Fixed income trading venue and data provider MarketAxess has expanded its integration with the Investortool platform for its municipal bond activity
From now, MarketAxess’ offerings will be displayed on the Investortools Dealer Network (IDN) as it seeks to expand its electronic municipal trading. Through the IDN software and Investortool’s straight-through-processing, asset managers have direct click-to-bid and click-to-trade access to liquidity.
Speaking in an announcement, the business explained that the partnership was the next step in the integration within the FIX connectivity. Through combining MarketAxess’ trading and CUSIP systems with the Investortools suite of trading analytics and tools, the business said it will offer “a comprehensive view of the fixed income market”.
James Morris, senior vice president at Investortools, said: “Order routing integrations with MarketAxess have been a valuable part of our clients’ trading ecosystem for seven years, and expanding upon that integration to bring MarketAxess’ offerings into the IDN is a major step forward in shaping the future of electronic fixed income trading, especially for munis.”
He added: “[it] gives our clients the ability to measure SMA portfolio construction in days instead of months while adding alpha through an STP user experience.”
MarketAxess and Investortools integrated the former’s Municipal Bond Platform within the Investortools Perform and Smart portfolio management systems back in 2016. Now with this move, Investortools’ clients have access to the MarketAxess offerings from within the IDN.
Daniel Kelly, head of municipal securities at MarketAxess, highlighted how the evolution of the municipal bond marketplace has increased the need for automation. He explained that the partnership with Investortools “is a logical next step in our relationship as we move towards integrating our muni capabilities within the IDN.”