This new feature brings additional real-time analytics to the user desktop enabling US brokers to enhance the profitability of their execution strategies and strengthen their buy-side client relationships.

Fidessa's ECA solution consists of a powerful cost-tracking engine that provides traders with real-time analysis of the exact costs of executing each order without affecting execution performance. It calculates, categorizes and aggregates spending per trader by share and venue, and also tracks the profit margins for each client, again by share and by venue.

ECA gives traders real-time, actionable information on the impact of their decisions regarding trading destinations and counterparties, and enables them to take control of their venue execution costs across complex billing structures and multiple liquidity sources. Using ECA, brokerage houses can identify sources of profit and loss. For example, it can show whether an aggressive approach has proven profitable, whether the illiquid nature of a given stock justifies its execution costs, which venues are the most costly and what percentage of a buy-side commission is lost to execution costs. It therefore enables brokers to identify beneficial business lines and gives them a sound footing on which to negotiate commission rates with clients whose orders or instructions have an impact on margins.

Jeffrey Meyerson, managing director of Sunrise Securities Corp., has been using ECA and said: "We see Fidessa's technology as a major part of our organization. As part of our drive to manage costs, we have a real focus on automation and removing laborious manual processes from as many aspects of our operation as possible. Fidessa's ECA has helped reduce errors and made us much more productive."

He continued, "Working with a vendor like Fidessa, you not only get access to a range of robust solutions with enhanced functionality, you also get to lean on a wider support network and industry experts who really understand your business. Fidessa has played an important role in our growth - over the last six months alone our order volumes have grown dramatically - and their technology has been our backbone."

Justin Llewellyn-Jones, chief operating officer of Fidessa US, adds: "Product innovation is an integral part of Fidessa's corporate culture. We are committed to an ever-increasing level of investment in our core solutions, thereby giving our customers the tools they need to stay ahead of their competition. This new ECA functionality demonstrates that commitment and is part of a larger initiative to integrate further business intelligence into the trading process. This will allow for an enhanced degree of visibility and control over daily operations and trading strategies on a real-time basis."