Banc of America Securities' (BAS) today announced an agreement with Charles River Development wherein clients of Charles River Investment Management System (Charles River IMS) will now have the ability to access BAS' Electronic Trading Services (ETS) trading platform seamlessly and directly.
The arrangement with Charles River, a leading provider of financial software and consulting services to the global investment management community, is part of BAS' new Electronic Trading Alliance. The Alliance is a framework in which BAS collaborates with leading technology vendors and trading venues to provide seamless solutions for institutional traders.
Charles River IMS is a comprehensive, integrated, front and middle office software suite for portfolio management, electronic trading and order management, and real-time securities compliance monitoring. Charles River IMS clients will be able to access ETS' sophisticated algorithmic strategies directly from Charles River's powerful trade blotter via a standardized order management system (OMS) "plug-in." Using a simple interface, clients will be able to trade in a no-touch and low-touch fashion for both single stock trades and list orders. Among the advantages for clients will be the ability to trade anonymously.
The two systems will be linked using FIX, or Financial Information eXchange, the standard language for communicating securities transactions between two parties.
"We are thrilled to be working with Charles River, a proven technology leader in buy-side order management. They have a stellar client list and a great track record of delivering high value solutions," said Rob Flatley, managing director of ETS. "This agreement will help us significantly expand our reach, as we provide algorithmic trading solutions to Charles River clients."
"Banc of America Securities' sophisticated trading algorithms have proven to be a highly successful execution tool for BAS traders and clients, and we expect they will be equally effective for our clients," said Peter K. Lambertus, CEO and president at Charles River Development. "We are dedicated to providing our clients integrated solutions that give them an edge in today's competitive trading market, and our alliance with BAS helps us do that."
ETS, which was launched in January 2004, is dedicated to developing and delivering a growing suite of electronic trading products to institutional investor clients. Through strategic acquisitions and development, ETS provides electronic trading products that satisfy virtually every institutional trading objective. ETS most recently announced an Electronic Trading Alliance relationship with Microsoft.