IT firm Sungard’s acquisition of trading technology company GL TRADE will give European buy-side firms better access to Sungard’s trading product suite and allow Sungard’s US buy-side clients to tap brokers in Europe and Asia.
A senior executive at Sungard’s Global Trading division, the unit formed from GL TRADE, told theTRADEnews.com that the firms’ integration would allow Sungard to expand its European buy-side client base by using GL TRADE’s European distribution for its trading products.
Yassine Brahim, segment president of Global Trading at Sungard, told a press conference in London yesterday that the acquisition, completed in November last year, will also enable Sungard’s US buy-side clients to broaden their investment horizons.
“The US buy-side community wants to move into Europe and Asia,” said Brahim. “GL TRADE is bringing a brokerage community that is very important to Sungard’s buy-side community.”
Users of Sungard’s existing trading tools, which include the Brass order management system and a range of market access tools, are predominantly used US buy-side firms, while GL TRADE’s client base is more heavily weighted to the sell-side in Europe and Asia. The acquisition will grant Sungard’s clients use of GL Net, an order routing and execution network of more than 300 brokers that provides direct market access to over 140 markets. Clients can also use brokers’ algorithms via GL Net.
Access to GL Net’s pool of brokers could also help the buy-side manage counterparty risk. Brahim asserted that many buy-side firms are looking to use more brokers to spread the risk. “GL TRADE is offering a greater choice of brokers to the US buy-side community,” he said.
The acquisition will give GL TRADE’s clients access to the Sungard Transaction Network (STN), a FIX-to-FIX community connecting 1,900 asset managers, 650 issuers, and 270 broker-dealers representing 500 trading destinations.
Sungard plans to merge its networks to create a single global multi-asset-class offering. It expects to complete the process in Q2 this year.