggregated. ### Community created We’ve partnered with the trading community to devise the simplest and most reliable way to measure dynamic liquidity. And the Axess All contribution-based model has proven a valuable tool to both sides of the trade. Axess All is integrated into the MarketAxess platform and is also available on our web-based BondTicker® platform. ##### Sell-side - Zero-in on what’s hot. - Benchmark against the market ##### Buy-side - Track individual ISIN performance. - Filter to create watchlists. - Get perspective on your portfolio. ### Stress-Tested Data: Market Transparency Exists Even in Extreme Bond Market Volatility. Christophe Roupie and Geoffroy Vander Linden discuss how Axess All, the first European intra-day trade tape for the fixed income community, has brought transparency and transformation to European bond markets since 2015. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all/whitepaper-download) ### From evolution to revolution: the arrival of the new fixed income market Christophe Roupie outlines the vision for the future of trading and data in a recent ICMA article. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/icma_quarterly-report-third-quarter-2020.pdf) --- # Axess All® White Paper Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all/whitepaper-download A comprehensive suite of data solutions to support your trading decisions. ### Stress-tested data: Market transparency exists even in extreme bond market volatility Since 2015, Axess All—the first European intra-day trade tape for the fixed income community—has brought transparency and transformation to European bond markets and its value to our clients has become even more evident. Download the whitepaper to learn more about: - The impact of electronic trading on fixed income markets. - The limitations of post-trade real-time transparency following MiFID II. - How the methodology and features of Axess All bring greater market transparency. [Download the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-axess-all-whitepaper-2023) ### Learn more about Axess All®. [Visit our Axess All Page](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) --- # BondTicker Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/price/bond-ticker ## BondTicker® View today’s most comprehensive set of corporate bond price information through tomorrow’s analytical tools. ### When you combine TRACE’s executed prices with the unique data from the MarketAxess platform you get an enhanced source of insights that can empower your decisions. To provide you with the most thorough view of the market, we aggregate all investment grade and high yield bonds disseminated by FINRA—approximately 70,000 issues—with actual prices and spread-to-treasury levels for trades executed on our trading system. Taking a step further, we enrich TRACE data using our advanced analytics and spread calculations. Easily accessible over the web or as part of our trading platform, BondTicker can also be provided as a customizable data feed integrated directly into internal systems or published externally to third-party subscribers. Our Analytics Portal provides a suite of tools to easily navigate rich data sets. You can filter historical TRACE activity by size, period, count, volume, liquidity score and sector to quickly get the answers you need. You can also analyze your own TCA data with the same level of sophistication. [Contact us to learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # CP+ Pricing Engine Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus ## CP+™ The best data wins ### Accurate, real-time pricing for global credit and rates markets CP+ has access to daily pricing on 80% more bonds than public sources alone, providing significantly more high-quality transactional inputs. Read our new white paper to understand how CP+ transforms our proprietary trading data into a strategic advantage. Plus, learn how CP+ has expanded to cover the full MSRB-reportable tax-exempt, AMT-subject, and taxable Municipal Bond universe. [Read the CP+ White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) [Read the CP+ for Munis White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-plus-for-munis-whitepaper) ### Incomparable data sources CP+ provides a more accurate reflection of global markets by assessing signals from the vast MarketAxess trading platform. Only CP+ has the breadth of data that analyzes TraX®, TRACE, and MarketAxess platform data, giving you an edge in price discovery. ### Many ways to connect #### Direct to platform Connect to CP+ straight from the MarketAxess platform. #### API Connect to our suite of tools in real-time FIX API. #### OMS and third party Connect directly on your systems with an individualized feed. #### Excel add-in A lightweight add-in that provides a single view of our proprietary market data suite for streamlined custom modeling and analytics. ### CP+ is a critical data input and pricing source for multiple MarketAxess trading protocols [Portfolio Trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) [Auto-X™](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) [Open Trading®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) [Axess IQ®](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/private-banking) ### Beyond powering trading protocols, CP+ delivers value across the investment lifecycle #### Traders CP+ provides accurate insights into market conditions for price discovery and trading opportunities, even in illiquid bonds. #### Portfolio Managers CP+ identifies relative value opportunities, monitors intraday risk, and aids portfolio construction. #### Risk & Controls CP+ serves as an intraday price validation source for end-of-day processes, improving monitoring versus waiting for market close. #### Quants Extensive, precise historical and real-time CP+ data assists research, analysis, and automated trading strategies. ### Watch how CP+ can help improve trading outcomes Want to hear more from our team of experts? [View More Content](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/808047865?x=8msnX7) ### Latest thought leadership #### Enhancing data usability and market visibility under new regulatory changes Europe’s bond transparency rules are increasing data, not necessarily clarity. This article explains why usability, cleansing, and context matter now more than ever, and how MarketAxess TraX Tape aims to deliver decision-grade data to the market. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/enhancing-data-usability-and-market-visibility-under-new-regulatory-changes) #### Axe quality in electronic credit markets: What the data tells us [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axe-quality-in-electronic-credit-markets-what-the-data-tells-us) #### AxessPoint: Tradability deep dive—insights powered by an enhanced liquidity metric [Read the Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-tradability-deep-dive-insights-powered-by-an-enhanced-liquidity-metric) #### AxessPoint: Axe quality and reliability evolution across major markets [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-axe-quality-and-reliability-evolution-across-major-markets) ### Want to learn more about our award-winning AI-powered bond pricing tool? [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/cp-plus-contact-us) --- # Relative Liquidity Score Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/price/relative-liquidity-score ### See where the market is moving. #### High-quality pre-trade bond liquidity analysis The MarketAxess Relative Liquidity Score provides a defined measurement of the current liquidity for individual bonds, and highlights the potential ease that a trader can expect to transact in that instrument. [Download the product sheet](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/relative-liquidity-score) ### Related content #### Comparing corporate bond liquidity across regions [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_comparing-corporate-bond-liquidity-across-regions) #### Composite+ | AI-powered real-time pricing [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Measuring liquidity in European corporate bond markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_measuring-liquidity-in-european-corporate-bond-markets) --- # Sample - Full Video Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/sample-full-video ## AI that works so you can work. MarketAxess is How So far, $1 trillion has been traded through our automations. Efficiency Up. Costs Down. ### Test Split Content This is a split content. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/) ### The next dimension of Bond Trading. Explore X-Pro --- # Shenkman Capital Case Study Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/shenkman-capital-case-study ### Committed to the Diversity Dealer Initiative Building on its decade-long initiative to integrate minority, veteran and women-owned dealers into its high yield investment process, Shenkman Capital Management, Inc. (“Shenkman”) joined the MarketAxess Diversity Dealer Initiative in August 2021, with the goal of efficiently engaging dealers and clients through the MarketAxess platform. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/shenkman-capital_case-study.pdf) --- # Sustainability Resources Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/sustainability/resources #### Board committee charters [Audit Committee ](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_downloads/govdocs/Audit-Committee-Charter.pdf) [Compensation and Talent Committee](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_governance/2025/May/14/Compensation-Committee-Charter-effective-April-16-2025-ecada6.pdf) [Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee ](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_governance/2025/May/14/Gov-Committee-Charter-effective-April-16-2025-7b6398.pdf) [Finance Committee ](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_downloads/govdocs/Investment-Committee-Charter.pdf) [Risk Committee](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_downloads/govdocs/Risk-Committee-Charter.pdf) #### Board-approved sustainability related policies and disclosures [Corporate Governance Guidelines](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_governance/2025/May/14/Corporate-Governance-Guidelines-Effective-April-16-2025-0f2d1f.pdf) [Code of Conduct ](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_downloads/govdocs/2023/Code-of-Conduct-(Effective-Jan-2023).pdf) [Code of Ethics for the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_downloads/govdocs/Code-Ethics-for-CEO-and-Senior-Financial-Officers.pdf) [Global Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Anti-Bribery-and-Corruption-Policy.pdf) [Human and Labor Rights Policy](https://assets.marketaxess.com/2021-01/MKTX%20Human%20and%20Labor%20Rights%20Policy%20%28Effective%201.5.21%29%20%282%29.pdf) [Modern Slavery Statement](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Slavery-and-Human-Trafficking-Statement.pdf) [Political Contribution and Lobbying Policy](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/political-contribution-and-lobbying-policy.pdf) [PAC Disclosure](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/MKTX-PAC-Disclosure.pdf) [Whistleblower Policy ](https://s201.q4cdn.com/767283836/files/doc_downloads/govdocs/2024/Whistleblower-Policy.pdf) #### Other [MKTX 2024 EEO-1 Report](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-2024-eeo-1-report.pdf) #### Data security information The following link will take you to the MarketAxess Shared Profile in Upguard. There you can view our risk rating and download relevant documents on Information Security controls and compliance, including our ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certificate and our SOC 2, Type 1 attestation. [View our profile in Upguard](https://www.upguard.com/security-report/marketaxess-com) --- # Systematic Hedge Funds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/systematichedgefunds Come for the data, stay for the trading. ### Access credit markets as efficiently as other asset classes. Generate clear signals with our abundance of high-quality data. Use our sophisticated trading protocols and all-to-all trading platform, Open Trading®, to expand your execution possibilities. Connect to some of the broadest and deepest datasets in the fixed income universe with simple to use APIs. Get everything you need to research, build, deploy and benchmark your strategies in one place. [Download the Brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/systematic-hedge-funds-brochure) ### Tradability: Predicting market liquidity Our AI-powered Tradability score predicts bond liquidity in real-time—forecasting how many dealers will respond to your RFQ throughout the trading day. [Read the product sheet](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/tradabilityproductsheet?x=vzNY_p) 0+ Market players 0+ Active # of Hedge Funds on the platform ### Enhance your data toolbox #### CP+™ AI-powered price discovery. Get coverage of 90-95% of global market trading (including voice trades) and access over 30 million prices daily. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### Axess All The first intra-day trade tape for the European fixed income markets that publishes real-time market data on more than 3,000 bonds per day and covers approximately 75% of European credit market activity. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) #### Trax® Volume and Trax Pricing Coverage of exchange traded and OTC securities in primary and secondary markets to help you identify liquidity and ascertain reliable end-of-day prices. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data) #### Relative liquidity score Provides an intuitive measure of liquidity for individual bonds Enables you to specify trade sizes and levels for automated trading. #### TRACE Real-time and historic data from FINRA. #### TRACE Context Exclusive trading enrichment data to the TRACE data feed for trades completed both on and off the MarketAxess trading platform for greater control over your trading strategy. ### Open Trading #### Our global all-to-all marketplace Open Trading offers systematic investors the ability to trade anonymously with an unprecedented range of counterparties, while reducing transaction costs. By connecting dealer to investor and investor to dealer you can access liquidity directly. Your systematic strategies can source or offload assets to capture or defend alpha in this cutting-edge market structure. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) ### Live Markets #### Live order book for active and new corporate bonds Live Markets is the next phase of innovation for our revolutionary all-to-all Open Trading marketplace. Complementing our existing RFQ trading functionality, Live Markets offers a dynamic solution for streaming execution on liquid, recently issued paper and actively traded story names. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/live-markets) ### Automation #### Designed with traders in mind, powered by industry-leading data. Our automatic execution suite is designed to increase efficiency and reduce execution cost. You set the criteria and our automation takes care of the rest. Auto-X™ streamlines RFQ automation with intelligent adaptability to market conditions, while Adaptive Auto-X leverages AI-driven analytics and smart order routing across multiple protocols to optimize execution based on your objectives. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/auto-x-infographic-download) +0% Record $303.7bn in Auto-X volume for 2023 +0% Record $1.8mm in Auto-X trades completed YoY +0bps Record 22.8% of total MKTX trades were auto-executed in 2023 YoY ### Seamless connectivity APIs Increase your actionable intelligence with access to a wide array of data sets via our wide range of APIs. #### STP/PTM Session Stage RFQ orders and receive post-trade execution reports #### Trading API Submit RFQs and receive quotes to hit, lift, counter, and pass on quotes via FIX #### Open Trading API Receive, post axes and respond to IOIs for items on our anonymous trading community ### Latest thought leadership As interest rates rise, hedge funds are emerging as new bastions of liquidity, seeking forward-thinking trading and data solutions. Often at the vanguard of new trading protocols, hedge funds are rapidly adopting our Live Markets protocol to stay ahead. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/live-markets-and-the-innovative-hedge-funds-using-it) #### A scientific approach to fixed income [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/systematichedgefunds/bluecove-case-study) #### Validating systematic fixed income strategies with the right data [Read the Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/validating-systematic-fixed-income-strategies-with-the-right-data) #### Why systematic strategies are the next big thing in fixed income [Read the Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/why-systematic-strategies-are-the-next-big-thing-in-fixed-income) --- # Case Study: BlueCove Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/systematichedgefunds/bluecove-case-study ### A scientific approach to fixed income In our most recent case study, hear from BlueCove about how their need for smarter ways to address market dynamics and access liquidity drove them to utilize our capabilities and apply them to their scientific analysis process. [Read the Case Study](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/bluecove-case-study.pdf) --- # The state of AI in fixed income trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/the-state-of-ai-in-fixed-income-trading ### Insights from 100 MarketAxess clients We surveyed 100 MarketAxess clients to better understand how artificial intelligence is reshaping fixed income trading. Watch our one-minute video and read the full report to explore the key takeaways. [Watch the video](https://vimeo.com/1161439830) [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/the-state-of-ai-survey-findings) ### Key takeaways from our leaders #### What stands out to me in this year’s results is the balance of optimism and discipline across the client base. Firms are excited about the potential of AI, but they are equally focused on safeguards, governance, and purposeful integration. That mindset will be essential as we collectively navigate and build for this next phase of evolution in global credit markets. — Chris Concannon, Chief Executive Officer #### AI is already reshaping how investors design portfolios, source liquidity and evaluate risk, and our clients’ responses show that this shift is accelerating as data and models improve. With one of the deepest pools of trading intelligence in the market, MarketAxess is focused on turning these advancements into tangible gains in transparency, efficiency and market connectivity. — Julien Alexandre, Global Head of Research --- # Trade: High Yield Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade-high-yield ## High Yield Raise your performance and expand your opportunities while lowering your costs. Whether you’re on the buy-side or sell-side, greater efficiency, more competitive pricing, and better execution are the key ingredients to generating superior returns. Scale helps, too. You’ll get deeper liquidity sourced from a truly global pool of over 2,000 investor client and dealer firms—plus the ability to trade round lots without information leakage. [Open Trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading)®—our all-to-all protocol—adds a new level of opportunity to High Yield credit trading, bringing together a diverse community of participants. Combined with our customized protocols like single item or list RFQs, you have the ability to trade however you want to. Move to where the market is going with our suite of sophisticated analytics solutions. You can gain unique insight from the largest set of proprietary transaction data along with fully-integrated real-time TRACE data, combined into a single view of price discovery and price making. [Contact Us Today](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/us-high-yield-contact-us) ### Maximize your High Yield trading performance on MarketAxess With the High Yield market rallying and competitive bids at play, the significance of liquidity depth, data accuracy, and pre-trade pricing is crucial for trade performance and overall realized cost-savings. Don't settle for less when we have Open Trading®. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/us-corps-high-yield-brochure-web) ### Case Study: Barings With one of the largest high yield teams in the industry, Barings turns to the global Open Trading all-to-all marketplace to gain an edge in what can be an inefficient market. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/CaseStudy-Barings_9-4-2019.pdf) --- # Trade: Asia Pacific Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia ## Asia-Pacific [Request a Demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/asia-pacific-contact-us) ### The electronification of Asia bonds With an array of innovative protocols and data solutions consolidated into one single trading platform, you are in the driver’s seat. - Network of 150+ global and regional dealers. - 2,100+ active client and dealer firms globally. - 30 local currency markets—8 being Asian. - Best liquidity via Open Trading, our all-to-all marketplace. - A comprehensive data solution suite. - End-to-end pre- and post-trade support. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/transforming-asia-bond-markets) ### The first fully electronic trading solution for IGBs is now live Be the first to trade IGBs electronically. We’re pleased to announce that Indian Government Bond (IGB) trading is now live via the MarketAxess platform. By integrating directly with the NDS-OM system operated by the Clearing Corporation of India Limited, the addition of IGBs now extends our coverage to 30 global EM local currency bond markets. Our solution is designed to provide Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and market makers with an enhanced and efficient trading experience. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Becomes-First-Platform-to-Provide-Fully-Electronic-Workflow-for-the-Trading-of-Indian-Government-Bonds-to-International-Investors/default.aspx) ### New issues ready to trade on MarketAxess When a new issue becomes Free-To-Trade we should be your first port of call. Whether you'd like to trade with all your favourite dealers or leverage our award-winning all-to-all trading network, Open Trading®. With our Open Trading network, you can leverage the world's deepest credit liquidity pool to get in on the action early. With close to $4bn traded daily with a network of 2,000+ participants, there is no better place to trade new issues. