Buy-Side Technology Awards 2017: Best Broker-Supplied Tool/Technology—Neovest

Although Orem, Utah-headquartered Neovest is owned by JPMorgan, the platform itself is broker-neutral, having integrated over 360 brokers across more than 160 equities, futures and options venues to date. 

This year, the firm has invested heavily in modernizing its technology backbone, ahead of a planned expansion into foreign exchange in 2018, according to CEO, Greg Cook. “We’ve made a number of improvements that allow us to more rapidly deploy updates to clients, decrease the footprint of our application, and allow greater flexibility in partnering with other technologies and systems,” he says. “Some specifics include investing in HTML5 and web services technologies, as well as utilizing the latest in cloud-based scalability.”

Other developments over the year, he says, include a suite of risk-management controls in the pre-trade space, and a multi-broker list-trading feature for its client base of hedge funds, asset managers, investment advisors and other institutions that have historically been strongly US based, but are increasingly stretching into Europe and Asia.

As such, the firm—and its clients—have not been immune to the pressures of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II), set to come into force on January 3, 2018. Cook says that the platform is “fully prepared” for the new rules. “We also see Mifid II as an opportunity for Neovest to utilize our unique technology to help our clients better understand the performance of the venues with which they trade,” he says. “In addition, Neovest will be able to provide historical performance information and analyses to empower clients to make smarter trading decisions.”Looking ahead, in addition to the FX expansion, the firm will also roll out multi-broker pairs trading functionality, venue analysis, and continue to develop “advanced order and execution analytics tools,” he says. It is also keeping an eye on some of the more cutting-edge advancements in technology, along with its infrastructural capabilities. “We monitor emerging technologies closely,” Cook says. “In the last few years, machine learning and artificial intelligence have made great strides in their capabilities and the areas where they are utilized. However, the key to successful implementation is the data that empowers them. Neovest has invested in our own ticker plant and its advanced infrastructure, allowing us to utilize these technologies to better facilitate client decision-making.”