The service will link investment managers who are not automated with a Web-based connection to Omgeo's Oasys, Oasys-TradeMatch, and ultimately Central Trade Manager (CTM), to process US fixed income and equity trades. The aim is to cut costs for brokers dealing with non-automated counterparties.

Allocation Manager will be available in the US late Q2 2003 and includes automated notice of execution (NOE)in standard FIX format from the participating broker/dealer and the Omgeo Alert service bureau functionality which allows users to access Alert through an outsourced solution.

Omgeo and the participating firms have agreed to promote the solution using the broker/dealer distribution channel and eliminate investment manager fees for accessing Omgeo services.

Adam Bryan, president and CEO, Omgeo, says the securities industry continues to face the challenge of eliminating costly, error-prone trade processing practices and straight-through processing (STP) solutions can appear to be expensive to implement and operate.

"The underlying goal is to increase automated allocations from a larger number of investment managers around the globe, as the benefits of STP will be very limited without them. As clients' volumes continue to grow, users of Omgeo Allocation Manager will realise real benefit from a simple migration path to STP," says Bryan.

Gerard Lionetti, director at participating firm UBS Warburg says the initiative uses the bank's existing automated infrasturcture and is a way to achieve connectivity with clients that are not already utilising electronic allocations.

Omgeo says it is also beginning to organise a similar initiatives with broker/dealers outside the US.