Electronic Trading Newsflashes: CSFB to Distribute Algorithms via AFA’s Multibroker Platform, and more

CSFB to Distribute Algorithms Via AFA's Multibroker Platform

Credit Suisse First Boston's (CSFB) Advanced Execution Services (AES) agreed to offer AES' algorithms through Advanced Financial Applications' (AFA) IMPACT Pro platform, the vendor announced today.

CSFB's buy- and sell-side clients will have electronic access to the firm's entire suite of AES algorithms, its Pathfinder DMA (direct-market-access) service, as well as its equity cash trading desk through the IMPACT Pro platform.

A Web-based, fully hosted application, IMPACT Pro will provide CSFB's clients with AFA's Integrated Order Processing capability which encompasses multibroker trade execution, trade allocations and connectivity to multiple prime brokers in a single platform.

Two hedge funds using the AFA platform through CSFB are Redwood Grove Capital Management and Crossfields Capital Management, according to the release.

Lehman Brothers' Pre-Trade Analytics Go Live on Bloomberg

Lehman Brothers says its pre-trade analytics are available via the Bloomberg Professional services.

The distribution agreement expands the availability of Lehman Brothers' global pre-trade analytics to its clients. Bloomberg has more than 250,000 users worldwide.

Lehman's pre-trade analytics are driven off of its Portfolio WebBench equity analytics suite, which provides comprehensive trading and portfolio management decision support. Functionality includes: transaction cost and risk modeling, portfolio optimization, and trading cost analysis.

Lehman's pre-trade analytics are accessible via the Bloomberg Execution Management System (EMS), on the Bloomberg terminal using the function EMS GO.

Amex to Launch Trading System in First Quarter of 2006

The American Stock Exchange (Amex) says it will launch The Alternative Trading System (ATS), a completely redesigned trading platform, by the first quarter of 2006, according to the stock market's midyear report. ATS combines the best qualities of an electronic market and the auction market, said the release, which summarizes the Amex's accomplishments during the first six months of 2005.

During the first half of 2005, the Amex received the first two out of nine releases of application software for ATS, and it has begun showing ATS to the trading floor. "Improving technology has been a top priority under the new leadership. With the development and implementation of ATS, I believe that the Amex has positioned itself to be a leader in the industry," stated Antoine Shagoury, the Amex's chief information officer.

In the options markets, the Amex also is enhancing its technological capabilities to improve its ability to compete for order flow, the exchange says. Currently, the Amex is developing a system of remote quoting and a price-improvement auction. The Amex also is upgrading the performance on the Amex New Trading Environment (ANTE), its electronic-trading platform for options, and plans are underway for price improvement mechanisms within ANTE.

However, the exchange admits that it faces challenges. During the first six months of the year, Amex's equity options market share was 15.6 percent, compared to 18.5 percent during the same period in 2004. Options volume totaled 786,017 contracts per day as compared to 810.046 during the first half of 2004.

Gartmore Taps CameronFIX Engine for Trading EMX Mutual Funds

Gartmore Investment Management is using the CameronFIX engine from Cameron Systems to meet electronic trading requirements related to the processing of EMX (Electronic Message Exchange) mutual funds, the vendor announced this week.

EMX (www.emx.co.uk) is a purchase, sales and evaluation system for unit trusts and investment trusts developed on behalf of the UK fund management industry. It offers a real-time, message delivery in a secure environment for electronic trading between providers and intermediaries.

CameronFIX is the software that was chosen to build the EMX hub, according to the vendor's Web site. In addition, CameronFIX has built an EMX Integrator package that comes ready to connect with the EMX service, and can download and upload messages in standard EMX formats.

In recent weeks, Gartmore has implemented its second instance of the CameronFIX platform for EMX Mutual Funds processing following its use of CameronFIX for FIX allocations to its top 10 brokers via the Lindedata order management system. CameronFIX first went live at Gartmore in early 2004.