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/asia-pacific-contact-us) ### From high-touch to low-touch: The evolution of fixed-income e-trading With the uptick of bond issuance across Asia and the increasing inclusion of Asia local currency bonds in global indices, we continue to see an acceleration in the adoption of electronic trading among both buy- and sell-side firms. Kai Chang, Head of Trading Hong Kong at Ninety One, joins Tricia Chan, our Senior Sales Relationship Manager, to discuss how e-trading has become an essential part of the trading desk’s toolkit—from low- and high-touch trading to the expanding role of data. [Watch now](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/apac-fireside-chat/fireside-chat-ninety-one-evolution-of-e-trading-in-asia) ### Powering performance in APAC bond markets through data and product innovation Learn how we provided UBS Asset Management with the agility that fixed income markets demand and the tools to deliver innovative strategies for its clients. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study) ### The evolution of Global Bond Trading in Japan As Japanese investors seek newer, higher-yielding opportunities away from home, electronic trading is playing an increasingly important role in how they navigate the global market challenges today. We explore this in our latest white paper that was published in collaboration with Coalition Greenwich, which provides in-depth analysis of the rising demand for fixed income assets, the growing adoption of electronic trading and the unique opportunities available to Japanese investors. [Read the white paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/japan/coalition-greenwich-japan-white-paper) +0% YOY trade volume by APAC clients +0% YOY Local Markets debt volume by APAC clients 0+ global and regional dealers #### The breadth of protocols available on a single platform like MarketAxess helps us improve trading efficiences. — Khashayar Surti, APAC Head of Trading, UBS Asset Management #### Time is the key factor in quality of execution. Electronic trading offers significant benefits, particularly when it comes to efficiency, and MarketAxess has been a key enabler for us across various markets. — Martin Viseux, Head of Fixed Income Trading Asia, HSBC Asset Management ### Markets - Emerging Markets Hard Currency - Emerging Markets Local Currency - US High Grade - High Yield - Agency - Eurobonds - Municipal Bonds - Leveraged Loans - US Treasuries ### Access Asia liquidity today #### Deeper liquidity at better prices. A comprehensive product offering – including trading protocols and data – across 7 local currency debt markets and with a network of 90+ global and regional dealers. [Trade Asia Local Markets](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia-local-markets) [Trade onshore China bonds](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china) ### Trade US Investment Grade during Asia hours Be where the action is. Find out why over 2,000 institutional investors and dealers choose MarketAxess to execute their US IG trading strategies. [Be In Control](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/asia-investment-grade) ### Access truly global liquidity and market data in real-time A full suite of execution protocols and data analysis tools at your fingertips, while cutting costs. #### Open Trading® Our all-to-all network allows you to access valuable liquidity directly—whether dealer to investor, dealer to dealer, Our all-to-all network allows you to access valuable liquidity directly—whether dealer to investor, dealer to dealer, even investor to investor—creating a new universe of opportunities. Thanks to Open Trading, globally our clients saved over $165 million as of Q2 2025 and $19 cents per Asia Credit bond year to date.* [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) [See the infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-for-emerging-market-local-currency-bonds-infographic) #### Request-for-quote (RFQ) The RFQ trading protocol establishes discrete auctions for each instrument that you want to buy or sell (single items and lists). #### Request-for-market (RFM) Our unique block trading solution. It allows you to submit two-way price requests, with undisclosed direction, to a host of dealers within hard and local currency bond markets. Now with the ability to request additional size with the winning dealer for local markets RFM trades. RFM Workup allows you to benefit from competitive initial execution and discretely trade more risk directly with the winning dealer. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/request-for-market) #### RFM Workup Remove winner’s curse by requesting a workup to trade additional size with the winning dealer. Now live for local markets RFM trades. #### Portfolio Trading Our Portfolio Trading protocol will help you address the demand for a streamlined solution by allowing you to market and transact large, customized fixed income portfolios electronically. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) #### Switch (Curve) Trading Our Switch Trading protocol gives you the ability to switch between long and short duration bonds in all currencies. You can sell and buy two securities in a package where one dealer takes it all. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets/switch-trading) #### Auto-X™ Our suite of automation tools determine whether to execute using credible, real-time data. Based on eligibility criteria you set (such as size, price tolerance, number of responders), you can realize cost-savings using Auto-X for low-touch transactions for nearly all bond types across hard and local currency bonds. Be in control of the type and level of automation that best suits you. Use Auto-X RFQ to automatically take liquidity for high urgency orders, Auto-X Responder to automatically provide liquidity to incoming RFQ inquiries, and Adaptive Auto-X to efficiently request and/or respond to inquiries across multiple execution protocols. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) #### Axes We have a network of dealers who provide disclosed axes or anonymous axes can be shown from Open Trading participants. This gives clients pricing context of where the market is trading on any given bond that is being shown and the ability to trade discretely on an axe. #### Crossing Our Crossing protocol allows you to transfer bonds from one portfolio to another at a specified mid-price. #### Mid-X Leverage the full power of Open Trading to maximize anonymous matching opportunities and achieve significant cost savings by matching at the Composite+™ mid-market price. Available for both buy-side and sell-side. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/mid-x) ### Pre-trade and price discovery #### CP+™ Our award-winning AI-driven price engine that allows you to check the market’s pulse every fifteen to sixty seconds. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) #### BondTicker® An aggregated view of all investment grade and high yield bonds disseminated by FINRA—approximately 70,000 issues—with actual prices and spread-to-treasury levels for trades executed on our trading system. Taking a step further, we enrich TRACE data using our advanced analytics and spread calculations. Easily accessible over the web or as part of our trading platform, BondTicker can also be provided as a customizable data feed integrated directly into internal systems or published externally to third-party subscribers. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/bond-ticker) #### Axess All® The first intra-day trade tape for European fixed income markets, now expanding to Asia Axess All, accessed via BondTicker, displays aggregated volume and pricing for the most actively traded fixed income instruments during Asia trading hours – sourced daily from over 30,000 bond transactions. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) #### Dealer Streams Indicative dealer pricing from a wide liquidity pool for pre-trade context. #### Relative Liquidity Score This data product provides a defined 0-10 measurement for the current liquidity of individual bonds, highlighting the potential ease an investor can expect to transact a given instrument. #### Smart Dealer Select Choose the right liquidity provider for your sensitive inquiries. Smart Dealer Select increases your trading opportunity by algorithmically highlighting dealers with actual liquidity, using real-time and unique data indicators, to help you achieve a more targeted, selective liquidity pool. ### Post-trade #### Post-Trade solutions - Straight-through-processing to client Order management systems (OMS). - Audit trail/compliance records. - Historical transaction history with dealers competing quotes. - Transaction cost analysis (TCA) and customized research reports. - Best execution metrics. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade) ### An award-winning trading experience ### Your one-stop-shop for all your Emerging Market needs Trade your bonds on our award-winning Emerging Market platform – protocol innovation, pre-trade price discovery, transparency and liquidity all in one integrated and easy-to-use workflow. As a proud partner of EMpower, find out how we are working to transforming emerging markets both economically and socially. [See How](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ### Latest thought leadership #### How is electronic trading transforming the Japanese bond market? As the global financial landscape evolves, Japan's bond market is at a pivotal crossroads. Japanese investors are navigating this shift, leveraging technology for improved transparency, faster execution, and enhanced liquidity access. [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-is-electronic-trading-transforming-the-japanese-bond-market) #### The transformation of China’s onshore bond market [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-transformation-of-chinas-onshore-bond-market) #### Advancing fixed income trading across APAC [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-transformation-of-chinas-onshore-bond-market) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) *As of Q1-Q3 2025 *Open Trading price improvement (cost savings) is the average of MKTX Best-To-Dealer Cover per $/€/£100 notional (using the same units as the trade protocol). It quantifies the average difference in price between the best Open Trading (MarketAxess) response and the best disclosed response for Open Trading trades. *Open Trading price improvement (cost savings) is the average of MKTX Best-To-Dealer Cover per $/€/£100 notional (using the same units as the trade protocol). It quantifies the average difference in price between the best Open Trading (MarketAxess) response and the best disclosed response for Open Trading trades. *Open Trading之價格改善（成本節約）以每100美元／歐元／英镑名義金額之MarketAxess與報價商價格差異（MKTX Best-To-Dealer Cover）之平均值計算得到（與交易模式採用相同計價單位）。該數值反映（MarketAxess） Open Trading最佳成交價與最佳公開報價之間的平均價格差異。 --- # Trade | Asia Local Markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia-local-markets ## Asia Local Markets +0% YOY Asia Local Markets debt volume 0 local currency debt markets in Asia 0+ global and regional dealers ### Local Market debt instrument product offering Our Asia local markets debt instrument offering includes sovereign, quasi-sovereign, inflation linked bonds and T-bills, available during global trading hours for Asia, Americas and Europe. MarketAxess does not allow any access to its systems from within the jurisdiction of Indonesia. #### China #### Malaysia #### Hong Kong #### Philippines #### India #### Singapore #### Korea #### Thailand ### The first fully electronic trading solution for IGBs is now live Be the first to trade IGBs electronically. We’re pleased to announce that Indian Government Bond (IGB) trading is now live via the MarketAxess platform. By integrating directly with the NDS-OM system operated by the Clearing Corporation of India Limited, the addition of IGBs now extends our coverage to 30 global EM local currency bond markets. Our solution is designed to provide Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and market makers with an enhanced and efficient trading experience. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Becomes-First-Platform-to-Provide-Fully-Electronic-Workflow-for-the-Trading-of-Indian-Government-Bonds-to-International-Investors/default.aspx) ### Request-for-Market (RFM) A complete suite of trading protocols: Adapted to optimize execution performance. - Trade bigger in Asia Local markets - Achieve superior outcomes relative to voice trading with a deeper liquidity pool and consistently positive TCA - Request two-way pricing without disclosing direction—removing your “winner’s curse” - Now with the ability to request additional size with the winning dealer—RFM Workup [Download the RFM Brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/request-for-market) #### Request-for-Quote (RFQ) Single/List Trading in Local Currency. - Access local and regional dealer traders. - Trade up to 40 bonds in a list. - All details flow into your OMS once the trade completes. - Domestic and Euro-Clear settlement alongside FX support. #### Switch Trading A new way to play the yield curve. - Switch between long and short duration bonds. - Achieve more efficient and risk-neutral pricing when dealers price both legs. - DV01, Net Cost, and Yield Differential are displayed. - Now with the ability to settle in USD. #### Process Trade Execute an off-venue trade on MarketAxess. - Full STP and OMS support. - Full allocation support. #### Data See where the markets are moving - Get algo-generated pre-trade pricing for over 2,400 Local Market bonds, including 590 Asian Local Market bonds across eight local currencies. - See traded volumes and directional sentiment to assist with portfolio construction and risk management. - View more than 70,000 daily transactions executed across APAC and European bond markets for over 5,000 Emerging Markets bonds, including approximately 350 Asia local currency bonds. ### Auto-X™ Go low-touch to fully automated - Automatically take liquidity for high urgency orders. - Streamline your RFQ process with a simple parameter set up that requires no adjustments to workflow. - Optimized with Open Trading® for unparalleled liquidity. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) ### Trading China onshore bonds is simple when you know how A seamless and centralized user experience to trade onshore China bonds via Bond Connect and CIBM Direct, now available on MarketAxess. [See How](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china) ### The transformation of China’s onshore bond market How are market participants creating the financial infrastructure needed to transform China’s $17tn bond market? Discover insights from a recent Trader’s Table that was hosted in partnership with Bond Connect Company Limited. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-transformation-of-chinas-onshore-bond-market) ### An award-winning trading experience ### Latest thought leadership #### Advancing fixed income trading across APAC How is MarketAxess redefining the landscape of fixed income electronic trading across APAC? Following our fourth consecutive win as "Best Securities Trading Platform" at Asia Asset Management’s 2024 Best of the Best Awards, Riad Chowdhury, Head of APAC, shares with the publication how, through technology innovation and client partnerships, we’re setting new standards in the APAC bond markets. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/aam-2024) #### Market analysis: What’s next for Asian bond markets? [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/icma-asia-report-2024) #### How innovation and collaboration are bridging borders for China’s bond market [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/bridging-borders-how-innovation-and-collaboration-are-shaping-the-chinese-bond-market) #### Powering performance in APAC bond markets through data and product innovation [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ubs-case-study#page=1) #### Achieving data democracy in APAC fixed income markets [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/achieving-data-democracy-in-apac-fixed-income-markets) #### Transforming Asian bond markets with the best trading network [Watch the interview](https://vimeo.com/marketaxess/waterstechnologyasia2023) --- # ICMA Podcast Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia/icma-podcast ### Shaping the future of Asian fixed income markets Following the release of the 3rd Asian International Bond Markets report by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), for which MarketAxess contributed valuable TraX data, Riad Chowdhury, Head of APAC, joined Mushtaq Kapasi from ICMA in a conversation on the evolution of Asian fixed income markets. [Read The Report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/navigating-the-asian-bond-markets_icma-report-2023) ##### Key insights include: Policy divergence and interest variations: While Western central banks have been raising rates, Asia's largest economies have eased, fostering different investment interests across the globe. Diverse investor base and preferences: Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean investors often lean towards lower-yielding, higher-grade assets, while Southeast Asian investors, conversely, tend to favor higher-yielding, somewhat riskier assets. Significance of indices and fund flows: Indices are a significant part of activities in Asia today due to how they are used for both active and passive investment strategies. Increasing e-trading adoption in Asia: Despite the absence of a regulatory mandate, the adoption of e-trading in Asia has been accelerating driven by both operational advantages and the global push towards greater transparency. ### Learn more about our innovative protocols and data solutions [Visit our product page](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia/icma-podcast) --- # Trade: Auctions Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auctions ## Auctions Unique liquidity, improved price discovery. ### Explore auction-based price discovery in fixed income markets with MarketAxess In this webinar, our product experts explain the fundamentals of auctions, demonstrate how they work in practice, and discuss why the fixed income market is ready for this innovation. The session includes a product demonstration and audience Q&A. [Watch the replay](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/auctions-webinar-recording-2025) [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/unlocking-liquidity-how-marketaxess-opening-and-closing-auctions-are-reshaping-bond-trading) ### The first ever Opening and Closing Auctions for fixed income In consultation with a group of leading buy- and sell-side firms - including AllianceBernstein, BlackRock, DWS and State Street Investment Management – we’re excited to launch the first standardized market-wide auction protocol for fixed income. Supporting improved price formation and depth of liquidity at the most critical times of the trading day. We believe in building solutions for the future of the market. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Unveils-Fixed-Incomes-First-Opening--Closing-Auctions-Designed-to-Improve-Pricing-and-Liquidity/default.aspx) ### MarketAxess Auctions: A new way to trade fixed income Hear from Kat Sweeney, Global Head of Data & ETF Solutions at MarketAxess, as she highlights how easy it is to access deeper liquidity and more efficient pricing during the moments that matter most. ### What are Opening and Closing Auctions? A centralized liquidity event where market makers and liquidity takers can place orders and match at the market price. Just like in derivatives and equity markets, our Auctions help reduce volatility, increase price transparency, and concentrate liquidity. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/auctions-protocol-in-credit) ### Value for all market participants #### Improved price formation and transparency Trade at a single, market-defined price formed through aggregated supply and demand. #### A clear market benchmark Our auction results can be integrated into End-of-Day pricing services. #### Reduced volatility and price movement Simultaneous order matching and Auction order input and confirmation rules help to ensure a level playing field for all participants. #### Improved liquidity concentration Concentrated liquidity at the time of auction, helping you to execute larger orders without moving the market. A diverse set of sell-side and buy-side counterparties, connected through the Open Trading network. ### In the news #### Corporate Bond World Set to Get First Daily Closing Auction [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/corporate-bond-world-set-to-get-first-daily-closing-auction) #### MarketAxess Unveils Fixed Income's First Opening & Closing Auctions; Designed to Improve Pricing and Liquidity [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Unveils-Fixed-Incomes-First-Opening--Closing-Auctions-Designed-to-Improve-Pricing-and-Liquidity/default.aspx) #### History in the making: A closer look at MarketAxess’ newly launched Opening and Closing Auctions [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/history-in-the-making-a-closer-look-at-marketaxess-newly-launched-opening-and-closing-auctions) ### Ready to see Auctions in action? [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/auctions-contact-us) --- # Trade: Auto-X Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution ## Auto-X™ ### Automated execution for fixed income trading MarketAxess offers three automated execution solutions: Auto‑X RFQ for automating high‑urgency requests, Auto-X Responder for systematic liquidity provision, and Adaptive Auto‑X, an algorithmic execution tool that intelligently routes orders across multiple trading protocols.