Best Market Data Provider (Broker): Tullett Prebon Information

The story behind the win is never the same though. This is not a company that stands still, and the past year has seen Tullett Prebon complete the acquisition of ICAP—creating a broker giant with an extensive information product suite.

The new TP ICAP Data & Analytics Division, which was established at the start of this year, comprises a portfolio of information businesses: TPI, ICAP Information and PVM Data, in addition to the Burton-Taylor International Consulting firm. The brands continue to be run as separate businesses, with products drawing on the independent pools of liquidity generated by their associated brokerages. Clients will see changes as TP ICAP develops new services that exploit the best of all businesses, which is expected to come in the form of new post-trade data services.

“We’re doing a lot of work in the background to scope out new products in that area,” says Frank Desmond, chief executive officer, TP ICAP Data & Analytics, and he explains that the combination of TPI and ICAP Information means the business has access to a broad view of the post-trade market, which can offer significant value to clients in terms of navigating the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and will also be critical for the next generation of the Basel Accords—in particular the extensive Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB).

Customers continue to require ever-more content sets and, when it comes to TPI clients, they are not shy about asking. For Desmond, this has meant recently expanding European corporate bonds and now covering issuance in more than 40 countries, right through from investment grade to high yield. TPI has also taken the innovative move of offering clients interested in cryptocurrencies’ transparency on intraday pricing from more than 50 digital currencies. “These products are immature, but you can’t open a newspaper today without somebody talking about bitcoin or something of the like, and working with Brave New Coin, we’re offering a view on how these cryptocurrencies are priced,” says Desmond.

This service may be in its infancy right now, but both the build-out of the bonds’ offering and the cryptocurrency release prove how TPI remains at the top of its game—building out products to deliver value to clients and meet changing requirements to climb onwards and upwards.