This Week: SimCorp; Liquidnet; Appital; Qontigo & more

BNP Paribas SS reappoints SimCorp for investment accounting

BNP Paribas Securities Services has reappointed SimCorp to provide the technology for a range of investment accounting services. The BNP Paribas group has been a SimCorp client since 2013 and uses SimCorp Dimension across its front-to-back investment value chain in several regions, including Emea and the Americas

The new contract encompasses a global license agreement for the next six years and is in line with BNP Paribas Securities Services’ roadmap, including investment accounting services, interoperability options, and transition to new regulations (LIBOR and CSDR). BNP Paribas Securities Services and SimCorp are pursuing their joint initiative in a strive to develop front-to-back integration between SimCorp Dimension and BNP Paribas Securities Services’ custody services, aiming to enhance operational efficiency through increased transparency and timely information delivery.

Liquidnet expands ETF capabilities in the US

Liquidnet has announced the expansion of its Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) capabilities in the US, with an unconflicted solution to trade ETFs in the region. This announcement follows the launch of the firm’s Emea ETF offering. Its US equivalent is integrated in Liquidnet’s existing Equity trading application and is complemented by an RFQ process.

This offering is supported by the Liquidnet Trading Desk, a team of trading consultants, which now includes Jennifer Hubbs who returns to Liquidnet as head of the trading desk for Americas. She previously worked at Dash Financial, Bloomberg Tradebook, ITG, and New York State Common Retirement Fund. 

Liquidnet adopts new tech for investor communications

Liquidnet has also announced further electronification in the new issuance process for corporate bonds with a new feature that aims to enable investors to communicate with syndicate banks directly from their order and execution management system (O/EMS) as part of the bookbuild process, before a bond is priced and allocated.

This feature builds on the Liquidnet Primary Markets functionality, which launched in September 2021 and enables bonds to be set up in the O/EMS in the very early stages of the syndication process using a pre-Isin, early identifier. Following further enhancements, the Workflow now intends to allow orders to be sent directly from the O/EMS all the way to the syndicate bank group.

Liquidnet Primary Markets aims to be Liquidnet’s end-to-end electronic solution to a more efficient new issue process. Stage one of the offering hopes to provide investors with information around announced deals in real-time and aims to allow for easier trading of the bond “in the grey” and immediately post pricing.

Bernstein joins Appital as executing broker

Appital has announced Bernstein as executing broker on its new bookbuilding platform ahead of its launch. The Appital platform intends to give the buy-side community greater exposure to deal flow opportunities they have not been able to access before.

Buy-side traders looking to execute large orders often in excess of five days’ average daily volume, including in highly illiquid, small, and mid-cap stocks, could have access to real-time visibility, full transparency, and maximum control over the bookbuilding, price formation, and deal distribution process. The integration between Appital and Bernstein aims to offer the buy side community a more efficient and transparent way to execute large in size orders with minimal market impact or risk of price erosion. 

SEC approves blockchain exchange BSTX

BSTX is set to be the first SEC-regulated securities exchange facility offering T+0 settlement and blockchain-powered market data reporting. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an order approving the creation of BSTX as a trading facility of Box Exchange.

BSTX, a joint venture of tZERO Group and Box Digital Markets, is set to be the first fully-automated, price/time priority execution exchange for trading securities that is both regulated by the SEC and leverages private blockchain technologies. The approval intends to provide benefits to U.S. capital markets by offering; shorter settlements and proprietary blockchain data feeds.

Qontigo adds US trading model to Axioma models

Qontigo has introduced a trading horizon view for the Axioma US Equity Factor Risk Model, currently available in short-horizon, medium-horizon, statistical and fundamental variants. The new trading model is designed to meet the needs of equity traders and risk managers within hedge funds, asset management, and investment banks who need accurate portfolio risk exposures and forecasts.

The new model intends to offer an additional five style factors to its existing coverage of 14 style and 15 statistical factors: hedge fund crowding, earnings variability, volatility, short interest, and one-day reversal. The fundamental model also incorporates an implied volatility adjustment that aims to capture market uncertainty around events such as earnings announcements. 

The new model can be accessed through the Axioma line of portfolio construction, performance analytics, and risk management solutions or through file delivery that can be integrated into third-party risk, execution, and order management systems.

Allianz X leads $21m OpenGamma funding round

Allianz X has led a funding round of London-based fintech OpenGamma with a total investment of $21million. OpenGamma aims to help asset managers increase the capital efficiency of their portfolios, particularly when it comes to posting collateral in derivative transactions.

Due to cooperation with market participants such as Pimco, a subsidiary of Allianz, OpenGamma has developed coverage for an inventory of derivatives products. OpenGamma hopes to continue to expand its offering, including the prospective launch of automated workflow solutions for the treasury management of asset managers and other financial participants.