​ Automation on MarketAxess isn’t a black box. You define the rules. We apply data, liquidity, and execution logic across RFQ, order book, and all‑to‑all trading so routine trades take care of themselves, and traders stay focused on value‑add decisions. ### Auto-X RFQ Automatically take liquidity from existing market opportunities. Instant liquidity access Handles routine flow Speed and convenience ### Auto-X Responder Automatically provide liquidity to incoming opportunities throughout the day. Always-on liquidity Passive market participation Prioritize spread capture ### Compare these two tools [View Case comparison](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/mktx-auto-x-product-graphic?x=uPnCag) ### Adaptive Auto-X Our algorithmic trade execution tool applies data-driven analytics to streamline workflows and execute across multiple protocols. Adaptive-Auto-X uses machine learning-based data signals to determine the most efficient execution pathway for your orders. With three strategies to choose from, Adaptive Auto-X will execute tailored to your specific trading needs. Visit the Adaptive Auto-X Hub for additional content, explainers and videos. [Adaptive Auto-X Hub](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/automation-adaptive-auto-x-hear-from-our-experts) #### Take strategy Highest urgency Liquidity taker #### Seek strategy Flexible urgency Make and take liquidity #### Provide strategy Low urgency Liquidity maker 0M+ in trade count since inception* 0T+ in trade volume since inception* 0+ firms since inception* ### Built for traders. Evolving since 2018. ​ MarketAxess introduced automated execution in fixed income in 2018 with a simple goal: reduce friction in the RFQ process without compromising execution quality. Since then, automation on the platform has evolved from RFQ automation to systematic liquidity provision and, most recently, adaptive algorithmic execution that can operate across protocols. Each step has been driven by trader behavior, market structure changes, and the increasing need to do more with fewer clicks. #### 2018 Auto‑X RFQ launches to automate high‑urgency RFQs #### 2020 Auto‑Responder introduced to support systematic liquidity provision​ #### 2023 Launched Adaptive Auto-X, the first algorithmic trade execution tool for credit #### 2024 Surpassed 1T in Auto-X trade volume #### 2026 Surpassed 2T in Auto-X trade volume ### Explore the latest from our team of Automation Experts [Visit our knowledge center](https://www.marketaxess.com/knowledge/?keyword=Automation) ### Automation traders rely on day after day Automation on MarketAxess is used by hundreds of active firms and represents a growing share of trading activity on the platform. Traders adopt it incrementally, starting with simple workflows and expanding as confidence and comfort grow. ​​ The common thread: - Fewer clicks - More consistency - More time spent on trades that matter ### Ready to make every second of your day count with Auto-X? [Request a demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-contact-us-auto-x) *Since inception as of May 2026. --- # Empowering traders through Auto-X™ Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution/trader-tv-june-2023 ### The best execution starts with the best data Listen to the MarketAxess Global Head of Automation, Gareth Coltman, as he discusses the key components to driving automation in the fixed income space. [Watch the interview](https://vimeo.com/832446549) ### Learn more about our automatic execution tools [Go Auto-X](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) --- # Trade | China Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china ## China [Get in touch](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### A new, simpler way to trade China onshore bonds You can now access the world’s second-largest bond market via MarketAxess. We have built China access into our existing, integrated, easy-to-use workflow that allows emerging market traders to execute China debt as efficiently as any other market on our platform, side-by-side with the broader local market debt universe. [Find Out How](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/china-brochure) ### Key product features #### Tradable products - Chinese sovereign bonds - Chinese local government bonds - Negotiable Certificate of Deposit (NCD’s) - Corporate bonds #### Efficient and transparent workflow - Seamless and easy-to-use workflow - Disclosed request-for-quote (RFQ) - Pre- and post-trade block allocation - Full trade-life-cycle audit trail - Evidence best execution - Straight-through-processing to mitigate operational risk - Systematic CFETS trade confirmation #### Streamlined access and set up - Step-by-step onboarding map - Fully assisted setup #### Electronic trading and price discovery - Execute directly with eligible onshore dealers - Indicative streaming prices from onshore dealers - Request-For-Quote (RFQ) protocol - List trading - Synchronized trading with other global emerging markets ### How do I access the Chinese bond market on MarketAxess? To initiate a trade, an investor sends a request-for-quote (RFQ) via the MarketAxess platform, which acts as an interface to transmit the quote information to onshore dealers either via Bond Connect or CIBM Direct. The response is then communicated back to MarketAxess by the CFETS. The yield and price are then displayed back on the MarketAxess interface, investors accept a price and the trade is then done. #### Trading Hours 9:00AM – 12:00PM and 1:30PM – 8:00PM (China Standard Time) #### Request a demo ### About the schemes #### Bond Connect Bond Connect is a scheme that enables Mainland and overseas investors to trade bonds tradable in the Mainland and Hong Kong bond markets through connection between the Mainland and Hong Kong Financial Infrastructure Institutions. With fully-supported onboarding, internationally recognised trading interfaces and simplified trading flow, Bond Connect continues to see strong demand from international financial institutions. As of April 2026, Bond Connect has onboarded 842 firms and average daily turnover has reached RMB 46.9bn. [More about Bond Connect](https://www.chinabondconnect.com/en/index.html) #### CIBM Direct As part of our offering, we also give global investors the opportunity to access the China Interbank Bond Market via another approved access channel, CIBM Direct. The scheme is a highly utilised investment channel for China bonds and enables foreign investors to trade directly or through bonds settlement agents. ### Latest thought leadership #### Asia Credit’s structural shift: What’s powering the market’s evolution [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/asia-credit-s-structural-shift-what-s-powering-the-market-s-evolution) #### Opportunities for global investors as China further opens its cross-border bond market [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/opportunities-for-global-investors-as-china-further-opens-its-cross-border-bond-market) #### The transformation of China’s onshore bond market [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-transformation-of-chinas-onshore-bond-market) ### A note from our Founder #### Our commitment to China and our partnership with CFETS. "The opening of the China onshore bond market has been one of the most exciting stories for fixed income investors over the last few years. We’re delighted to now be playing a critical role in its next chapter through our close partnership with CFETS. This is an important milestone in our continued international growth. And for our clients, a further enhancement of our award-winning Emerging Markets trading offering." Rick McVey ### An award-winning trading experience [中文翻译](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china/mandarin) ### Related content #### Open Trading: Sourcing liquidity in times of volatility [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### More block trades are going electronic [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-block-trades-are-going-electronic) --- # Trade | China | Mandarin Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/china/mandarin ## 中国 [预订演示](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### 现在，化繁为简，轻松交易在岸债券 现在，通过 MarketAxess，您已可以一键连接全球第二大债券市场。在 MarketAxess 平台上，中国债券市场已成为广阔的本币债券市场的一个组成部分，新兴市场的交易员们如今可以像交易我们平台上其他市场的债券那样，通过我们操作简便的集成式交易流程，高效地交易中国债券。 [了解详情](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/china-brochure-cn) ### 主要特色功能 #### 适用产品 - 中国国债 - 地方改府债 - 同业存单 - 公同债 #### 高级透明的交易流程 - 流畅易用的操作流程 - 报价请求 (RFQ) 模式 - 交易前及交易后分仓设置 - 交易明细全程记录 - 最佳交易执行结果 - 直通式交易模式,降低操作风险 - 直接在交易中心系统达成交易 #### 极简的入市及开户流程 - 开户流程分步说明 - 全程客服支持 #### 电子化交易及价格发现 - 直接与合资格的在岸做市商进行交易 - 在岸做市商提供指示性实时报价 - 报价请求 (RFQ) 模式 - 一揽子交易 - 支持全球多个新兴市场同步交易 ### 如何通过 MarketAxess 投资中国债券市场? 作为投资者,想要发起交易,您只需通过 MarketAxess 平台发送报价请求(RFQ),该报价请求将通过 MarketAxess 与交易中心在债券通或 CIBM Direct 下的连接传送至境内做市商。 做市商提供报价信息后,经中国外汇交易中心传回 MarketAxess 平台。MarketAxess 界面将同时显示收益率和价格信息,投资者接受报价交易即在交易中心系统完成。 #### 交易时间 上午 9:00 至 12:00; 下午 1:30 至 8:00 (北京时间) #### 申请演示 ### 中国在岸债券交易机制简介 #### 债券通 债券通是境内外投资者通过香港与内地债券市场基础设施机构连接，买卖两个市场交易流通债券的机制安排。 债券通为海外投资者提供全面的开户支持、熟悉的交易界面和简化的交易流程，备受海外金融机构的青睐，交易需求保持强劲增长。 截至2026年4月，债券通已经吸引了超过 842 家投资机构，日均交易额达人民币469亿元。 [了解更多有关债券通的信息](https://www.chinabondconnect.com/sc/index.html) #### CIBM Direct MarketAxess 还为海外投资者提供了另一个参与中国银行间债券市场交易的交易渠道。 CIBM Direct 是参与中国债券交易的一个重要渠道。在该机制下，海外投资者可以通过债券结算代理行或直接交易中国在岸债券。 ### 市场洞察 #### 是什么点燃了亚洲信用债交易的结构性转变？ [阅读全文](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/asia-credit-s-structural-shift-what-s-powering-the-market-s-evolution) #### 中国跨境债市扩大开放，海外投资者迎来新契机 [阅读全文](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/opportunities-for-global-investors-as-china-further-opens-its-cross-border-bond-market) #### 中国在岸债券市场的转型 [阅读全文](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-transformation-of-chinas-onshore-bond-market) ### 创始人寄语 #### 我们对中国市场的承诺，以及与中国外汇交易中⼼的合作。 “过去数年，对固定收益投资者而言，中国在岸债券市场的开放无疑是最令人激动人心的发展。我们非常荣幸能够有机会与中国外汇交易中心达成合作，并籍此在中国债券市场开放的新篇章中做出贡献。这是我们国际业务发展的一个重要里程碑，也是我们屡获殊荣的新兴市场交易服务的进一步提升。” Rick McVey ### 屡获殊荣的交易体验 ### 相关内容 #### 在波动市场中获取流动性 [阅读全文](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/open-trading-sourcing-liquidity-in-times-of-volatility) #### 大额交易速向电子化转型 [阅读全文](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-block-trades-are-going-electronic) --- # Dealers Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/dealers ## Delivering Value for Dealers Addressing the needs of today's dealers ### Why we’re the top client for the world’s biggest dealers We know every dealer is unique, so you receive a truly personalized service. Leverage the breadth of our client network to understand how you can trade more competitively. Whether you need to enhance your portfolio trades, tweak your algos, or improve any aspect of your trading we’re ready to help. [Get in touch](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Mid-X: Anonymous matching sessions at the mid-point price Join daily anonymous mid-point matching sessions using unbiased mid-price levels established by our award-winning CP+™ pricing tool. Mid-X allows you to execute trades quickly, efficiently, and discreetly. Once your trades are matched, they are executed and will flow through your existing post-trade setups — no additional work is required to receive trade confirmations. Sessions runs in Asia-Pacific, CEEMEA, and the US with alerts reminding you when a session is about to start. [Get expert insights on Mid-X](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-trade-mid-x-contact-us) ### CP+: Data the market relies on Actionable, complete, and dynamic bond market pricing. CP+ provides a more accurate reflection of global markets by assessing signals from the vast MarketAxess trading platform. These signals include both completed transaction and various indications of interest. Because our trading venue sees more credit market activity than any single participant, the quality of the information you receive is second to none. Proprietary MarketAxess platform MarketAxess TraX® Public FINRA TRACE: Transacted data [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) ### Dealer RFQ Trading today requires an agile and flexible approach to managing risk. With Dealer RFQ you can capture liquidity from the world’s largest credit liquidity pool. Leverage our all-to-all Open Trading® network of global dealers and non-dealer counterparties to source liquidity from the entire market! Dealer RFQ allows you to anonymously send inquiries directly to the entire market and receive levels on screen in an RFQ model similar to your clients. Or you can connect to our platform via API to trade from your internal systems. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/dealer-rfq-brochure) ### AI Select Trading high touch RFQs requires fast, confident dealer selection. AI Select uses machine learning and Proprietary MarketAxess inquiry and response data to help identify the dealers most likely to deliver strong outcomes for each specific inquiry. AI Select generates inquiry-specific dealer rankings based on the bond, side, and size of an RFQ, learning from real market behaviour such as response quality, competitiveness, and performance on comparable bonds. Designed to work alongside axes, AI Select fits seamlessly into existing workflows to support more consistent execution decisions. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ai-select/ai-select-brochure) ### Open Trading: Redefining liquidity Boost your trading volume and opportunity #### Access an unrivaled client network With Open Trading, you can price more inquiries — even when you’re not included on the RFQ as a disclosed dealer. And connecting to more counterparties improves trading outcomes plus lowers transaction costs whether you’re a liquidity provider or taker. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) #### Live Markets: Instant liquidity in active bonds Our anonymous central limit order book displays fully executable, streaming liquidity in active and newly issued bonds. With commitment from Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Flow Traders, don’t miss any trading opportunities. [Live Markets Product Sheet](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-product-sheets-midx-lm/live-markets-product) #### Live Markets Match & Multi-Party Workup Live Markets Match is an anonymous matching sessions where you can trade discreetly at the established level within our CP+ pricing range. Live Markets Multi-Party Workup is an anonymous matching sessions where you can trade discreetly at the recently traded level. Available in US IG and HY. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/live-markets) #### Clearly Erroneous Trades Rest assured. When things go wrong — from fat fingers to system failures and other errors — our Clearly Erroneous Trade Policy provides impartial adjudication on erroneous trades occurring on Open Trading. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading/cetp-infographic) ### DealerAxess: Your digital trading partner Fixed income trading is shifting fast, with dealers embracing electronic execution with their clients but often missing out on using it to manage their own risk. Relying solely on voice trading with inter-dealer brokers limits access to full market liquidity. DealerAxess changes that—connecting Dealer Relationship Management with Open Trading® to offer both deep liquidity and high-touch service. Our experienced team delivers premium support, helping with trade upsizing, complex transactions, and settlements. Whether by chat, email, or phone, we're here to be your go-to trading desk every step of the way. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-dealer-axess-brochure-web) ### More than just machines Aside from access to best-in-class liquidity, our DealerAxess team can help provide a more hands on service. If we are going to be your #1 trading counterparty on the platform, you should expect a premium trading desk service in return. Leverage our market specialists with decades of combined experience in trading, sales, and broking as well as on-desk operations and settlements expertise. We’re here to provide comprehensive support throughout your trading journey. Our services include assisting with upsizing trades, reflecting targets, facilitating complex transactions, and offering expert advice on settlements. Reachable by chat, email, or a phone call our team is here to help. ### Related content #### Introducing DealerAxess [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/introducing-dealeraxess) #### More than just a platform [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/more-than-just-a-platform) ### Want to learn more about how you can trade more competitively? [Get in touch](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Trade: Emerging Markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets ## Emerging Markets Tap into new sources of liquidity around the world [Request a Demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-emerging-markets-contact-us) $0.9B Traded in Emerging Markets in FY2025 0+ Dedicated global and regional dealers $0cents EM Open Trading price improvement* 0+ Market participants in over 90 countries ### Uncover new opportunities across multiple territories All performed seamlessly on one single, efficient, award-winning platform. With the most comprehensive and global Emerging Markets solution at your fingertips. - 1,400+ market participants - 90+ countries - 30 local currency bond markets [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets) ### Go big in Emerging Markets. One block at a time Discover our newly launched block trading protocol for EM Hard Currency—Targeted RFQ. It leverages the superior breadth of MarketAxess' data to connect you with the best counterparties for your trades, enhancing the overall trading experience for both buy-side and sell-side. In this video series, Dan Burke, our Global Head of Emerging Markets sheds light on the thinking behind Targeted RFQ and how it fits in our broader trader toolkit. [Watch the videos](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/what-is-trfq) ### The first fully electronic trading solution for IGBs is now live Be the first to trade IGBs electronically. We’re pleased to announce that Indian Government Bond (IGB) trading is now live via the MarketAxess platform. By integrating directly with the NDS-OM system operated by the Clearing Corporation of India Limited, the addition of IGBs now extends our coverage to 30 global EM local currency bond markets. Our solution is designed to provide Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and market makers with an enhanced and efficient trading experience. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2025/MarketAxess-Becomes-First-Platform-to-Provide-Fully-Electronic-Workflow-for-the-Trading-of-Indian-Government-Bonds-to-International-Investors/default.aspx) ### Open Trading® for Local Markets MarketAxess now offers Open Trading in EM local currency bonds. Use our award-winning all-to-all trading marketplace, Open Trading, to access a broader and diversified pool of liquidity in four CEEMEA markets—Poland (PLN), Czech republic (CZK), Hungary (HUF), and South Africa (ZAR). [View Infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-for-emerging-market-local-currency-bonds-infographic) ### New issues ready to trade on MarketAxess When a new EM Hard Currency bond is issued, we should be your first port of call. Trade new issues when they become Free-To-Trade. Leverage our deep liquidity pool, including the ability to trade anonymously through our Open Trading network to get in on the action early. Additionally, you can access market data, via our TraX suite of products, to assess the relative value of the new issue vs the existing curve. Our Open Trading desk are here to help upsizing trades or reflecting targets. Take advantage of our special discounted fee schedule within the first 5 days of issue. [Find out more](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/emerging-markets-contact-us) ### Transforming emerging markets globally #### Asia-Pacific [Access Asia-Liquidity](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia) #### Latin and South America [Access LATAM Liquidity](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/latin-america) #### CEEMEA [Access CEEMEA Liquidity](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/europe) ### EMpower welcomes MarketAxess as first Global Leadership Council Partner. MarketAxess has been a corporate supporter of EMpower since 2017. We are now pleased to announce a new chapter of this partnership and to expand our commitment to local communities across emerging markets. [Learn more](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2023/EMpower-Welcomes-MarketAxess-as-First-Global-Leadership-Council-Partner---2023-e2Duo6pl3h/default.aspx) ### Latest thought leadership #### New tricks for old dogs and 'fishing with dynamite' [Listen to the podcast](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/new-tricks-for-old-dogs-and-fishing-with-dynamite) #### The rapid rise – and risks – of EM e-trading for dealers [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-rapid-rise-and-risks-of-em-e-trading-for-dealers) #### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/globalcapital-dan-burke-article-bond-awards-2025.pdf) Based on the financial year 2025. *Estimated liquidity taker price improvements is defined as the difference between the winning price and the best disclosed dealer cover price. Estimated liquidity provider price improvements is defined as the difference between the winning price and then current Composite+ bid or offer level (offer if the provider is buying, bid if provider is selling) at the time of the inquiry. --- # Trade: Emerging Markets - Brochure Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets/brochure ## Uncover new opportunities across multiple territories ### All performed seamlessly on one single efficient platform. With the most comprehensive and global EM solution at your fingertips. - 1,600+ market participants - 120+ countries - 30 local currency bond markets [Download the Brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets#page=1) [Learn more about our award-winning offerings](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ### For more on Emerging Markets, click below. