TS Imagine has integrated its execution management system (EMS) with Appital’s bookbuilding platform ahead of its launch.
The pair said the integration of their offerings would boost liquidity for mutual users and reduce risk in trading in illiquid equity positions.
Appital is gearing up to launch its bookbuilding platform into market later this year. It’s aimed at bringing greater transparency to the equity markets and giving buy-side institutions access to deal flow they previously might not have had exposure to.
“The end goal is to put the buy-side in control and give them real-time access to the entire life cycle of the bookbuilding process. The integration with TS Imagine broadens Appital’s reach into the asset management community in the UK and Europe,” Appital chief executive, Mark Badyra, told The TRADE.
“They will benefit from access to real-time visibility, full transparency and maximum control over the bookbuilding and deal distribution process. At the same time, traders and PMs [portfolio managers] will also be able to proactively expose themselves to deal flow opportunities which are relevant to them. They set their own preferences to ensure they are only exposed and alerted to relevant liquidity.”
The development follows a similar integration with FactSet’s Portware Enterprise EMS announced by Appital earlier this month aimed at enabling buy-siders to place larger orders or participate in additional liquidity opportunities.
Badyra said the TS Imagine integration – like that of FactSet – would help to de-risk trading in illiquid equity positions.
“These large trades – which are in less liquid stocks and multiple days of ADV – have historically been at risk of information leakage and therefore price erosion. To bring this flow into an EMS environment is a massive step forward in terms of de-risking trading in multiple days ADV,” Badrya added.
“One of the market trends we are looking to address and counter is the overall reduction of trade sizes we have seen in recent years. We unlock liquidity that is above block and LIS trade sizes [multiple days ADV] offering buy-side firms’ liquidity and price formation opportunities and the ability to interact with likeminded institutions in the liquidity formation process. Deal originators have real-time access to the entire life cycle of the bookbuilding process, allowing them to make distribution adjustments throughout. They can execute large volumes with minimal market impact or risk of price erosion.”