A new iPad app developed by UBS will dramatically cut down the time to market for new algorithms, according to Owain Self, global head of algorithmic trading at UBS.
Called UBS QUOD Studio, the new app is an algorithmic trading tool designed to help UBS' algo team collaborate with clients to design and develop trading strategies.
“This iPad app is a major advance for us,” says Self. “It allows us to build solutions with the client, on the spot. It is a hands-on, interactive solution that engages with clients more effectively than a paper presentation ever could.”
The key point of the new app is its speed, together with its ease of use. Whereas a traditional customised algorithm might take weeks to build, requiring quantitative analysts and developers to code thousands of lines of commands and carry out weeks of testing and adjustments, the new app has been built to cut the process down to just 24 hours.
The offering also allows traders to simulate performance of algorithms before they build them, so users can try what-if scenarios to test how the outcomes may change when various components and triggers are changed.
Initially available in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, UBS QUOD Studio is the first release in the firm’s Quant on Demand family of tools. It will be rolled out to the Asia-Pacific region later this year.