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) --- # Euro Bonds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/euro-bonds ## European Credit ### New Issues ready to trade on MarketAxess When a new European Credit bond is issued, we should be your first port of call. Trade new issues when they become Free-To-Trade. Leverage our deep liquidity pool, including the ability to trade anonymously through our Open Trading® network to get in on the action early. Additionally, you can access market data, via our TraX® suite of products, to assess the relative value of the new issue vs the existing curve. Our Open Trading desk is here to help upsize trades or reflect targets. Take advantage of our 50% discounted fee schedule within the first 5 trading days of the issue. [Contact us to learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Access European markets on your terms, with a toolkit that caters to your workflow. However you like to trade, from voice to algorithmic and RFQ to auto-execution, with a few select dealers or all-to-all, we can make your workflow simpler and more efficient across European markets. And as market conditions change, you need to be able to do it all, quickly. Now, you can. [See our liquidity providers](https://www.marketaxess.com/tradinghomepage/uk/eu-credit/frn) $0bn Average Daily Volume 0+ Active Clients 0+ Dealers 0% Open Trading ### Short on time but long on illiquid bonds? Use our Portfolio Trading protocol to find execution certainty for customized lists of infrequently traded bonds. This streamlined solution handles up to 1500 line items. - Perform pre-trade analytics - Negotiate on individual line items - Multi-directional - "All or None” supported ### Join the block revolution There’s a reason why electronic trades are increasing in size. Inviting more dealers results in more responses, even in bigger blocks. ##### Q2 block volume #### 14.5bn ##### Av. size #### 7.3mm ##### Av. no. prices #### 7 ### Easily deploy our vast trove of data from price discovery to benchmarking performance ##### Axess All The first intra-day trade tape for European fixed income markets, accessed via BondTicker, displays aggregated volume and pricing for the most actively traded fixed income instruments – sourced daily from over 30,000 bond transactions across multiple platforms and OTC trades. ##### Composite+™ Our AI-powered predictive pricing engine, built on Trax, Trace and MarketAxess’ proprietary data gives you unbiased two-way and mid-market prices in Euros, GBP, Nordic and other currencies for over 32,000 bonds. ##### TCA Analyze your trading activity to measure efficiency as well as ensuring you meet risk and compliance obligations. ### Cover the full trade life-cycle in a single place Start with pre-trade price discovery using Axess All®, Europe’s first intra-day tape, sourced from over 75% of European volume (voice and electronic). Trade in Euros and local currencies using the protocol of your choice, including Open Trading®, our all-to-all solution with over 1900 active participants around the world. Complete the life-cycle with our full European regulatory reporting infrastructure. All while you receive support in your own language from our teams on the ground in Europe. ### Data-driven dealer selection has arrived Smart Dealer Select lets you choose the criteria to define your top dealers and eliminate ones who aren’t pricing on your side or are currently axed. Then you’re presented a selection populated by a variety of real-time and historical indicators including actual liquidity. On larger, sensitive inquiries, you’ll benefit from: - More targeted dealers - Reduced information leakage [Find your top dealers](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Greater automation lets you focus more on strategy Power and simplicity come together in our suite of automated execution tools. Easy to set up, Auto-X RFQ fits your existing workflow and lets you define and control parameters. [Learn more about Automation](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) ### Take the human error out of your voice trades Do what you do best by phone, then use the “Process Trade” function to submit your agreed trade through our platform. And let technology do what it does best, keeping track of the details, so you don’t have to. ### Open Trading All-to-all trading with our global network of over 1,900 investor and broker dealer firms changes what’s possible. - Trade anonymously without counterparty restrictions - Around the clock global trading - Auto responder for European products lets resting orders execute without intervention [Learn more about Open Trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) ##### Volume 21% All Euro Credit ##### Buy-side liquidity 122 firms priced back ### Advance your rates trading by seamlessly bringing data, liquidity and strategy together [Learn More About Rates](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rates) ### Related Content #### Measuring liquidity in European corporate bond markets [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_measuring-liquidity-in-european-corporate-bond-markets) #### Dealer RFQ Cost Savings via Open Trading [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_dealer-rfq-cost-savings-via-open-trading) #### Understanding TCA Outcomes in European Credit Markets [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_understanding-tca-outcomes-in-european-credit-markets) --- # Trade | Europe Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/europe ## Europe Your Gateway to the global fixed Income markets. ### Trade what you want, how you want Bonds are on the rise and they’re all here on our platform. With over 2,000 major financial institutions on our network, you’re sure to find the bond you want when you want. Not only do we have one of the deepest liquidity pools across the fixed income universe but also a variety of ways to access it. From voice to algorithmic and RFQ to auto-execution we have a way for you to get the liquidity you need. ##### Whether you’re looking for pre-trade data, trading services, or Post-Trade reporting we have a solution for you. Access leading liquidity in: [Europe Credit](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/euro-bonds) [US Investment Grade](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/investment-grade) on both price and spread [US High Yield](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/high-yield) [Emerging Markets](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) and more during European hours ### Trading #### Open Trading®: All-to-all, all in one Access our global network of over 1,700* investor and broker dealer firms with one signal connection. This is global liquidity that isn’t available anywhere else! - Trade anonymously without counterparty restrictions. - Around the clock global trading. - Auto responder for European products lets resting orders execute without intervention. [Learn more about open trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) #### Automation: Increase efficiency Power and simplicity come together in our suite of automated execution tools. Easy to set up, Auto-X™ RFQ fits your existing workflow and lets you define and control parameters. Find out more about our full suite of automation tools. [See what Auto-X can do for you](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auto-execution) #### Portfolio Trading: Build a better basket Our streamlined Portfolio Trading solution leverages our award-winning data to help you get quality execution. Our new Portfolio Trading interface, currently available for US products and coming soon to European products, allows for enhanced flexibility and deeper integration with data giving you even more control. [Learn more about portfolio trading](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) ### The Best Data wins #### Meet Axess All® Your gateway to transparency in European Fixed Income Markets. Axess All allows you to see where the market is moving and gives you, in near real time, the most up-to-date pricing and market volumes at the ISIN level, refreshed every 60 seconds. Think of it as the first intra-day trade tape for European Markets. [See where the market is moving](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) #### The market runs on CP+™ Actional, complete, and dynamic bond pricing seamlessly integrated into the MarketAxess platform. CP+ gives you a more accurate reflection of global markets by assessing signals from the MarketAxess trading platform. Only CP+ has the breadth of data that analyses TraX®, TRACE, and MarketAxess platform data, giving you the edge in price discovery. [Get an edge in price discovery](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) ### Post-Trade #### Complete the trade lifecycle No trade is ever truly done until its confirmed, matched and reported. Let us take the pressure off your back office. Explore our suite of Post-Trade solutions. [Explore our unified solution](https://www.marketaxess.com/post-trade) *Based on years cumulative 2021 – 2024. Estimated liquidity taker price improvements is defined as the difference between the winning price and the best disclosed dealer cover price. Estimated liquidity provider price improvements is defined as the difference between the winning price and then current CP+ bid or offer level (offer if the provider is buying, bid if provider is selling) at the time of the inquiry. ### Want to learn more about the right solution for you? [Contact us now](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Green Bond Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/green-bonds ### Meet your ESG strategies with our Green Bond functionality. Designed to make it easier for you to identify specific bond issues and access liquidity to meet your ESG strategies while providing a unique trading incentive to those that trade green bonds on our platform. - Flags to easily identify green bonds. - Watchlists for a snapshot of current green bond market activity. Contact us about our Green Bond trading functionality and incentives. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Trading for Trees program In 2019 we started our partnership with [One Tree Planted](https://onetreeplanted.org/) to provide a unique trading incentive for our users to trade Green Bonds on MarketAxess. Through our Trading for Trees program, we plant 5 trees for every $1 Million in Green Bonds traded on our platform. #### Check out our infographic for some additional statistics on the results for the program. [2024 Trading for Trees Results](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/esg-trading-for-trees-2024-infographic) [Past Trading for Trees Results](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/esg-trading-for-trees-past-years-infographic) ### Earth Month Spotlight: Reforesting Communities in the High Andes and Thailand This Earth Month we are spotlighting the incredible ways green bond trading volumes have impacted communities across the world through our Trading for Trees initiative in partnership with One Tree Planted. Learn more about how far your volumes have gone to reforest the High Andes and empower the Hilltribes in Thailand. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/earth-month-reforesting-communities-in-the-high-andes-and-thailand) ### MarketAxess and One Tree Planted celebrate 1M trees planted! --- # Green Bonds | Trading for Trees 2023 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/green-bonds/trading-for-trees-2023 ### Learn more about our green bond trading functionality [Go Green](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/green-bonds) --- # Trade: High Yield Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/high-yield ## High Yield Every trade, a power move. [Get in touch](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-us-high-yield-request-a-demo) ### This is the High Yield Market MarketAxess is the largest and most dynamic electronic marketplace for US High Yield trading. The world's most sophisticated traders are here because this is where the market sets the standard. Trusted by the firms that move markets. Built for traders who lead, not follow. [Read the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/high-yield-brochure) 0% Market share in US High Yield electronic trading 0%+ Market share in HY TRACE ($250K–$1M trades) $0B MarketAxess HY volume 0+ Average number of responses ### Start every day ahead of the market The High Yield Morning Pulse delivers exclusive daily intelligence and metrics others can only guess at. Price movements, trading volumes, sector shifts, market sentiment—all before your first cup of coffee. In a space driven by story and momentum, knowing first is everything. [Sign up](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/327) ### Get the edge with CP+™ Anyone can see a price. CP+ shows you what’s behind it. Powered by our aggregated platform data, you get the full depth of bids and offers so you can spot where the axe is moving and read the market before anyone else. [Explore CP+](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus) ### See the market others can’t With 7+ responses per inquiry, you’re capturing an average of 3 cents better execution per trade. That’s the advantage when you're plugged into the deepest liquidity network in high yield and operating with information others don’t have. [Connect with us](mailto:HY@marketaxess.com?subject=I%27m%20interested%20in%20High%20Yield%20at%20MKTX) ### Discover a smarter way to trade High Yield [Get in touch](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-us-high-yield-request-a-demo) *All numbers as of FY 2025 unless otherwise noted. --- # Trade: Investment Grade Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/investment-grade ## US IG Trading The world's largest electronic marketplace for US IG debt ### Trading US Credit on MarketAxess MarketAxess is the marketplace to execute with greater confidence, optimize your trading strategy and maximize price improvement. Enhance your trading performance with increased confidence and workflow capacity all on the world’s largest electronic marketplace for US IG. [View Infographic](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/us-ig-infographic) ### Open Trading® | all-to-all, all in one - $19 billion average daily liquidity - $3.7 billion average daily volume - $2.6 billion in transaction price improvement innovation that's redefining liquidity*** [Download Brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-brochure) ### Latest thought leadership #### The billion-dollar trade Does a billion-dollar trade — or two— mean electronic trading of blocks has gone mainstream? When we crunch the numbers, you can see why it’s happening. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-billion-dollar-electronic-trade) #### A tale of two markets [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-tale-of-two-markets) #### AxessPoint: A tale of two metrics | US IG corporate bond market liquidity in 2022 [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/a-tale-of-two-metrics_us-ig-corporate-bond-market-liquidity-in-2022) #### AxessPoint: Examining liquidity spikes at month-end [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-examining-liqudity-spikes-at-month-end) #### State Street Global Advisors launches SPDR® MarketAxess Investment Grade 400 Corporate Bond ETF [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/static-files/77323c8c-568b-4efb-abd1-ef76eab8a755) *Difference between the traded level and the volume-weighted average of all TRACE prints on the day on the same bond, on the same side. **Difference between the Open Trading winning price and the best disclosed dealer cover price. ***Estimated price improvement consists of estimated liquidity taker price improvement (defined as the difference between the winning price and the best disclosed dealer cover price) and estimated liquidity provider price improvement (defined as the difference between the winning price and then current Composite+ bid or offer level, offer if the provider is buying, bid if provider is selling) at the time of the inquiry. --- # Trade | Latin America Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/latin-america ## Latin American bond markets ### How technology is transforming trading in Mexico and beyond SURA Investments, one of Latin America's leading asset managers and pioneers of e-trading, transformed its trading operations by leveraging the MarketAxess platform. Learn how their adoption of electronic trading protocols has enabled tighter risk management and improved agility in responding to shifting market dynamics through request for market (RFM), request for quote (RFQ) and Open Trading®. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-sura-investments-case-study) ### When business meets purpose Our work in Emerging Markets goes beyond just trading—it’s about making a meaningful impact in the communities where we operate. As EMpower’s first Global Underwriter and longtime partner, MarketAxess has witnessed firsthand how strategic partnerships create real economic opportunities and transform young lives. Check out highlights from our partnership and collaboration at EMpower’s 25th Annual Champions of Youth dinner in NYC. ### MarketAxess wins at the 2025 Latin America Bond Awards At the recent GlobalCapital Latin America Bond Awards, MarketAxess brought home 'Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for LATAM Bonds', a true testament to our client and dealer partnerships on pioneering the growth of e-trading for LATAM bond markets. [Read the article](https://www.globalcapital.com/article/2epbcneh299kwe3umsge8/polls-and-awards/globalcapital-reveals-the-winners-of-its-second-annual-latin-america-bond-awards) [Watch the interview](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-bond-awards-interview) ### MarketAxess sees electronic trading driving EM growth Volatile markets in 2024 underscored the importance of a trading platform with the scale and sophistication to support clients. Global Head of Emerging Markets, Dan Burke, and Head of LatAm Sales, Maria Calderon at MarketAxess, sat down with GlobalCapital to discuss the firm’s rapid EM expansion and what they expect to see in 2025. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-ye-review) ### A conversation with Maria Calderon and RiskMathics The electronification of Mexico's fixed income market is in its early stages, yet progressing at an impressive pace. As the "last frontier" in Latin American markets, Mexico presents exciting opportunities for growth in electronic trading. [Watch the full interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jam6v20TSiI) ### Spreading the word on the state of LATAM markets last year Latin American markets are on the rise, and MarketAxess is optimistic that the region will only grow further this year despite political instability and market-making elections on the horizon. Read more in this article with Asset Servicing Times, about how electronic trading can mitigate volatility in the region. [Read the Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-spreading-the-word-web) ### FY 2024 highlights $0bn record global EM trade volume $0.3bn EM LATAM hard and local currency bond trade volume +0% YOY LATAM hard currency block trading ≥ $5MM USD 0+ active number of global and local clients trading LATAM bonds ### Trade Latin American local currency bonds #### Latin American hard currency block trading (>5MM USD) is one of the fastest-growing sectors on the MarketAxess platform, +47% YOY as of year-end 2024. A comprehensive product offering—including trading protocols and data – across 8 local currency debt markets and with a network of 90+ global clients and dealers. Currency records include MXN (+9% YOY), CLP (+7% YOY), COP (+14% YOY), DOP (+97% YOY), PEN (+15% YOY), UYU (+35% YOY), MXV (+32% YOY). [Talk To The Team](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) #### LATAM local currency bond markets - Argentine Peso - Brazilian Real - Chilean Peso - Colombian Peso - Dominican Peso - Mexican Peso - Peruvian Sol - Uruguayan Peso ### In cased you missed it #### LATAM sees growth in e-trading and access to international markets [Watch now](https://vimeo.com/853202460) #### Continued growth for e-trading in LATAM bond markets [Read the latest research](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-greenwich-report-eng-and-port) ### Access our full Emerging Markets offering. [LEarn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) --- # Brazil | Landing page Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/latin-america/brazil ## Mercados de títulos da América Latina e do Brasil #### Bem-vindo à nossa premiada plataforma global de títulos de Mercados Emergentes. Tornamos a negociação de renda fixa no Brasil mais fácil, eficiente e acessível a todos, com: - O mais amplo pool de liquidez - Melhor execução - Melhores preços Oferecemos variados protocolos para negociação de títulos de renda fixa local e global nos mercados emergentes. O Brasil tem se destacado na eletronificação de renda fixa, apresentando um rápido crescimento em relação aos países emergentes globais. Nossa plataforma de negociação eletrônica oferece a curva completa de títulos públicos federais, privados e soberanos no mercado global. Junte-se a nós na transformação do mercado. [Entre em contato para saber mais](mailto:brasil@marketaxess.com) ### Destaques de 2023 $0bn (US$) recorde de volume de negociação de títulos globais e locais da América Latina +0% recorde de volume de negociação de títulos públicos brasileiros +0% recorde de negociação para operações maiores de USD 25 milhões nos mercados locais da América Latina 0% das transações de Mercados Emergentes executadas na MKTX são títulos da America Latina. ### Lançamento Em fevereiro de 2024, adicionamos em nossa plataforma a operação Casada de títulos públicos, por meio do nosso protocolo de leilão via RFQ, completando a gama de instrumentos de títulos do governo brasileiro. Com este inovador protocolo, oferecemos a negociação simultânea de títulos e futuros da taxa de juros. [Leia o comunicado de imprensa](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240304590969/pt/) ### Fatores por trás da aceleração da negociação eletrônica nos mercados de títulos da América Latina O aumento da demanda por títulos de dívida latino-americanos entre investidores locais e internacionais, juntamente com novas soluções tecnológicas, continuam a impulsionar a adoção da negociação eletrônica no Brasil, no México e em outros grandes mercados latino-americanos. Receba de forma gratuita uma cópia desse novo relatório de pesquisa da Coalition Greenwich sobre as últimas tendências de negociação eletrônica para investidores nos mercados de títulos latino-americanos. [Fale com a equipe do Brasil para saber mais](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/baixe-a-versao-em-portugues) ### Mais liquidez na negociação de LFT na MarketAxess Os investidores brasileiros agora podem negociar LFTs eletronicamente na MarketAxess. Este lançamento completa nossa gama de títulos públicos brasileiros. #### Saiba mais [brazilofficesales@marketaxess.com](mailto:brazilofficesales@marketaxess.com) ### Aprimorando a negociação de títulos de Mercados Emergentes com dados, liquidez e foco no cliente Após nossa recente premiação no GlobalCapital Bond Awards, Natalie Lowenstein, gerente sênior de produtos para mercados emergentes, conversou com a GlobalCapital sobre a forma como estamos combinando dados, protocolos de execução exclusivos e foco no cliente para nos tornarmos a solução completa para todas as necessidades de nossos clientes nos mercados emergentes. [Leia sobre nossa premiação](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/powering-em-bond-trading-with-data-liquidity-and-client-centricity) ### Destaques em vídeo ###### Tudo negociado em uma única plataforma #### Descubra novas oportunidades em vários territórios [Assista o vídeo](https://vimeo.com/737708543) ###### Susana Ho discute o RFM – Request for Market como uma maneira eficiente de negociar grandes lotes. #### Aberdeen Standard Investments [Assista a Entrevista](https://vimeo.com/415773362) ###### Switch para melhorar sua negociação #### Switch Trading: uma nova maneira de negociar [Saiba mais sobre Switch Trading](https://vimeo.com/543336989) ### Quer saber mais sobre nossas soluções para negociar Mercados Emergentes? [Explore EM](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ### Disclosures ©2025 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (the "Company"). MarketAxess Corporation is a member of FINRA and SIPC. MarketAxess Canada Company is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). MarketAxess Europe Limited (04017160), MarketAxess Capital Limited (09777893), and MarketAxess Post-Trade Limited (01917944) are incorporated in England and Wales, and are each authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. MarketAxess NL B.V. (69592888) is incorporated in the Netherlands and is authorised and regulated by the Autoriteit Financiële Markten. MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V. (69597774) is incorporated in the Netherlands and is supervised by the European Securities and Markets Authority. MarketAxess Singapore Pte. Limited (201702319R) is incorporated in Singapore and recognised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. MarketAxess is a trading name of the aforementioned entities. