Fixed income platform provider MarketAxess has launched a Diversity Dealer initiative aimed at connecting minority, women and veteran-owned broker dealers on its platform.
The initiative includes a series of technology enhancements that will enable investor clients on MarketAxess’ anonymous all-to-all Open Trading marketplace to select a diversity dealer to intermediate a transaction.
MarketAxess said that pilot buy-side participants of the initiative included BlackRock, AllianceBernstein, Loop Capital Markets, and R. Seelaus & Co.
“As a fiduciary on behalf of clients, BlackRock is committed to cultivating and advancing diversity in all forms across our organisation and in the markets that we serve,” said Dan Veiner, global head of fixed income trading at BlackRock.
“Trading initiatives that provide broader access to opportunities will meaningfully contribute to the growth of participating diverse broker businesses.”
The pilot program was initially launched in November last year and supports trading in investment grade bonds, high yield bonds and municipal securities on MarketAxess’ Open Trading marketplace.
“Many institutions want to trade with a more diverse set of counterparties,” said Rick McVey, chairman and chief executive of MarketAxess.
“This is a powerful example of the value that Open Trading technology creates for our clients. By eliminating barriers to opportunity and building connectivity in global fixed income trading, we are able to improve liquidity for all market participants.”
MarketAxess claimed its Open Trading network of institutional participants delivered over 25,000 credit trading opportunities per day and over $16 billion in daily notional volume last year.
In September last year, BlackRock also came out on top of the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Index by Refinitiv that ranks the top 100 most diverse and inclusive organisations globally.
The index measured the performance of 10,000 companies, led by banking, investment services, and insurance firms informed by Refinitiv’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data.