Progress Software Corporation, a global supplier of application infrastructure software, has announced strong growth in the Asia Pacific region. The company says this is because its white box algorithmic trading solution meets the demands of the region’s diverse markets for customised, localised algorithmic trading capabilities.
Progress offices in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia are experiencing strong demand for the Progress Apama Algorithmic Trading Platform, the company says, with the Asia Pacific market now representing 20% of the Progress worldwide Apama business.
Progress has added a number of new Apama clients throughout the region during the past twelve months. Last November Progress announced that leading Korean financial IT vendor, Koscom, had selected the Apama platform for algorithmic trading on the Korea Exchange (KRX). Progress and Koscom also entered into a strategic partnership whereby Koscom is developing a localised version of the Apama platform for distribution, making Apama the first commercial algorithmic trading system available in Korea.
“Algorithmic trading in Asia Pacific began its development in a similar vein to Europe and North America with an initial focus on equities,” says Sang Lee, managing partner at research and advisory firm Aite Group. “Today, however, firms are rapidly adopting techniques that have taken longer to develop in the more established markets. These include the use of algorithms for foreign exchange and cross-asset class trading. As algorithmic trading in Asia continues to evolve, flexible, customisable technology that accounts for the unique characteristics of local markets is essential.”
Progress says the Apama white box architecture is ideally suited to the Asia Pacific region’s diverse markets. It argues that in contrast to a black box architecture, which requires firms to use pre-built algorithms and market connectivity, the Apama white box approach allows users to customise the behavior of the system based on their knowledge of the market, their different trading techniques, and their desire to differentiate themselves competitively.
“In a market where regulation, connectivity, technology and language vary so vastly from one country to the next, the ability to localise trading technology is essential,” says Mark Palmer, vice-president and general manager, Apama Products, Progress Software. “The only way to truly localise algorithmic trading in Asia is by using a white box approach, which allows firms to capitalise on their knowledge of local markets to create and evolve unique algorithmic trading techniques.”