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, all warranties and representations are disclaimed. All information presented herein is considered to be accurate at the time of writing, provided "as is" with no express or implied representations or warranties—including without limitation in relation to fitness for purpose, accuracy, or completeness of contents. Whilst sources of information are believed to be reliable, MarketAxess does not independently verify information obtained from third party sources. Any information presented is not intended to represent an offer or solicitation of any financial instrument. For the purposes of clients accessing MarketAxess services from EU27 countries, this information is provided by MarketAxess NL B.V. and /or MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V., as appropriate. This information is for institutional investor use only, does not constitute investment advice and may not be redistributed without the prior written consent of the Company or its subsidiaries. Under no circumstances may this information be distributed to retail investors. Proprietary and confidential information of the Company—all forms of copying prohibited. Further information on MarketAxess can be found on our website at [marketaxess.com](https://www.marketaxess.com/). --- # Trade: Leveraged Loans Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/leverage-loans ## Leveraged Loans Save time. See better prices. Lower your costs. ### Meet the future of Leveraged Loan trading Access the most competitive prices and liquidity when trading loans on the first and only independent electronic client to multi-dealer Leveraged Loans trading platform. See how we’re bringing the same innovation bond traders have enjoyed for years to the loan market. [Watch the video](https://www.vimeo.com/video/752157103) ### The 1st electronic client to multi-dealer Leveraged Loans platform We’ve created the world’s only electronic platform where the buy and sell-side can gather to access liquidity. Built on a platform with two decades of credit experience, you can now receive the same benefits bond traders have enjoyed. - Source liquidity from 18 dealers. - Over $10B in executed volume. - Trade with CLOs, Managed Accounts, ETFs and Managed Funds. +0% new client volume* +0% inquiry volume* 0% round lots executed trade volume* +0% trade volume* ### Syndicated loan market poised for technology adoption New research conducted by Coalition Greenwich shows the willingness to change this market now exists and the technology needed to improve the end-to-end workflow is ready for prime time. [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/syndicated-loan-market-poised-technology-adoption.pdf) ### Old-school leveraged loan market inches toward the 21st century Bloomberg News outlines the benefits electronic trading can bring to the leveraged loan market in an interview with our Head of Leveraged Loans, Howard Cohen. [Read the Bloomberg Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/bloomberg_old-school-leveraged-loan-market-inches-toward-the-21st-century_22-july-2021.pdf) ### Discover why the loan market is going electronic #### The loan market has long lagged other credit markets in trading efficiency, transparency, and liquidity. With time and cost savings, coupled with the ease of straight-through-processing, the benefits of moving from antiquated methods to trading loans electronically have become increasingly compelling. [Read the overview](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/leveraged-loans-overview.pdf) ### Why go line-by-line down a spreadsheet when you can automate your execution? Not only will your workflow speed up but you’ll be able to compare prices from multiple dealers, simultaneously. This level of transparency creates true pricing competition; what the market demands. And if your bid or offer isn’t a fit, you can quickly move on to your next important trade. With our seamless connection between pre-trade and post-trade services, your entire trade lifecycle is streamlined, and settlement suffers fewer human errors, too. [Schedule a demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) *As of FY 2021 --- # Trade: Municipal Bonds Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/municipal-bonds ## Municipal Bonds The world’s fastest growing electronic marketplace for muni bonds ### Unlock the power of muni pricing with CP+™ Bring precision, speed, and clarity to muni price discovery with our award-winning AI pricing engine, CP+. Learn how CP+ is reshaping the muni trading day. [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-plus-for-munis-whitepaper) [Read the press release](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-cp-plus-for-munis-press-release) [Explore CP+](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus) ### Optimize your Portfolio Trading execution strategy for Tax-Exempt Muni bonds With the ability to negotiate on individual line items, and capacity of up to 1,500 per portfolio trade, you can eliminate labor-intensive workflows and gain execution certainty of multiple bonds with a single transaction. [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-pt-for-munis-digital-brochure) [Watch the webinar](https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1685091&tp_key=907c40ede7) ### Our muni trading capabilities MarketAxess provides greater visibility into the municipal bond market with more efficient access to liquidity and improved price discovery. No matter how you want to trade: - Bid-wanted lists of up to 200 line items - Open Trading, our all-to-all solution - Dealer inventory and client offerings [Read the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-digital-brochure-web) ### Muni Bond Market Structure 2025: The Dealer View Munis have been a key part of the opportunity for fixed income traders, following high yields around aggressive rate hikes in 2024. Learn more about how changes in market structure are presenting new challenges to the muni dealer community in this report in partnership with Coalition Greenwich. [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-bda-greenwich-report-web) $0bn traded volume* +0% YOY traded volume* $0.1bn auto-executed* 0+ clients submitted inquiries* ### Looking to automate your Muni bid-wanted trading experience? Auto-X RFQ is now available for tax-exempt municipal bonds. Learn more about this new automated approach to your Muni BW process. [Read the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-auto-x-for-munis-digital-brochure) ### In case you missed it #### Portfolio Trading for Tax-Exempt Munis is now live! [Read the press release](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-pt-for-munis-video-web) #### Revolutionizing Municipal Bond Trading Technology [Watch video](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-pt-for-munis-video-web) #### Automation is coming to the municipal bond market [Access the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/automation-is-coming-to-the-municipal-bond-market.pdf) #### Connecting Liquidity for Municipal Bond Markets [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/the-bond-buyer_9.2020_marketaxess-to-acquire-munibrokers-in-q4.pdf) #### The Transformative Power of Muni E-Trading [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/Bond-Buyer_Executive_Summary_032819) #### MarketAxess expands electronic trading platform of taxable munis for foreign investors [Read the article](https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/marketaxess-expands-electronic-trading-platform-of-taxable-munis-for-foreign-investors) ©2025 MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (the "Company"). MarketAxess Corporation is a member of FINRA and SIPC. MarketAxess Canada Company is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). MarketAxess Europe Limited (04017160), MarketAxess Capital Limited (09777893), and MarketAxess Post-Trade Limited (01917944) are incorporated in England and Wales, and are each authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. MarketAxess NL B.V. (69592888) is incorporated in the Netherlands and is authorised and regulated by the Autoriteit Financiële Markten. MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V. (69597774) is incorporated in the Netherlands and is supervised by the European Securities and Markets Authority. MarketAxess Singapore Pte. Limited (201702319R) is incorporated in Singapore and recognised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. MarketAxess is a trading name of the aforementioned entities. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, all warranties and representations are disclaimed. All information presented herein is considered to be accurate at the time of writing, provided "as is" with no express or implied representations or warranties—including without limitation in relation to fitness for purpose, accuracy, or completeness of contents. Whilst sources of information are believed to be reliable, MarketAxess does not independently verify information obtained from third party sources. Any information presented is not intended to represent an offer or solicitation of any financial instrument. For the purposes of clients accessing MarketAxess services from EU27 countries, this information is provided by MarketAxess NL B.V. and /or MarketAxess Post-Trade B.V., as appropriate. This information is for institutional investor use only, does not constitute investment advice and may not be redistributed without the prior written consent of the Company or its subsidiaries. Under no circumstances may this information be distributed to retail investors. Proprietary and confidential information of the Company—all forms of copying prohibited. Further information on MarketAxess can be found on our website at [marketaxess.com](https://www.marketaxess.com/). *as of FY 2024 --- # MuniBrokers Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/municipal-bonds/munibrokers By MarketAxess #### We are the leading trading technology for aggregated content distribution, trade processing, client connectivity, and liquidity provision for the inter-dealer market. [Contact Our Sales Team](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) [Visit our Municipal Bonds Product Page](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/municipal-bonds) [Visit the Munibrokers Website](https://mb.marketaxess.com/) [MuniBrokers Legal Notice](http://munibrokers.com/disclosure/muni_brokers_legal_notice.pdf) [MuniBrokers login disclosure](http://munibrokers.com/disclosure/munibrokers_login_disclousure.pdf) #### Participating firms are registered with: #### [MSRB](http://www.msrb.org/) #### Participating firms may be member of: #### [SIPC](https://www.sipc.org/) | [SIFMA](https://www.sifma.org/) | [FINRA](https://www.finra.org/) ### MarketAxess to acquire MuniBrokers “Marrying two markets:” Connecting leading inter-dealer brokers with our institutional client flow. [Read The Article](https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/marketaxess-to-acquire-munibrokers-in-q4) --- # Trade: Open Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading ## Open Trading® is liquidity ### Dive into the world’s deepest liquidity pool for corporate credit. Open Trading is our award-winning all-to-all trading marketplace. Whether you’re a client or dealer, trade anonymously with new counterparties or discretely with existing contacts, you’ll receive support from our 24/7 Trading Desk. ​ #### No mater what you trade, how big the block, or how liquid the bond, Open Trading is your pool. ​ [Download the brochure](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/ot-brochure-2026?x=PG963o) ### Even when things get choppy, you can find a market for both liquid – and illiquid bonds. This year, the oil and gas crisis sent volatility through credit markets. Typically liquidity would thin out and execution costs would rise. But data from our platform shows a different outcome in a recent QuickTake from our experts. [Read the quicktake](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7445364478923223040/) ### Powerful analytic and automation tools ##### Live Markets ##### X-Pro ##### Auto-X ##### CP+ ### The Best Data Wins. CP+™ powers $42B in credit trading volume daily* You get the strategic advantage of CP+, our AI driven pricing engine, giving you an edge in price discovery, transaction cost analysis and price improvement. [Explore the CP+ Advantage](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/cp-plus) ### High-touch service meets deep liquidity Our Open Trading Desk offers instant feedback at the point of trade—replicating the traditional market practices of communication with your counterparty while a trade is in flight. You’re always just an instant message or phone call away from our dedicated support team. ### Making or taking liquidity, we can be your counterparty. ##### CONTACT US ### No matter who you are, Open Trading is your pool. So Dive In. [Ask for an Open Trading demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-open-trading-connect-with-us) *2025 ADV --- # Open Trading Brochure | Landing Page (German) Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading-german-brochure ## Der globale, elektronische All-to-all-Marktplatz ### Open Trading ermöglicht eine fundierte Wahl Mit Open Trading können alle Teilnehmer, einschließlich Investoren und Händler, auf einer effizienten globalen Plattform direkt und anonym miteinander handeln. Open Trading gelingt eine Verbesserung von erzielten Preisen durch höhere Effizienzen und einer enormen Erweiterung des Liquiditätspools im weltweiten Markt für (Unternehmens-) Anleihen. [Broschüre herunterladen](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-brochure-german) [Machen Sie mit](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) --- # Trade | Portfolio Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading ## Portfolio Trading ### How portfolio trading is reshaping European credit markets Portfolio trading is becoming an increasingly important feature of European credit market structure, with volume rising year on year. Discover trading trends in the European market. [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/portfolio-trading-whitepaper) ### Portfolio Trading vs RFQ List Whitepaper In our latest white paper, Grant Lowensohn and Julien Alexandre from the MarketAxess Quantitative Research team, conduct a comparative analysis on when to execute via a portfolio trade, or a RFQ list trade for US IG Bonds. In this deep dive, the team extracts insights on how different pricing, risk, and diversification considerations can be weighed to achieve best execution when trading on the MarketAxess platform. [Read the White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-vs-list-whitepaper) ### Enhanced user experience with X-Pro Dive into our new user guide to preview the latest innovations to our Portfolio Trading protocol in our next generation user experience, X-Pro. Trade with our new pre-and post-submission screens while supporting those in need this holiday season. [X-Pro user guide](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-x-pro-user-guide) ### Build a better basket with AI-driven portfolio trading Our streamlined Portfolio Trading solution provides a new user interface with access to improved analytics leveraging AI-driven data sets like CP+™ and Tradability . The new supercharged UX offers seamless execution experience, pre-trade market depth, and liquidity metrics that are proprietary to MarketAxess. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Execute your portfolio trades across various asset classes: #### Investment Grade The world's largest electronic marketplace for US IG debt. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/investment-grade) #### Emerging Markets Tap into new sources of liquidity around the world. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) #### High Yield Raise your performance and expand your opportunities while lowering your costs. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/high-yield) #### Municipal Bonds The world’s fastest growing electronic marketplace for muni bonds. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ### Access data-driven, AI-powered tools for a seamless execution experience ### Tradability ##### Real-time predictive liquidity depth Tradability moves with the market to provide an AI liquidity metric for traders to better understand the market’s capacity to fulfil an order. Designed to support electronic trading inquiries and automated trading strategies. Tradability gives intra-day dynamic prediction of liquidity across side and size per bond. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) ### User Experience ##### Our new highly configurable user interface Leverage a supercharged user experience for portfolio trading with MarketAxess X-Pro, the next generation of our trading platform. X-Pro brings together our execution protocols and our proprietary data and analytics to deliver a highly intuitive, intelligent workflow experience for our clients. Designed to help traders and portfolio managers make faster, better decisions on when and how to trade, X-Pro offers enhanced workflows and customizable features to enhance RFQ and high-touch portfolio and block trading. ### CP+™ ##### AI-powered predictive pricing CP+ is our award-winning, AI-powered real-time pricing engine, covering over 32,000 securities across global credit and rates markets. CP+ empowers users with pre-trade insights from our proprietary platform data, so traders know what and how to trade, helping achieve portfolio construction objectives. With accurate and real-time pricing data available at the portfolio and bond level, you can predict and tailor your portfolio trades to your unique specifications. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/composite-plus) ### PT for Emerging Markets ##### Uncover new opportunities across multiple territories MarketAxess stands as the key option for liquidity sourcing in global emerging markets due to the breadth and depth of our coverage. With fragmented markets, portfolio trading and request for market (RFM) protocols provide traders a mechanism to price and execute more efficiently while trading electronically. [Learn More](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ### Latest thought leadership #### Blockbusting Part 3 | Comparing Portfolio Trading and List RFQ TCA Portfolio Trading has emerged as an increasingly important protocol in the corporate bond market. In this AxessPoint, we investigate any key drivers of Portfolio Trading (PT) Trading Cost (TCA) outcomes, as measured by PT price outcomes versus CP+™ side. To perform this analysis, we looked at PT trades from June 2022 to June 2023 on MarketAxess where High Grade bonds represent a majority of the basket. [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-3-comparing-portfolio-trading-and-list-rfq-tca) #### Blockbusting Part 2 | Examining market impact of client inquiries [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-2-examining-market-impact-of-client-inquiries) #### Blockbusting Part 1 | Pre-Trade intelligence and understanding market depth [Read More](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-part-1-pre-trade-intelligence-and-understanding-market-depth) #### Portfolio trading breaks into new markets [Read More](https://www.fi-desk.com/portfolio-trading-breaks-into-new-markets/) #### Leveraging liquidity scores and pricing data in portfolio trading [Listen here](https://www.risk.net/market-access/investing/7906376/leveraging-liquidity-scores-and-pricing-data-in-portfolio-trading) #### Quantifying corporate bond ETF premiums and discounts [Read the report](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_quantifying-corporate-bond-etf-premiums-and-discounts) --- # Pragma Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/pragma ### Elevating AI-powered trading for equities and beyond Led by a team of PhDs who specialize in advanced machine learning and deep learning techniques, MarketAxess Pragma provides high-performance algorithmic trading solutions designed to help clients excel. Working with Pragma means access to quality, control and transparency typically reserved for firms with dedicated in-house quant and trading teams. #### Equities Algorithmic trading services for North American markets #### Spot FX and NDFs Algorithmic trading services for Spot and NDFs #### Credit Launched MKTX partnership – first true credit algos #### Rates Full Suite of algos for MKTX Live Markets ### Algorithmic trading intelligence & quantitative Our research-driven approach and turnkey technology is built on robust infrastructure, used by global banks, broker-dealers, institutions, CTAs and exchanges, with the added benefits of independence and transparency that you need in a trusted partner. ##### Download these quick references to learn more about our capabilities: [Algorithmic suite for equities](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-pragma-algos-for-equities) [Algorithmic suite for FX](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/mktx-pragma-algos-for-fx) #### Measuring Execution Quality – Finding the Signal in the Noise [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/measuring-execution?x=dbRzUP) #### On the Limits of Markouts and Venue Curation [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/markouts-and-venue-curation?x=dbRzUP) #### FX Passive Order Analysis [Read more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/c/fx-passive-order-analysis?x=dbRzUP) [CONTACT US](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/forms/view/160) ### Polaris EMS #### Our high-performance EMS used by brokers on the floor of the NYSE. [Delve into Polaris](https://www.marketaxess.com/polaris) ### MarketAxess completes acquisition of Pragma [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2023/MarketAxess-Completes-Acquisition-of-Pragma/default.aspx) --- # Trade | Private Banking Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/private-banking ## Private Banking ### Best-execution fixed income trading built for private banks and wealth managers Private banking trading desks face growing pressure to deliver for clients, manage increasing order volumes and improve efficiency without compromising control. Axess IQ® brings liquidity, AI-powered pricing, intelligent order management and automated execution workflows together in one purpose-built solution. [Book a demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form/private-banking-axess-iq-contact-us) ### Trade your way: US HG by Price Protocol We are pleased to announce that you can now execute trades for US High Grade instruments on a US HG Price Protocol. In addition to trading on spread, you can now trade in cash price. This includes countering, meaning when you encounter a tight client limit order, you can now counter with your cash price limit. All US domestic corporate bonds previously available on our platform are eligible for the new price protocol. This new protocol is compatible with Open Trading® meaning you can access the world’s deepest credit liquidity pool and trade the way you want. ### SIX reference pricing integration The SIX Swiss Exchange reference price is now fully integrated on Axess IQ. