Investment Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE:ITG), a leading provider of technology-based equity trading and transaction research services to institutional investors, today announced it is collaborating with Electronic Specialist (ESP) to provide greater flexibility and access to one of the deepest pools of liquidity in electronic equity trading for financial institutions, hedge funds, and brokers-dealers worldwide.
To this end, ITG, the pioneer of automated trading intelligence, has integrated its SmartServer algorithms and its POSIT and TriAct crossing networks with ESP's Global Direct Market Access (DMA) and Electronic Algorithm Routing Network (EARN). ITG's SmartServer algorithms allow sophisticated trading strategies to be executed electronically. POSIT and TriAct anonymously match equity buy and sell orders automatically.
"Now clients across ESP's network can access ITG's algorithms and crossing networks through any of the 20 integrated trading applications that we support," says Scott Kurland, senior managing director of ESP. "We believe that the addition of ITG's $18.4 billion in average daily institutional match liquidity through POSIT and TriAct, collectively, will provide an extremely valuable source of liquidity for clients on our DMA Network."
ITG's SmartServers provide a set of electronic trading algorithms designed to meet multiple benchmarks and automate trading tactics, saving traders time and giving them greater control. POSIT, the world's largest equity crossing system, matches institutional buyers and sellers anonymously and provides patented optimisation capabilities for traders to manage portfolio risk characteristics. TriAct offers anonymous, continuous equity crossing with opportunities for price and size improvement. All orders filled in POSIT and TriAct are executed between the bid and ask spread, which equates to cost savings to ITG's customers.
"In this era of heightened market scrutiny and transparency, customers are increasingly demanding broker-neutral solutions," says Tony Huck, managing director of Sales and Trading at ITG. "Connecting to ESP demonstrates ITG's commitment to provide more flexible access to our algorithmic servers and our cornerstone POSIT crossing network." Additionally, the integration of the two networks will broaden the customer base of both ITG and ESP.
Of particular benefit to the investment community, the teaming of ITG with ESP will now allow clients to aggregate their ITG trade executions submitted through ESP's DMA or EARN Portal with ESP's other DMA and algorithmic trading executions as a single or allocated block trade. ESP provides centralised clearing, settlement and delivery across all market destinations. ESP's EARN Portal currently offers clients anonymous, centralised access to more than 40 algorithmic strategies from some of the leading providers of financial services.