The trading technology division of Finland-based Pohjola Asset Management has bolstered operations, adding two former electronic trading executives to its team.
Tracy Black and Ulrika Robertson will work as consultants for Pohjola Asset Management Execution Services (PAMES), which has offered a buy-side-only, pan-European smart order router (SOR) since September 2011. There are currently seven institutional investment firms using the SOR.
Both Black and Robertson have held executive director positions in the electronic trading businesses of UBS and Goldman Sachs.
PAMES' SOR is based on technology developed by agency broker ITG and tailored specifically to the Finnish firm's requirements. ITG's benchmark algo strategies are also available via the routing platform.
"The goal of PAMES is to understand the needs of the user group that trade with the SOR and offer efficient and transparent market access that isn't restricted by the conflicts that can arise with brokers' SORs," Simo Puhakka, CEO of PAMES, told theTRADEnews.com.
According to data from PAMES that relates to Pohjola Asset Management's use of the SOR, spread capture for 2012 was an average of 59.44% using an implementation shortfall benchmark and 53.9% of trades were executed on the primary exchange. The SOR improved on the benchmark price, i.e. the best price that could have been obtained by routing an aggressive order to all available lit venues for a stock, 77.31% of the time.