Developed collaboratively over the past year with feedback from members of the buy-side and dealer communities, the Spotlight Programme supports the advancement of Tradeweb’s diverse dealer community through a combination of individual dealer profiles, direct consultation and other promotion programmes designed to bring more visibility to diverse dealers operating in electronic markets. In addition, Tradeweb enhanced its request-for-quote (RFQ) trading workflow to more prominently expose diverse dealer liquidity to Tradeweb’s participating buy-side clients, further strengthening engagement between diverse dealers and buy-side users on the platform.

Tradeweb’s diverse dealer community includes, among others, firms owned by women, veterans, individuals with disabilities and members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The first protocol enhancement the firm is launching under the Spotlight Program is for RFQ users on Tradeweb’s U.S. Credit platform. Over time, Tradeweb expects to expand the programme to include additional asset classes, protocols and promotional initiatives.

Billy Hult, President and CEO-Elect at Tradeweb, said: “The financial services industry has made enormous progress toward recognizing the importance of diversity, but if we’re going to affect meaningful, long-term change, we need to look hard at the underlying systems and processes that drive our financial markets and make sure diverse dealers can leverage electronic trading in a meaningful way. With our Spotlight Program, we’ve worked closely with the industry to create a holistic solution that promotes greater diversity and inclusivity among market participants.”

Dealers that have already signed on to the Tradeweb Spotlight Dealer Diversity Programme include:

Academy Securities

Loop Capital Markets LLC

Bancroft Capital, LLC

Mischler Financial Group

Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC

Multi-Bank Securities, Inc.

CastleOak Securities

Penserra Securities LLC

C.L. King & Associates

R. Seelaus & Co., LLC

Drexel Hamilton

Samuel A. Ramirez & Co.

Great Pacific Securities

Tigress Financial Partners

Samuel A. Ramirez Jr., Senior Managing Director at Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. said: “As a leading investment firm and longstanding partner of Tradeweb since its founding over 25 years ago, we appreciate the opportunity to be highlighted as the first dealer to participate in the Spotlight Programme. By finding ways to promote diverse dealers and make them more prominent in the trading workflow, the Spotlight Programme captures both the human and technical sides of the equation to level the playing field in a practical, meaningful way.”

Chris Bruner, Managing Director and Head of U.S. Institutional Fixed Income at Tradeweb, said: “This enhanced workflow for U.S. Credit will provide an added level of choice and control in the way buy-side users trade. Buy-side users can access competitive pricing through Tradeweb’s RFQ process while strengthening their long-term relationships with diverse dealers.”