Increased Electronic Trading in Futures Means Major IT Upgrades Needed

As more and more buy-side firms seek to take advantage of electronic trading strategies for futures—such as routing orders through direct-market access (DMA) solutions or using algorithmic-trading options—brokers and third-party trading platform providers have had to upgrade their offerings.

A Tabb Group report finds that nearly 90 percent of all US buy-side firms are expected to route their futures trades through electronic channels in 2012.

Electronic trading technology provider InfoReach unveiled its enhanced trading platform yesterday and CEO Allen Zaydlin says clients have been asking for more functionality in order to trade in complex order types, where the clients rolls up two, three or even four legs of futures trades into one transaction.

As brokers create and support a greater number of algorithms, InfoReach expanded its InfoReach TMS and InfoReach Prelude trading platforms to provide FIX-based multi-leg order capabilities for cross-asset derivative futures contracts and options trades.

"Our additional FIX functionality is a reflection of this demand in the market," Zaydlin says.

As the demand for capabilities to expand into complex strategies such as multi-legged spread trades through electronic means increases, this will also invariably create new opportunities and challenges for third-party providers to keep up with these new client-led desires.

How has your firm had to either upgrade or completely replace its systems as the electronification of the futures and options market has expanded? And what new challenges do you see resulting from this expansion as we head into 2013?

Send me an email at anthony.malakian@incisivemedia.com or call me at 646-490-3973.