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/precision-without-disruption-strengthening-chf-trading-workflows-with-integrated-reference-pricing) ### The evolution and changing nature of Private Banks Stephen Grady, Head of Global Markets Lombard Odier Private Bank, joins our Chief Revenue Officer, Kevin McPherson for a discussion about the evolution and changing nature of Private Banks. You’ll hear about the latest trends in automation, data, and efficiency as well predictions for what the Private Banking trading desk of tomorrow will look like. [Watch the replay](https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1605296&tp_key=bd296bf647) ### The Swiss Army knife for Private Banks Read our article in The Banker outlining the unique execution needs of private bankers and why automation is key to reducing operating costs and gaining a competitive advantage. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/the-banker-reimagining-private-banking.pdf) ### Unlocking front-to-back efficiency for private banks Introducing Axess IQ for relationship managers. A bespoke tool designed to streamline communication between the trading desk and relationship managers. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axess-iq_unlocking-front-to-back-efficiency-for-private-banks) ### Axess IQ: Smarter solutions for seamless execution At MarketAxess, we are proud of building products tailor-made for our clients' needs—and that trend continues with Axess IQ. Erik Tham, head of our Private Banking products division, discusses how Axess IQ came to be and how it can help solve your execution challenges. [Read The Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axess-iq-our-smart-execution-tool-designed-for-private-banks-and-wealth-managers) ### The eyes and ears of the market Over the last year, we have partnered with Insigneo to develop a tailored version of Axess IQ for investment professionals, and financial advisors. Find out more about this new solution and how Insigneo have benefited from it. [Read The Case Study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/insigneo-case-study) ### Related content #### Axess IQ: The eyes and ears of the market [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/insigneo-case-study) #### Precision without disruption: strengthening CHF trading workflows with integrated reference pricing [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/precision-without-disruption-strengthening-chf-trading-workflows-with-integrated-reference-pricing) #### Reimagining private banking [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/the-banker-reimagining-private-banking.pdf) --- # Trade | Rates Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rates ## Global Rates Gain control through a bespoke electronic marketplace ### Redefining the global rates market The MarketAxess trading ecosystem connects a trusted community of primary and regional dealers, professional trading firms and buy-side clients to trade on- and off-the-run US Treasuries and European Government Bonds. We’re putting traders in the driver’s seat through: - Personalized liquidity - Superior, actionable pricing - Dynamic execution methods - Disclosed and anonymous liquidity [Learn more about Live Markets for Treasuries](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/us-treasury-live-markets-product-sheet) ### More choice. Greater control. Trade US Treasuries your way. #### Efficiently trade on- and off-the-run US Treasuries through a single screen. Our aggregated streaming service for off-the-run Treasuries is an industry first, combined with the ability to trade on-the-run USTs with additional liquidity providers. Liquidity where you need it, all in one place. Through flexible connectivity methods and centralized straight-through-processing, our participants can experience: - Directed, disclosed and anonymous relationship-based trading models. - Minimized information leakage and market impact through bespoke order book. - Customizable price streaming amongst a trusted network of professional counterparties. [Want a demo?](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) ### Greater liquidity at a faster pace in US Agencies and SSA’s #### Access a full inventory of US Agency securities, Sovereigns, Supranationals and Agencies (SSA’s) with more flexibility in how you trade. Whether you want to trade on spread, price or MME yield, you can use our full suite of trading protocols and even submit multiple items through our bid/offer list functionality. And Open Trading™—our all-to-all marketplace—lets you source liquidity while retaining anonymity. [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) --- # Trade | RFQ-hub Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rfq-hub ## RFQ-hub ### Your electronic source for competitive liquidity RFQ-hub gives you access to best-in-class liquidity across asset classes by simplifying complex workflows and leveraging data for best execution in a cost-efficient manner. Our intuitive GUI unites all steps of the RFQ process covering bilateral, multi-asset and multi-dealer trades. ##### As a buy-side trader, you decide: - Risk price, NAV or MOC quote - Dynamic Price Limit - Manual vs automatic execution - Add broker route during RFQ ##### Within the platform, submit your order via: - Single Ticket - List / Switch Ticket - Options [Read the product sheets](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/rfq-hub-website) ### Tap into real-time web reporting and trade analytics ###### Broker Performance ###### Desk Performance ###### Individual Trade Analysis ### Analyze RFQ activity in seconds Real time access all your data with a few clicks on the RFQ-hub Analytics Portal. Pre-trade analytics allow clients to proactively determine their best execution strategy, and post-trade analytics allow clients to evaluate execution quality against a variety of benchmarks. ### Expansive multi-asset coverage #### ETFs (US and EU) - Risk, MOC and NAV pricing - Single ticker, switch and list trading - Automation capabilities based on order size, market maker selection, pricing #### Equity Futures (Global) - Futures: net basis, price in % - Futures rolls: spread - Integrated market convention #### Equity Options (Global) Listed and OTC Options Solve for: - Price - Weighted quote (strategies) - Total premium (strategies) - Strike - Strike in % - Size #### Other (EU) - Variance/Volatility Swaps/Equity TRS - Forwards - Structured Products - Credit, Rates and Fixed Income Derivatives ### Learn how to access our deep network of market leading liquidity providers [CONTACT US NOW](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/f/rfq-hub-contact-us) --- # X-Pro Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/x-pro ### You've never traded with this much power. X-Pro is How X-Pro is the next generation of the MarketAxess platform, giving you total control. Step into your trading cockpit with all the tools, the best data and the latest technology you need. X-Pro multiplies your intelligence, your strategies, your capabilities to do more. [Make Contact for an X-PRO Demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-x-pro-contact-us?utm_medium=top) ### Design your interface. Choose your workflow. Set your goals. ### AI-powered tools for a seamless execution experience. ### Actionable pre-trade data served up exactly when you need it. ### Customize your workspace exactly how you want it. ### Make decisions based on real-time market depth analysis. ### However you trade, do more with X-Pro. ##### Portfolio Trading ##### RFQ Trading ##### Block Trading ##### Open Trading ##### Automated Trading ##### CONTACT US ### Once you experience X-Pro, you'll never look back. [Make Contact for an X-PRO Demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-x-pro-contact-us?utm_medium=bottom) --- # TraX: Market Data Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/trax/market-data ## TraX® ### Powering pricing, liquidity, and transparency Powered by real-time contributions from market participants across Europe, Asia and CEEMEA, TraX products deliver reliable, cleansed, and enhanced platform-agnostic data that captures approximately 85% of the European credit market ensuring you can act with confidence at every stage of the trade lifecycle. For the world’s leading financial institutions, our suite of TraX market data products serve as a source for real-time trading, end of day processes, and reporting. [Rquest a demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-trax-contact-us) #### TraX Tape A Smarter, faster, broader consolidated stream of globally executed trades including CTP data. #### TraX Pricing High, low, median, and last executed traded price across global markets. #### TraX Volume Aggregated daily traded volumes, ticket sizes, directionality, and liquidity metrics. #### TraX APA MiFID II-compliant pre- and post-trade transparency data across asset classes. ### Who is TraX for? Designed for every step throughout investment and trade lifecycles. #### Active traders Real-time pricing with directional skew for execution clarity without aggregating multiple feeds. #### Quant strategies Historical datasets from 2005 to power models, liquidity analysis, and alpha research. #### Middle office & regulatory reporting Fully compliant and aligned view of market conditions, exposure, and liquidity risk. #### Back office Integrity from trade validation and reconciliation to settlement. 0% coverage of the European Credit Market* 0k global trades captured daily* 0k+ unique ISINs* ### How TraX works #### TraX is your one-stop shop for global transaction data, delivering daily market volumes and prices on over 45,000 fixed income securities. #### Exceptional market coverage Capturing global prices including 85% of trading activity on the European fixed income market. #### Extensive global contribution network With 60+ real-time contributors across Europe, APAC and CEEMA. #### Robust data aggregation Combining multiple sources with proprietary datasets. #### Proven data quality and history Built on over 10 years of data cleansing expertise. ### Ahead of the Curve #### With more than 2,000 dealers and clients on the MarketAxess platform, producing 325,000 firm prices every day, we have access to the richest proprietary data, which we combine with data from public sources around the globe. Cleansing and aggregating Real-time pricing on a single platform Bespoke data fields and file formats, with enrichment overlays Historical volume and price data back to 2005 A unified view of intra-day and end-of-day markets ### TraX Tape: Unmatched European market transparency TraX Tape is a single, consolidated data feed that provides a clean, standardised view of global bond market activity. It delivers decision-grade data that trading desks can use immediately, removing the need for additional consolidation or cleansing processes. Leveraging our proprietary and public trade data, we enhance the final output of Trax Tape to help firms better understand liquidity, pricing, execution quality, and market sentiment. The result? Unparalleled insights that put other CTPs in the shade. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2026/MarketAxess-Introduces-TraX-Tape-Delivering-an-Enriched-View-of-Bond-Market-Activity/default.aspx) ### Compliment TraX coverage with Axess All AxessAll provides aggregated trade volume and price data for the most actively traded bonds throughout each trading day. Delivered with a short (~15 minute) delay to protect anonymity, this near-real-time transparency complements the TraX suite of data products by bridging the gap between live trading and end-of-day data. AxessAll offers a same-day view of market activity helping enhance transparency for the bond market. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/price/axess-all) ### Thought leadership #### Enhancing data usability and market visibility under new regulatory changes Europe’s bond transparency rules are increasing data, not necessarily clarity. This article explains why usability, cleansing, and context matter now more than ever, and how MarketAxess TraX Tape aims to deliver decision-grade data to the market. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/enhancing-data-usability-and-market-visibility-under-new-regulatory-changes) #### Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight Regulators in the UK and EU are introducing new post-trade bond transparency rules, aligning with the US TRACE system to provide clearer market data. Though consolidated data offerings have the promise to increase transparency, there are complexities. In this environment TraX® dataset by MarketAxess stands out by refining data quality, ensuring actionable insights for trading strategies. Discover more key points of consideration and insights from Geoff Morton, Head of Strategists at MarketAxess, across this evolving market landscape. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight) ### Want to learn more about how you can trade more competitively? [Connect with us](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-trax-contact-us) *Full year 2025 stats. --- # VanEck case study Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/vaneck-case-study ### Opening trading opportunities in China and emerging markets VanEck’s big picture approach melds with the MarketAxess vision—creating new opportunity around the globe by bringing innovative technology to emerging markets. Learn how we helped VanEck develop their footprint across all our emerging local markets, now including China. [Read The Case Study](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/f/VanEck-Case-Study) --- # Whats New - 2023 Trading for Trees results Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/2023-trading-for-trees-results ## 2023 Trading for Trees Results Your green bond trading volumes from last year will result in over 371k trees being planted through reforestation initiatives across the globe. We are also celebrating over 1M trees being planted thanks to your trading volumes since inception of this initiative!

View the infographic to recap some highlights of the program for 2023. [2023 Trading for Trees results](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/green-bonds/trading-for-trees-2023) --- # Whats New - APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for October 2024 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/apacs-best-performing-dealers-on-marketaxess-for-october-2024 ## APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for October 2024 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for October 2024 Each month for 2024, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: * Asia Credit * Asia Local Markets * US Investment Grade * Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Philippine Government Bonds (RPGB). See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) --- # Credit Index Futures—RFQ-hub Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/credit-index-futures-rfq-hub ### Credit Index Futures—RFQ-hub 66% of Eurex Credit Index Futures blocks in 2025 were traded on RFQ-hub, the MarketAxess solution for ETF and Derivative RFQs. Key results: - Almost 2x the number of blocks vs. 2024 - 96% of all RFQs sent were traded Visit our RFQ-hub product page for more information. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/rfq-hub) ## Credit Index Futures—RFQ-hub --- # Go big in Emerging Markets. Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/go-big-in-emerging-markets ## Go big in Emerging Markets. One block at a time. Get more competitive pricing with Targeted RFQ, a new workflow designed to optimize your larger CEEMEA and APAC EM hard currency trades. Powered by the breadth of MarketAxess’ data and tools, including Smart Dealer Select, historical data and dealer axes, Targeted RFQ ensures that you’re connected with the most competitive dealers (up to six) for your trades. Optimize your trades with better pricing while minimizing information leakage now. [Trade Bigger Now](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/em-targeted-rfq) --- # Whats New - Knowledge Center Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/knowledge-center ## Looking for next level market insights? Visit our Knowledge Center for the latest articles, thought leadership, and proprietary market research from our data scientists. Explore insights on a wide range of topics, from Asia local currency markets to evolving trading behavior. [Take me there](https://www.marketaxess.com/knowledge) --- # Mid-X for EM is now live in CEEMEA Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/mid-x-for-em-is-now-live-in-ceemea ### Mid-X for EM is now live in CEEMEA Session-based trading for dealers to recycle risk at CP+™ mid. Leverage the full power of Open Trading® to maximize anonymous matching opportunities and achieve better cost savings for your CEEMEA EM Hard Currency trades by executing at the CP+ mid-market price. Session times: - Tuesday and Thursday 11am BST - Wednesday and Friday 9:30am BST* *Note: This session timing might be subject to change after October 25th, when the clock changes. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/em-mid-x-product-sheet) ## Mid-X for EM is now live in CEEMEA --- # Quarter end push Q2 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/quarter-end-push-q2 ### Quarter-end is here. Our platform is built for it. Last quarter's final two sessions, when the whole Street was repositioning at once: - IG market share hit 28%, up from 17.1% over Q1 - IG volume ran more than double the Q1 daily average, up 25% - Block trades got bigger — average size climbed from $9.2MM to $13MM, with $5MM+ prints up 138% It's all here for you again this quarter-end. See it on your own flow. [Connect with us now](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-get-in-touch) ## Quarter end push Q2 --- # SGD Corps now live on MarketAxess! Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/sgd-corps-now-live-on-marketaxess ### SGD Corps now live on MarketAxess! As Singapore continues to grow and evolve, so does our range of local currency offerings. Just in time for Singapore’s 60th birthday, we are excited to expand our local currency offerings to include SGD-denominated corporate bonds. Expand your trading opportunities today with access to an extensive pool of liquidity providers and a comprehensive suite of trading and data tools. - Request-for-Quote (RFQ): Request single, competitive bids or offers from multiple dealers that you select. - List Trading: Submit an inquiry for multiple line items at once. - Switch Trading: Simultaneously buy and sell two parts of the curve, in the same instrument and in one singular package. Trade SGD Corps with us today. [Read the product sheet](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/singapore-dollar-corporate-bonds-product-sheet) ## SGD Corps now live on MarketAxess! --- # Targeted RFQ: Data-driven insights and precise outcomes Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/targeted-rfq-data-driven-insights-and-precise-outcomes ### Data-driven insights for your larger EM Hard Currency trades In this video series, Dan Burke, our Global Head of Emerging Markets, sheds light on the thinking behind our newly launched block trading protocol for EM Hard Currency—Targeted RFQ. Together with Open Trading®, both solutions are built to meet your needs when trading larger trade sizes. [Watch the videos](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/what-is-trfq) ## Targeted RFQ: Data-driven insights and precise outcomes --- # Trade your Venezuela Sovereign & PDVSA bonds on MarketAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/trade-your-venezuela-sovereign-and-pdvsa-bonds-on-marketaxess ### Trade your Venezuela Sovereign & PDVSA bonds on MarketAxess Following the weekend's events and sharp market repricing, Venezuela bond trading activity surged on the platform with nearly 200 trades executed on Monday, January 5th alone. The bonds are here, the market is active, and liquidity is deep. 2025 year-to-date activity: - 190 clients trading Venezuela bonds (144 in PDVSA, 154 in VENZ) - 20+ dealers providing liquidity in VENZ (top 5: MS, JPM, JEFF, BARX, BAML) - 15+ dealers quoting PDVSA (top 5: MS, JPM, JEFF, BARX, STX) When markets move, MarketAxess is where the street comes to trade. ## Trade your Venezuela Sovereign & PDVSA bonds on MarketAxess --- # Whats New - Trading for Turkeys is live this week! Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/trading-for-turkeys-is-live-this-week ## Trading for Turkeys is live this week! ### Trading for Turkeys is live this week! This week, 15% of revenues from US portfolio trades for HG, HY, EM and US Muni bonds will be donated to City Harvest’s Repack to Give Back Program, whereby thousands of pounds of food will be distributed to vulnerable families in NYC. Unsure whether a PT or RFQ list is right for your trade? Read our new white paper that examines the many considerations when seeking best execution via a portfolio trade versus a RFQ list trade. This analysis dissects how risk profiles, cost premiums, liquidity profiles, and execution certainty can affect whether a portfolio trade or RFQ list transaction is most optimal. [Read the white paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/core-credit-pt-vs-list-whitepaper) --- # TraX® Tape: a clear view of bond market activity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/trax-tape-a-clear-view-of-bond-market-activity ### TraX® Tape: a clear view of bond market activity ##### Our newest data product is now live! Designed to help you navigate today’s evolving transparency landscape with greater clarity and confidence by providing you with decision-grade data. - TraX Tape gives you a clean, consolidated view of global bond market activity through a single, standardised data feed. - Built on TraX data and enhanced with proprietary cleansing, trade direction, pricing context, and analytics, it helps turn complex trading data into more actionable market insight. If you’re looking to better understand trading activity across UK and EU markets as transparency reforms evolve, TraX Tape can help you move faster from raw data to decision-ready insight. [Read the press release](https://investor.marketaxess.com/news/news-details/2026/MarketAxess-Introduces-TraX-Tape-Delivering-an-Enriched-View-of-Bond-Market-Activity/default.aspx) ## TraX® Tape: a clear view of bond market activity --- # What's New - Dealer Ranking January 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/what-s-new-dealer-ranking-january-2025 ## What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for January 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Asia Developed Markets (Australia and Japan Credit). See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) --- # Whats New - APAC Dealer Ranking August 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-apac-dealer-ranking-august-2026 ## What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for August 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Asia Credit Blocks ≥$5mm — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) --- # Whats New - APAC Dealer Ranking July 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-apac-dealer-ranking-july-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for July 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Asia Credit New Issues — by overall trade volume, during global trading hours. