Waters Rankings 2026: All the winners and why they won

Here are the 35 categories making up the 2026 Waters Rankings. As usual, certain categories this year were more popular than others. Leading the way was best data analytics provider with 25 entries, followed by best market data provider (22 entries), best AI technology provider (18 entries), and best market risk solution provider (18 entries). This year’s multiple category winners include Bloomberg, LSEG, S&P Global Market Intelligence, Symphony–Cloud9, Liquidnet and RiskVal Financial Solutions. Below are the winners with their respective products or services in parentheses.                     

• Best agency broker – Interactive Brokers
• Best crossing network provider – Liquidnet
• Best algorithmic trading provider – Liquidnet
• Best clearing house – LCH
• Best artificial intelligence (AI) technology provider – S&P Global Market Intelligence (S&P Capital IQ Pro). Click on this link for an interview with Brandon Newland
• Best sell-side order management system (OMS) provider – Bloomberg (TOMS)
• Best buy-side order management system (OMS) provider – J.P. Morgan (Neovest)
• Best portfolio management system provider – RiskVal Financial Solutions (RVPortfolio) 
• Best execution management system (EMS) provider – Bloomberg (EMSX)
• Best performance measurement and attribution system provider – FactSet (Performance Measurement and Attribution Solutions)
• Best transaction-cost analysis (TCA) system provider – Talos (Talos Transaction-Cost Analysis)
• Best enterprise data management (EDM) system provider – Databricks (Databricks Data Intelligence Platform)
• Best market data provider – LSEG (LSEG Data & Feeds business)
• Best reference data provider – Bloomberg (Bloomberg Reference Data) 
• Best alternative data provider – PitchBook
• Best ESG data provider – OpenCorporates
• Best corporate actions solution provider – SIX (Global Corporate Actions)
• Best low-latency data feed provider – LSEG (LSEG Real-Time – Direct)
• Best data analytics provider – RiskVal Financial Solutions (RVFI)
• Best managed data service provider – Rimes (Enterprise Data Management Solutions). Click on this link for an interview with Vijay Mayadas. 
• Best distributed-ledger technology provider – DTCC (DTC Tokenization Service)
• Best AML compliance solution provider – KYCP
• Best market risk solution provider – Rival Systems
• Best credit risk solution provider – S&P Global Market Intelligence (RatingsDirect)
• Best market surveillance provider – Nasdaq (Nasdaq Surveillance)
• Best reporting system provider – Delta Capita (Report Hub)
• Best accounting system provider – FundGuard (FundGuard Investment Accounting Platform). Click on this link for an interview with Simon Behan.  
• Best cyber-security provider – LexisNexis Risk Solutions (LexisNexis ThreatMetrix)
• Best reconciliation management provider – SmartStream (Smart Reconciliations Premium)
• Best outsourcing service provider – Northern Trust
• Best trading floor communication system provider – Symphony
• Best network provider – Iress Trading and Market Data (IFH or Iress Fix Hub)
• Best mobile solutions provider – Symphony (Symphony Messaging)
• Best cloud-based application provider – Derivative Path (DerivativeEDGE)
• Best cloud-based technology provider – SS&C Advent (Advent/Eze Managed Applications)