Fidessa Intelligence is a strategic initiative that reflects the challenges of the structural shift in the operating environment for the industry as a whole and especially for sell-side firms, regardless of size. Increased market complexity, unrelenting regulatory change and demands for greater transparency are coming at a time when competitive pressures have never been more intense.
Fidessa's new Intelligence services are designed to work together and connect with other initiatives, including Fidessa's fragmentation and other analysis tools embedded in its buy-side products. It is vital that these firms understand the dynamics of their business and differentiate their services, according to Fidessa. Steve Grob, director of group strategy at the firm says: "Ultimately, our aim is to provide a complete set of interactive buy- and sell-side information services and so empower a truly intelligent Fidessa trading community."
Fidessa Intelligence enables them to identify new opportunities, fine-tune execution activity in real time and independently measure and benchmark their overall trading performance, claimss the firm's official release.
Fidessa has coopted some of its client to outline the advantages of working with its Intelligence services suite. According to John Truscott, head of operations at Liberum, added: "Fidessa's new analysis tools enable us to look at all facets of the execution process and determine where alpha can be preserved. We can quickly identify underperforming orders and adjust to market conditions in real time, as well as monitoring execution strategies and even volumes. As a result, we're able to provide a better, more efficient service for our customers."
Following beta trials, the modules now available in Europe include: Fidessa Trader Intelligence (opportunity identification); Fidessa Real-time Intelligence (execution consulting) and Fidessa Post-trade Intelligence (trading performance and cost analysis). Fidessa Trader Intelligence is now available in Europe and helps brokers capture, filter and organise a broad range of relevant and actionable data from multiple sources. Traders can better understand their clients' trading styles, patterns and interests, as well as uncover new trading opportunities.
Since the introduction of MiFID, Europe's brokers have struggled to meet their Best Execution obligations in an ever-changing marketplace. Fidessa Real-Time Intelligence, claims Fidessa, helps turn this burden into competitive edge by providing a real-time execution consulting and benchmarking capability. Underperforming orders can be instantly identified and trading strategies adjusted to reflect the dynamic nature of liquidity in today's markets, says the firm.
Fidessa Post-Trade Intelligence provides analysis of execution quality, especially for those firms that have outsourced the execution function to third party brokers. These reports allow them to demonstrate to themselves, their clients and the regulators the effectiveness of their overall execution services. In addition, Fidessa Post-Trade Intelligence helps sell-side firms understand the contribution individual clients and/or trading desks make to overall profitability. Robin Browning, COO at Investec Securities, explains that: "We used to have to calculate the loss ratio manually for each client which meant ploughing through vast amounts of data. Now I have all the information I need in a single report. The post-trade reports provide details of which trades had higher implicit costs so that we're able to identify where we need to adjust the way we trade in the future. This ensures better overall execution services for our clients."
