Source: RTS Realtime Systems
RTS Realtime Systems Group (RTS), a leading global trading solutions provider, announced today a series of strategic moves in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
As the 8th Annual FIA Asia Derivatives Conference kicks off tomorrow in Singapore, RTS unveiled plans to: go live with a new data center in Shanghai within days; open in January a fully staffed sales and client support office in Shanghai, its first office in China; open a new data center in Tokyo by year-end; and re-locate the firm's Chief Executive Officer to Singapore.
Combined with additional recent measures that have strengthened the RTS presence in the region, the changes have elicited client feedback that RTS has the most advanced trading network and data centers in APAC, along with the industry's most comprehensive global connectivity between exchanges in Asia, the United States and Europe.
The new data centers in Shanghai and Tokyo, along with the recently launched Hong Kong facility, are the latest additions to a global trading network. Through the data centers, RTS offers proximity hosting services, along with direct market access to more than 135 exchanges across regions and assets classes. The firm also offers low latency access to more than 80 marketplaces, including in Chicago, New York, London, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Tokyo.
RTS CEO Steffen Gemuenden will re-locate from Chicago to Singapore in January. Andy Woodhouse, RTS Managing Director, APAC, will re-locate from Singapore to the firm's Hong Kong office to focus on clients in North Asia and China. Singapore serves as the RTS APAC regional headquarters. (The firm's global and European headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany, and U.S. headquarters are in Chicago.) In less than two years, the firm has quadrupled its staff in APAC, from 15 in January 2011 to 60 today.
Gemuenden said: "We are very committed to emerging as the premier technology solutions provider in APAC, helping our clients identify new trading opportunities. We are proud of our progress to date, as well as the feedback we've received on our regional offering. Our team is seeing strong demand mand here for everything from front-end click trading solutions, to our new Tango OnDemand fixed-price algorithmic trading package, to risk management, hosting and FIX API exchange connectivity services based on our global trading network. We have global clients who want our help in quickly establishing a presence in Asian markets, and Asia-based clients who want to build on their sophistication locally or expand to new markets internationally."
Last year RTS made its first acquisition with the purchase of a high-end technology solutions provider in India. The firm now has offices in Mumbai and Pune, in addition to the Mumbai data center.
RTS began offering access to China's four futures exchanges earlier this year and established a local Chinese entity through which the firm will conduct business. Gemuenden said he has made regular visits to China for the past 10 years in anticipation that the country would open its markets and embrace electronic trading opportunities.