Sell-Side Technology Awards 2014: Best Sell-Side Trading Network — SunGard

The SunGard Global Network (SGN) for Securities, winner of one of two SunGard awards this year, connects firms to more than 150 trading venues worldwide. The network supports a continuum of message transport services that facilitate trading and communication between asset managers and more than 530 brokerage firms, access to real-time price data from more than 120 exchanges, market connectivity, the delivery of direct market access (DMA) services, and FIX-based order management. It can route information on post-trade communication, analytics, and reconciliation, allowing the automation of trading processes and providing the audit data necessary to satisfy regulatory requirements.

The many broker algorithmic offerings, together with synthetic order types and pre-trade risk management, are major benefits of the network. The sheer number of participants on it enables them to multiply intra-network trading connections, making the whole system more efficient.

“The provision of referential data, cross-symbology services or international real-time market data feeds also vastly increases the value of a trading network,” says Philippe Carré, global head of connectivity for SunGard’s capital markets business. “The ability to onboard customers rapidly over a transparent, quick process is essential; expanding the services from order flow to DMA to algorithmic trading while offering real-time, back-office information pass-through also counts when looking at connectivity needs.”

Through SGN’s FIX Network Service, sell-side firms can manage their FIX-based order flows and outsource the complex technical management tasks and multiple physical communication links between 28 network hubs required to manage FIX connectivity requirements. The need to establish point-to-point connections to other networks is eliminated, as all connectivity and customer onboarding is managed by specialist teams, with all order traffic delivered as one coherent, normalized FIX session.

Geographical expansion, especially in emerging markets in the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe, will continue to be a top priority for SGN in the coming months.

Through SGN’s FIX Network Service, sell-side firms can manage their FIX-based order flows and outsource the complex technical management tasks and multiple physical communication links between 28 network hubs required to manage FIX connectivity requirements.