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FlexTrade Introduces OMS; Weeden Is First Client
July 28, 2008
FlexTrade Systems, a leading provider of execution management systems (EMS), has introduced a sell-side order management system (OMS) and is announcing today that Greenwich, Conn.-based institutional brokerage Weeden & Co. is its first client.
Great Neck, N.Y.-based FlexTrade says the new platform, FlexOMS, streamlines the trading process between buy-side firms and execution venues, allowing the sell side to manage firm-wide risk and optimize their workflow. According to FlexTrade president and CEO Vijay Kedia, the OMS is available as a stand-alone product or can be fully integrated with the FlexTrader EMS or other execution management platforms.
Moving into the OMS space is “a natural extension of our business,” said Kedia. “In the U.S. alone we have around 40 large program trading desks using our execution management system, many of which have seen explosive growth in volumes due to algorithmic trading” and direct-market access. The demands for OMS have “changed quite a bit” over the last few years, he added, and “given our strong expertise dealing with high traffic, low latency and high volumes of data, it was very easy for us to become involved in that space.”
Added Kedia, “Because of the robust technology and quality service we have been providing the sell side for more than ten years, many users demanded that we add this extension to the system.” FlexOMS allows sell-side firms to “meet their needs as market requirements change” rapidly. The product has a growing pipeline of users, said Kedia, but he declined to name any other new clients.
“By integrating our proprietary front-end trading technology and routing infrastructure with FlexTrade’s middle-office OMS, we now have a state-of-the-art front-to-back solution to help service our clients,” said Amit Chatterjee, managing director and chief information officer of Weeden, which specializes in difficult-to-trade equities, program and algorithmic trading and also provides independent research.
Weeden is replacing SunGard Data Systems’ Brass OMS. “With volumes exploding last year, our primary driver was our desire to handle substantially increased volume without adding additional hardware or infrastructure,” explained Chatterjee. “We needed to be prepared for what the future might hold in program trading.”
A spokesperson for SunGard said the company does not comment on specific customer situations, adding that its “unwavering focus on customer service is evidenced by the number of contract renewals and extensions for solutions such as the Brass trading platform that we continue to experience.”
FlexTrade says its new system, which is designed to augment the sell-side functionality of its suite of trading solutions, is comprised of three primary components--order management, market making and streamlined reporting--and includes features such as comprehensive management of all types of customer orders over their entire life cycle, risk and position monitoring, an allocation module that supports automatic and manual matching, and real-time reporting to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority-Nasdaq trade reporting facility.
Matt Samelson, senior analyst with Boston-based Aite Group, noted that FlexTrade’s offering is tailored to “sell-side requirements” and could replace patchworks of legacy technology in the middle and back offices. “This seems to be a more integrated comprehensive solution for a small broker,” he said, though he added that “there’s a question about how big the market for this would be.”