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - APAC Dealer Ranking July 2026 --- # Whats New - APAC Dealer Rankings June 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-apac-dealer-rankings-june-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for June 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Thai Government Bonds (THB)— by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - APAC Dealer Rankings June 2026 --- # Whats New - Auctions Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-auctions ### Ready to see the future of fixed income trading with auctions? Join our webinar on Wednesday, December 3rd at 10am ET to see a live demo of the newest innovation in fixed income trading — MarketAxess Opening and Closing Auctions. You'll get an exclusive look into how auctions work, workflow mechanics from order entry to matching and execution, as well as our price formation module. Plus, get your questions answered in real-time by our product experts. [Register now](https://events.zoom.us/ev/Ajugb4o8Gxo9tN3qRZAKB5sMklV7nlVI0VxuzHESAG8p1pW37AVW~Am9ykeIU5Uz_RHzj1tCOd_i3kInyehVutm9Pl5T6MFwjdm8QEvplV7egiQ) ## Whats New - Auctions --- # Whats New - AxessPoint Oracle Investment-grade rating, high-yield reality Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-axesspoint-oracle-investment-grade-rating-high-yield-reality ### What happens when ratings and liquidity diverge? Our latest AxessPoint examines how Oracle's downgrade to BBB- has influenced market liquidity, trading costs and price discovery. Discover what our analysis reveals about changing credit market behavior. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-oracle-investment-grade-rating-high-yield-reality) ## Whats New - AxessPoint Oracle Investment-grade rating, high-yield reality --- # Whats New - Citadel Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-citadel ## Expanded Liquidity for US Investment Grade Portfolio Trades MarketAxess continues to deepen liquidity access for US IG Portfolio Trading with Citadel Securities now providing pricing on the platform. [EXPLORE PORTFOLIO TRADING](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/portfolio-trading) --- # Whats New - Closing Auction Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-closing-auction ### Join the MarketAxess Closing Auction this Wednesday — May 13 The most efficient liquidity window of the trading day is the final hour — where spreads contract significantly and liquidity concentrates. This Wednesday, participate in the MarketAxess Closing Auction alongside leading buy- and sell-side firms as participation continues to grow. The closing auction aggregates supply and demand into a single clearing price — creating: - More efficient execution - Level playing field access - Reduced information asymmetry Be part of the next stage of adoption. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/auctions) ## Whats New - Closing Auction --- # Whats New - CP+ for ETFs: Improving ETF Portfolio Management Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-cp-for-etfs-improving-etf-portfolio-management ### CP+™ for ETFs: Improving ETF portfolio management with predictive pricing Kat Sweeney, Global Head of ETFs and Data Solutions at MarketAxess, sat down with Jeff Lenamon, Head of Portfolio Construction & Senior Portfolio Manager at DWS, to discuss how DWS aims to improve performance of their ETFs by integrating CP+ into daily workflows and the create/redeem process. Starting his career in Fixed Income in 1998, Jeff is an industry veteran who has managed Credit ETFs since the 2000s, including HYG and LQD during the financial crisis. [Read the interview](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/cp-for-etfs-improving-etf-portfolio-management-with-predictive-pricing) ## Whats New - CP+ for ETFs: Improving ETF Portfolio Management --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking April 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-april-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for April 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Malaysian Government Securities (MGS). See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking April 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking April 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-april-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for April 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am–6pm SGT/HKT) — across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for the Republic of the Philippines Government Bonds (PHP) — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking April 2026 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking August 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-august-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for August 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers using our block trading protocol—Targeted RFQ, to trade Asia Credit trade sizes above $3M. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking August 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking December Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-december ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for FY 2025 In this installation of Dealer Ranking, we look back on FY 2025 and spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT) — across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month In FY 2025, we feature the top five dealers for Korean Treasury Bonds (KTBs) — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking December --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking February 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-february-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for February 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Korean Paper. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking February 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking February 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-february-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for February 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT) — across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Singapore Corporate Bonds (SGD) — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking February 2026 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking FY 2024 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-fy-2024 ## What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for FY 2024 Spotlighting the top-ranking dealers in Asia-Pacific of 2024. Find out who’s leading the charge during APAC trading hours across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Year For 2024, we feature the top five dealers for Asia Credit Portfolio Trading. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking FY 2024 Option 2 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-fy-2024-option-2 ### What's the deal: APACs best performing dealers Find out who's leading the charge on MarketAxess for FY 2024 during APAC's trading hours across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Year For 2024, we feature the top five dealers for Asia Credit Portfolio Trading. [See who's ahead of the pack](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking FY 2024 Option 2 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking January 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-january-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for January 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT) — across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for US Investment Grade to Taiwan-based clients — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking January 2026 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking July 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-july-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for July 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Malaysian Government Bonds (MGS)—the second most-traded local currency bond market globally on our platform year to date. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking July 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking June 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-june-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for June 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Indonesian Government Bonds (IDR). See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking June 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking March 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-march-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for March 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers using our newly launched block trading protocol, Targeted RFQ, to trade Asia Credit trade sizes above $3M. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking March 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking March 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-march-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for March 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT) — across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Korean Treasury Bonds (KTBs) — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking March 2026 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking May 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-may-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for May 2025 Each month for 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am – 6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Korean Treasury Bonds. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking May 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking May 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-may-2026 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for May 2026 Each month of 2026, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am–6pm SGT/HKT) — across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers trading Asia local market blocks (≥$50mm) via Request-for-Market (RFM) — our block trading protocol for local markets. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking May 2026 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking November Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-november ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best-performing dealers on MarketAxess for November 2025 Each month in 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am–6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Thai Government Bonds (THAIGB) — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking November --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking October 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-october-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for October 2025 Each month in 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers — by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am–6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for Korean Treasury Bonds (KTBs) — by overall trade volume. See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking October 2025 --- # Whats New - Dealer Ranking September 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-dealer-ranking-september-2025 ### What's the deal? #### APAC's best performing dealers on MarketAxess for September 2025 Each month in 2025, we will spotlight top-ranking dealers—by overall volume, during APAC trading hours (8am–6pm SGT/HKT)—across: - Asia Credit - Asia Local Markets - US Investment Grade - Feature of the Month This month, we feature the top five dealers for the Republic of the Philippines Government Bonds (PHP). See who’s ahead of the pack and start trading today! [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/whats-the-deal) ## Whats New - Dealer Ranking September 2025 --- # Whats New - Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight ### Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight Regulatory changes in the UK and EU are reshaping post-trade transparency in fixed income markets. While these updates aim to improve market clarity, they also introduce new data complexities for market participants. The MarketAxess TraX® dataset is designed to help users navigate this shift. By continuously refining data quality and consistency, TraX supports more informed decision-making and enables trading strategies that are responsive to a rapidly changing regulatory environment. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/europe-s-bond-transparency-regimes-put-data-in-the-spotlight) ## Whats New - Europe’s bond transparency regimes put data in the spotlight --- # Whats New - From macro signals to execution edge in fixed income Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-from-macro-signals-to-execution-edge-in-fixed-income ### From macro signals to execution edge in fixed income Drawing on insights from our Global Fixed Income & FinTech Institutional Leaders Summit in June, Roheet Shah, Head of Dealer Sales, APAC & Head of Hong Kong, and Cathy Cai, China Business Lead, examine how a changing macro landscape is reshaping fixed income markets—and why data, execution and AI are becoming essential to building institutional resilience. Key takeaways: - Macro conditions are no longer the sole driver of performance – fragmented liquidity and competing fiscal forces are making timing and execution increasingly critical alongside market direction. - Execution quality is becoming a source of alpha – trading desks are shifting beyond order execution to playing a role in investment-making decisions and outcomes. - Data and AI are reshaping workflows – enabling insights to be translated into action more effectively to gain a competitive edge. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/from-macro-signals-to-execution-edge-in-fixed-income) ## Whats New - From macro signals to execution edge in fixed income --- # Whats New - Global EM Charity Trading Day Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-global-em-charity-trading-day ### What if one day of trading could do more than move markets? To kick off the season of giving, MarketAxess will host the Global EM Charity Trading Day on November 13, 2025, in partnership with EMpower — uniting the Emerging Markets community to trade with purpose. The MarketAxess Charitable Foundation will donate USD 25,000 to the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST) in India, supporting dignified livelihoods in underserved communities. But we want to do more, and we want to do it together with you. - Separately, the MarketAxess team is committing to donate up to 10% of revenue, or USD 60k, whichever is more, from our EM trading business on that same day. - The more you trade, the more we can donate. Every trade and every EM product is eligible. #### Join us and trade EM on November 13 — every trade counts. [Learn more](https://www.isstindia.org/) ## Whats New - Global EM Charity Trading Day --- # Whats New - GlobalCapital Award LATAM Bond Awards 2025 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-globalcapital-award-latam-bond-awards-2025 ### MarketAxess wins Best Trading Platform for LATAM Bonds! Selected by market participants, this win reflects our team’s dedication and the strength of our diverse ecosystem of EM investors. Thanks to all of you for making this achievement possible and creating the industry’s deepest liquidity pool—your partnership drives our continued innovation in electronic bond trading across emerging markets. View highlights from GlobalCapital’s Latin American Bond Awards ceremony in New York City. [Watch the video](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-bond-awards-video-whats-new) ## Whats New - GlobalCapital Award LATAM Bond Awards 2025 --- # Whats New - Help us understand your AI journey Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-help-us-understand-your-ai-journey ### Help us understand your AI journey Fixed-income market needs are changing. How are you and your team approaching AI? Share your views in our 5-question, anonymous survey. [Take our quick survey](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/f/AI-Client-Survey-Whats-New-2025) ## Whats New - Help us understand your AI journey --- # Whats New - How automation is reshaping private bank trading in Asia Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-how-automation-is-reshaping-private-bank-trading-in-asia ### How automation is reshaping private bank trading in Asia As private banks face growing pressure to scale efficiently, automation, AI, and data-driven execution are becoming business necessities. Erik Tham, Head of Product Management, Global Private Banking, and Andre Cherbonnier, Head of Client Sales, Singapore, shared insights on how MarketAxess is helping private banks and wealth managers improve efficiency while delivering a better client experience. Key takeaways - Automation is essential as private banks scale to meet growing client demand. - AI and data are enabling, faster, smarter trading decisions. - Electronic trading and deeper liquidity are driving more efficient execution across fixed income markets. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-automation-is-reshaping-private-bank-trading-in-asia) ## Whats New - How automation is reshaping private bank trading in Asia --- # Whats New - How MarketAxess is powering the evolution of Portfolio Trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-how-marketaxess-is-powering-the-evolution-of-portfolio-trading ### How MarketAxess is powering the evolution of Portfolio Trading The fixed income landscape is evolving fast with the proliferation of Portfolio Trading. Read our blog to find out how MarketAxess is at the forefront of this innovation and what that means for you and our Portfolio Trading solution. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/the-evolution-of-portfolio-trading) ## Whats New - How MarketAxess is powering the evolution of Portfolio Trading --- # Whats New - How trades move markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-how-trades-move-markets ### How trades move markets Market impact shapes execution outcomes, but how much does trade size, liquidity and timing really matter? Explore our latest data-driven analysis that examines the relationship between trading activity and market moves, with insights that could help inform trading decisions. [Read the Article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-trades-move-markets-a-data-driven-exploration-of-market-impact) ## Whats New - How trades move markets --- # Whats New - India launch: The first fully electronic solution for IGBs in now live Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-india-launch-the-first-fully-electronic-solution-for-igbs-in-now-live ### The first fully electronic trading solution for IGBs is now live #### Be the first to trade IGBs electronically. We’re pleased to announce that Indian Government Bond (IGB) trading is now live via the MarketAxess platform. By integrating directly with the NDS-OM system operated by the Clearing Corporation of India Limited, the addition of IGBs now extends our coverage to 30 global EM local currency bond markets. Our solution is designed to provide Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and market makers with an enhanced and efficient trading experience. [Read the press release](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/emerging-markets) ## Whats New - India launch: The first fully electronic solution for IGBs in now live --- # Whats New - July month end Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-july-month-end ### Bonds are not out for summer. Schools may be. And desks may be lighter, but month-end still arrives on schedule. Rebalancing, ETF-related activity, larger RFQs, risk transfer - it all needs to get done. In July, IG liquidity held up where it counts: - 43% Open Trading activity by trade count* - 30% Open Trading by volume - 10+ average responses - 1.02 bps OTPI** *Average in the month of July. **Open Trading Price Improvement = the price difference between the best level and the next best disclosed dealer. Month-end doesn't wait for anyone's OOO. [Find it on MarketAxess](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-month-end-contact-us-marketaxess) ## Whats New - July month end --- # Whats New - LATAM Dealer Rankings August 2206 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-latam-dealer-rankings-august-2206 ## August rankings are in: LATAM's top dealers See who's leading the charge in our August 2026 rankings across: - LATAM Credit - LATAM Local Markets - EM Portfolio Trading - Feature of the month: Duel Currency Globals The next list drops in 30 days. [View leaderboard](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/latam-dealer-rankings) --- # Whats New - LATAM Dealer Rankings H1 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-latam-dealer-rankings-h1-2026 ### Rankings are in: LATAM's top dealers We're launching a new spotlight on LATAM's top-ranking dealers, kicking off with the best of H1 2026 — then refreshing monthly from here. See who's leading the charge across: - LATAM Credit - LATAM Local Markets - EM Portfolio Trading - Special Feature: Colombia Local (COLTES) The next list drops in 30 days. [Be on it](https://www.marketaxess.com/form-latam-dealer-ranking-connect-with-us) ## Whats New - LATAM Dealer Rankings H1 2026 --- # Whats New - LATAM Dealer Rankings July 2026 Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-latam-dealer-rankings-july-2026 ### July rankings are in: LATAM's top dealers. See who's leading the charge in our July 2026 rankings across: - LATAM Credit - LATAM Local Markets - EM Portfolio Trading - Feature of the month: Brazil Onshore The next list drops in 30 days. [View the leaderboard](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/latam-dealer-rankings) ## Whats New - LATAM Dealer Rankings July 2026 --- # Whats New - LATAM GC Bond Awards Cast Your Vote Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-latam-gc-bond-awards-cast-your-vote ### Cast your vote! MarketAxess is vying for the top spot at the GlobalCapital Latin America Bond Awards in the Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for Latin American Bonds category—and we need your vote. To vote for MarketAxess: - Click the link below and scroll to the bottom. - Click ‘Next’ 5 times to reach the “Other Awards” page to vote for MarketAxess. - Under the Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for Latin American Bonds (The 6th Category down). - Input ‘MarketAxess’ as Choice 1 in the blank field—and any comments you’d like and Submit. Thank you for your continued support. We’re excited to keep showcasing why MarketAxess is the premier platform for LATAM. [Vote now](https://www.marketaxess.com/www.marketaxess.com) ## Whats New - LATAM GC Bond Awards Cast Your Vote --- # Whats New - Live Markets Match is live today Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-live-markets-match-is-live-today ### Live Markets Match is live today Trade on Live Markets Match starting today. The protocol is a discreet session-based matching protocol powered by Open Trading® via Live Markets. You can buy or sell discreetly at the established level within our CP+™ range. If you’re interested in learning more about Live Markets and Match, please reach out to your sales contact. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/live-markets) ## Whats New - Live Markets Match is live today --- # Whats New - Malaysia's MYR bond market Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-malaysia-s-myr-bond-market ## Malaysia's MYR bond market gains momentum as institutional liquidity expands on MarketAxess Trading activity on MarketAxess highlights the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) as one of the fastest-growing emerging market local currency bond markets on the platform in 2026, with participation accelerating across a broad range of offshore investors. - Strong fundamentals and policy stability continue to attract global investors. - Participation from asset managers, hedge funds, banks and dealers is helping deepen liquidity and price discovery. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/malaysia-s-myr-bond-market-gains-momentum-as-institutional-liquidity-expands-on-marketaxess) --- # Whats New - Mid-X Now live for APAC dealers Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-mid-x-now-live-for-apac-dealers ### Mid-X #### Now live for APAC dealers Leverage the full power of Open Trading® to maximize anonymous matching opportunities and achieve better cost savings by matching at the CP+™ mid-market price. The synergy of Mid-X and Dealer RFQ enables you to reduce risk at mid while accessing a unique pool of sell-side participants from DRFQ lists. - Mid-X – Session-based trading for dealers to clear risk at mid - Dealer RFQ – Efficiently create DRFQ lists and clear multiple line items post Mid-X session For more information, please reach out to your MarketAxess sales representative. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/dealers) ## Whats New - Mid-X Now live for APAC dealers --- # Whats New - New case study: Setting new standards in LATAM and beyond Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-new-case-study-setting-new-standards-in-latam-and-beyond #### New case study ### Setting new standards in LATAM and beyond. SURA Investments partnered with MarketAxess to transform their fixed income trading operations, enabling tighter risk management and improved agility in responding to shifting market dynamics. Read the full case study to discover how SURA Investments set a new benchmark for innovation in the region. [Read the case study](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-sura-investments-case-study-whats-new) ## Whats New - New case study: Setting new standards in LATAM and beyond --- # Whats New - New perspective: US fixed income regulation Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-new-perspective-us-fixed-income-regulation ### New perspective: US fixed income regulation From execution to AI and private credit, our latest article looks at where targeted regulatory updates could reduce friction and improve outcomes across fixed income markets. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/how-us-regulation-can-support-evolving-fixed-income-market-structure) ## Whats New - New perspective: US fixed income regulation --- # Whats New - Optimising execution in Qatari and Kuwaiti bond sell-off Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-optimising-execution-in-qatari-and-kuwaiti-bond-sell-off ### Optimising execution in Qatari and Kuwaiti bond sell-off In February 2025, J.P. Morgan announced it would reclassify Qatar and Kuwait as developed markets, leading to their removal from its Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI). We spoke to The DESK on the following: - The changes in trading behavior we observed on the platform. - How our e-trading solutions like Targeted RFQ and Open Trading help market participants navigate the landscape. [Read the article](https://www.fi-desk.com/optimising-execution-in-qatari-and-kuwaiti-bond-sell-off/) ## Whats New - Optimising execution in Qatari and Kuwaiti bond sell-off --- # Whats New - Record month for IGBs Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-record-month-for-igbs ### Record month for IGBs electronic trading in June As India becomes an increasingly important part of global fixed income portfolios, electronic trading is helping Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) access the market with greater efficiency and scalability. During periods of elevated fund flows, the ability to execute larger volumes electronically helps streamline workflows and support faster portfolio deployment. We're proud to support clients throughout their IGBs electronic trading journey, and even prouder when they share the value they are experiencing firsthand. [Trade now](https://marketaxess.tfaforms.net/f/IGBs-MKTX) ## Whats New - Record month for IGBs --- # Whats New - Scaling up EM Hard Currency trading with Targeted RFQ Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-scaling-up-em-hard-currency-trading-with-targeted-rfq ### Scaling up EM Hard Currency trading with Targeted RFQ In the fast-evolving world of EM Hard Currency trading, technology is reshaping execution strategies. The recent MarketAxess panel in London highlighted the growing importance of electronic solutions like Targeted RFQ and Open Trading®, offering new ways to improve pricing, execution efficiency, and data-driven decisions when trading larger sizes. Here's a recap by Anju Sima, our Head of UK, Netherlands & Nordic Sales – Client Sales, covering the key takeaways and insights. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/scaling-up-em-hard-currency-trading-with-targeted-rfq) ## Whats New - Scaling up EM Hard Currency trading with Targeted RFQ --- # Whats New - Seize the moment: Secondary market wins in new issue season Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-seize-the-moment-secondary-market-wins-in-new-issue-season ### Seize the moment: Secondary market wins in new issue season Don't let the new issuance period take you away from secondary market trading. The MarketAxess suite of low- and high-touch protocols can do most of the heavy lifting for you. Auto-X™ RFQ, our powerful automation tool, helps manage your flow by automating our traditional RFQ protocol, giving you access to superior liquidity whether you decide to trade with your favourite dealers or leverage our Open Trading® marketplace. [Trade now](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia) ## Whats New - Seize the moment: Secondary market wins in new issue season --- # Whats New - Shaping the future of EM, together Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-shaping-the-future-of-em-together ## Shaping the future of EM, together—have your say! MarketAxess is in the running for Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for Emerging Market Bonds at the GlobalCapital Bond Awards—and we need your support! Voting is quick and easy: - Click below and scroll to the bottom to add your details. - Select 'Emerging Markets Bond Award' in the section 'Which category you would like to vote for'. - Click 'Next’ twice to reach the ‘Other Awards’ page. - Enter MarketAxess as Choice 1 under 'Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for Emerging Markets Bonds', and submit—that’s it! Thank you for your support! We’re committed to staying the top platform for EM bonds! [Click to vote](https://survey.alchemer.eu/s3/90809194/GlobalCapital-Bond-Awards-2025) --- # Whats New - Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-simplifying-hard-currency-em-bond-trading ### Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading Hard Currency EM bond trading is characterised by fragmented markets, multiple time zones, noisy data, and growing trade volumes. Traders need timely insights on counterparties to execute pre-trade decisions effectively while enhancing efficiency and ensuring best execution. Anju Sima, Head of UK, Netherlands & Nordic Sales at MarketAxess tells Dan Barnes, CEO Europe at Markets Media, how traders are leveraging our toolkit to optimise Hard Currency trading. [Listen to the podcast](https://www.fi-desk.com/the-bondcast-simplifying-hard-currency-em-bond-trading/) ## Whats New - Simplifying Hard Currency EM bond trading --- # Whats New - The Expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidity ### The Expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity Algorithmic trading is reshaping fixed income markets, with dealer algos now supplying liquidity to 96% of RFQs across US and European credit markets. Their reach is expanding rapidly—improving execution quality, pricing efficiency, and liquidity. Since 2021, unique bond coverage by algos has surged 82%, alongside increased algo participation in larger trade sizes. The increasing reliance on algorithms is transforming the trading landscape—enhancing speed, efficiency, and market depth. Learn more in our latest AxessPoint. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint-the-expanding-role-of-algos-in-block-trading-and-market-liquidity) ## Whats New - The Expanding role of algos in block trading and market liquidity --- # Whats New - Trade KTBs Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trade-ktbs ### Trade KTBs with us Asia local currency bonds are the fastest growing sector on the MarketAxess platform. Now, Korean Treasury Bonds (KTBs) are becoming an increasingly important part of global fixed income portfolios. As participation accelerates, so does the opportunity to stay ahead of the curve. Trade KTBs supported by deep, growing liquidity from high-quality dealers, with more joining the platform. #### Key protocols for trading KTBs on MarketAxess: - Request-For-Quote (RFQ): Request single, competitive bids or offers from multiple dealers that you select. - Request-For-Market (RFM): Competitive two-way quotes in seconds, without revealing your direction. Be part of the action, trade KTBs with us today. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/ktbs-brochure) ## Whats New - Trade KTBs --- # Whats New - Trade munis like a champion Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trade-munis-like-a-champion ## Trade munis like a champion Our award-winning, AI-powered CP+™ pricing has expanded to the municipal bond market, providing actionable data for over 930K municipal bonds. This innovation increases transparency and efficiency, enabling market participants to plan trades faster and with greater accuracy. Discover how CP+ for Munis is reshaping the trading landscape in our latest white paper detailing its groundbreaking methodology. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/munis-cp-plus-for-munis-whitepaper-whats-new) --- # Whats New - Trade the Mars Bonds Now: $26B New Issue Available Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trade-the-mars-bonds-now-26b-new-issue-available ## Trade the Mars Bonds Now: $26B New Issue Available on MarketAxess Family-owned Mars priced its massive $26 billion eight-part bond offering yesterday. Trade these bonds directly on MarketAxess with up to an 80% discount on your Open Trading® execution fees*. Access our full suite of data and analytics including CP+™, Liquidity Score and Tradability to optimize your trading strategy. #### Contact your sales coverage to learn more. ###### *All New Issues qualify for Open Trading discounts in the first 25 days of trading: IG up to 80% and HY $100mm+ up to 50%. --- # Whats New - Trading dynamics in a post-forward guidance era Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trading-dynamics-in-a-post-forward-guidance-era ### Trading dynamics in a post-forward guidance era Following the Federal Reserve's recent decision to remove forward guidance, our team used proprietary MarketAxess data to examine US credit market behavior around Fed announcements. Comparing the more volatile 2022–2023 hiking cycle with the better-telegraphed post-hiking period from 2024–26. The findings suggest that while a return to less predictable Fed meetings could increase market friction, electronic liquidity and dealer competition have remained remarkably resilient. [Read the full analysis](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/fed-day-dynamics-in-a-post-forward-guidance-era) ## Whats New - Trading dynamics in a post-forward guidance era --- # Whats New - Trading in volatile markets? Open Trading® is how Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trading-in-volatile-markets-open-trading-is-how ### Trading in volatile markets? Open Trading is how In today's turbulent markets, we're witnessing volatility reminiscent of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Last week's data revealed Open Trading® price improvements across: - Penetration in US High Grade bonds reaching 39%, delivering price improvements of 1.87 bps. - US High Yield exhibited a similar pattern with 38% penetration and price improvements of 37 cents. For strategic insights on navigating these challenging conditions, we invite you to revisit our 2020 AxessPoint on unlocking liquidity during market volatility. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/axesspoint_diverse-participants-create-liquidity-opportunities-during-credit-market-stress) ## Whats New - Trading in volatile markets? Open Trading® is how --- # Whats New - Trading new issues? MarketAxess is how Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trading-new-issues-marketaxess-is-how ### Trading new issues? MarketAxess is how When a new issue becomes Free-To-Trade we should be your first port of call. Whether you'd like to trade with all your favourite dealers or leverage our award-winning all-to-all trading network, Open Trading®. With our Open Trading network, you can leverage the world's deepest credit liquidity pool to get in on the action early. With close to $4bn traded daily with a network of 2,000+ participants, there is no better place to trade new issues. [Trade now](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/asia) ## Whats New - Trading new issues? MarketAxess is how --- # Whats New - Trading New Issues? Open Trading is how Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trading-new-issues-open-trading-is-how ## Trading New Issues? Open Trading is how Be in the mix of the natural two-way activity in the market created by clients who were either under allocated or looking to reduce exposure depending on the New Issues’ performance. With our Open Trading® network, you can leverage the world's deepest credit liquidity pool to find a buyer or seller. With close to $4bn traded daily with a network of 2,000+ participants, there is no better place to trade New Issues. With our tailored Dealer RFQ solution, trade with confidence by accessing deeper liquidity, faster execution, and the ability to send out your inquiry anonymously. All with one click. [Trade now](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/dealers) --- # Whats New - TraX transparency through time Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-trax-transparency-through-time ### Axess All® Prints expands coverage This month, we launched Phase III of Axess All Prints, offering a ~15% increase in average daily trade count—which adds clean, real-time pricing for Sterling Corporates and EM Local Markets for the first time. This latest release also brings: - Trade direction and side on every print - Expanded coverage across EU High Yield, EM Hard Currency, EM Local Currency, and Developed Market bonds Developed in close collaboration with our largest contributors, Axess All Prints has scaled significantly since its 2022 launch—from ~15,000 trades across 4,250 instruments to ~50,000 trades on 13,100 instruments today. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-axess-all-prod-sheet-2025) ## Whats New - TraX transparency through time --- # Whats New - We’re here to help. Open Trading is how. Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-we-re-here-to-help-open-trading-is-how ### We’re here to help. Open Trading is how. As volatility continues, the strength of the MarketAxess network has been exemplified through consistent and quality pricing. Last week, we saw Open Trading® penetration in US HG and US HY reach a high of 46%. The price improvement within US HY was 59 cents last week, and in US HG we reached 3.6bps. Across markets, we are seeing sizeable price improvements, helping you navigate the market stress with better execution outcomes. [Trade now](https://www.marketaxess.com/trade/open-trading) ## Whats New - We’re here to help. Open Trading is how. --- # Whats New - Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-why-marketaxess-leads-the-way-in-bond-trading-for-global-emerging-markets ### Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets For the third consecutive year, MarketAxess has been recognized as the Best Secondary Market Trading Platform for Emerging Markets Bonds at the GlobalCapital Bond Awards. Dan Burke, Global Head of Emerging Markets at MarketAxess, shares insights on evolving EM dynamics, product development, and the future of secondary bond trading in emerging markets. [Read the article](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/emerging-markets-global-capital-awards-2025-article) ## Whats New - Why MarketAxess leads the way in bond trading for global emerging markets --- # Whats New - Your Smart Dealer Select, now enhanced Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/whats-new/whats-new-your-smart-dealer-select-now-enhanced ### Your Smart Dealer Select, now enhanced SDS is even more powerful now with the addition of TraX® Active Dealers (TAD)—a new criterion that includes trading activity from TraX, the MarketAxess proprietary trade reporting service that captures reported voice and electronic trades from buy- and sell-side firms, covering approximately 60% of EM HC APAC and approximately 70% of CEEMEA trade data. Combined with Targeted RFQ, TAD further enhances the accuracy of recommended dealers, this means you can: - Leverage multiple trading data from sources independent of MarketAxess' platform data. - Access a broader market view on dealer performance. - Gain confidence in trading blocks with Targeted RFQ. [Learn more](https://www.marketaxess.com/pdf/targeted-rfq-product-sheet-emerging-markets.pdf) ## Whats New - Your Smart Dealer Select, now enhanced --- # Willkommen bei MarketAxess Source: https://www.marketaxess.com/willkommen-bei-marketaxess Willkommen auf der führenden Anleihehandelsplattform Handeln Sie, wie und mit was Sie wollen. Mehr als 2.000 große internationale Marktteilnehmer greifen täglich für den Handel mit Anleihen auf MarketAxess zurück. Mit einer täglichen Handelsvolumen von mehr als 19 Milliarden US-Dollar sind wir Ihre erste Anlaufstelle für den Handel mit festverzinslichen Wertpapieren. Wir zählen zu den größten elektronischen Marktplätzen für US Investment Grade- und High Yield-, Emerging-Markets-, EUR Investment Grade- und High Yield Anleihen sowie US und europäische Staatsanleihen und mehr. [Kontaktieren Sie uns für eine Demo](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us) Mit Echtzeit- und prädiktiven algorithmischen Daten zu mehr als 250.000 Anleihen um Ihr Trading zu unterstützen sind wir der richtige Ort, um die Liquidität vor der Preisanfrage und die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer erfolgreichen Transaktion mit nur einem Klick zu bewerten. Sie finden bei uns auch eine Vielzahl von Handelsprotokollen, die das Trading unterstützen – von High-Touch-Lösungen wie einzelne „Request for Quotes“ (RFQs) und Portfolio Trades bis hin zu automatisierten Ausführungen ohne Mitwirken des Händlers. Wir bieten Ihnen eine Art zu Handeln die Ihrem Stil entspricht. ### Elektronischer Handel und die Renovierung eines Landhauses Investoren sollten auf jeden Transaktionsschritt vorbereitet sein—egal, ob es sich um High-Touch-Handel handelt oder nicht. Der elektronische Anleihenhandel mag zwar besonders bei schwierigen Liquiditätsanforderungen gewissen Herausforderungen ausgesetzt sein, dieser Beitrag von Aria Pattinson-Speirs soll jedoch zeigen, inwiefern er mit MarketAxess mit der Renovierung eines Hauses vergleichbar ist. [Artikel Lesen](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/elektronischer-handel-und-die-renovierung-eines-landhauses) ### Blockbusting Teil 3 | Vergleich des Portfoliohandels und Listen-RFQ-TCAs In der letzten Folge unserer Blockbusting-Serie untersuchen wir die wichtigsten Faktoren für Portfoliohandel und Handelskostenanalyse (TCA). [Artikel lesen](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/vergleich-des-portfoliohandels-und-listen-rfq-tcas) ### Blockbusting Teil 2 | Wie sich Kundenanfragen auf den Markt auswirken In dieser zweiten Folge unserer Blockbusting-Reihe untersuchen wir die Preisauswirkungen von Kundenanfragen auf dem Markt im März 2023, einem Zeitraum extremer Volatilität, um die Ursachen für Informationslecks zu ermitteln. [Artikel lesen](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-teil-2-wie-sich-kundenanfragen-auf-denmarkt-auswirken) ### Blockbusting Teil 1 | Pre-Trade-Informationen: Die Markttiefe kennen Dies ist der erste Beitrag in einer kurzen Reihe von AxessPoints, die die Vorteile des elektronischen Handels mit größeren Ordervolumina erörtern. [Artikel lesen](https://www.marketaxess.com/article/blockbusting-teil-1-pre-trade-informationen-die-markttiefe-kennen) ### Der globale, elektronische All-to-all-Marktplatz Mit Open Trading® können alle Teilnehmer, einschließlich Investoren und Händler, auf einer effizienten globalen Plattform direkt und anonym miteinander handeln. Open Trading gelingt eine Verbesserung von erzielten Preisen durch höhere Effizienzen und einer enormen Erweiterung des Liquiditätspools im weltweiten Markt für (Unternehmens-) Anleihen. [Broschüre herunterladen](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/open-trading-brochure-german) ### Lesen Sie unser neues CP+ Whitepaper CP+, unsere preisgekrönte Preisfindungsmaschine für Anleihen, hat Zugang zu täglichen Preisen für 80 % mehr Anleihen als öffentliche Quellen allein und bietet somit wesentlich mehr hochwertige Transaktionsdaten. Lesen Sie unser neues Whitepaper und erfahren Sie, wie CP+ unsere eigenen Handelsdaten in einen strategischen Vorteil verwandelt. [Herunterladen White Paper](https://www.marketaxess.com/explore/data-cp-whitepaper-web) ### Kontaktieren Sie uns für eine Demo [Contact Us](https://www.marketaxess.com/contact-us)