In the financial market, information is king, and whoever accesses the right information first reaps the rewards. Whether the information is the result of detailed analytics or an off-the-cuff comment of a CEO, in the right context it can make or break an organization.
In the digital age, information travels at the speed of light from two different points on the globe, and eventually globally. Industry insiders rely on technology companies that can manage mission-critical software products and technology-enabled services.
ConverEx Group is a technology company with access to more than 100 global markets, and its ConnEx Managed Services Financial Information eXchange (FIX) provides one of these critical technological services for customers in this industry.
The FIX protocol is created to provide electronic communication of trade-related messages in a series of messaging specifications. It was developed by information technology providers and members of the financial industry including banks, institutional investors, exchanges, broker-dealers and others.
The goal of FIX was to have a common language for automated trading of financial tools globally. The platform is not software, but a free specification which gives technological companies the ability to create applications as a free or commercial product.
The ConnEx Managed Services FIX connectivity was created by the ConvergEx Group to give customers a tool that can configure FIX connectivity by fitting the needs of their clients to their changing business environment, goals and requirements. With this tool, customers can monitor their FIX connectivity across different platforms for easy access on Web-based dashboards. This type of access means any electronic communication of trade-related messages can be retrieved from virtually anywhere.
Since it was first launched in 2012, ConnEx has signed clients of all sizes from different financial organizations around the world, including bulge-bracket banks. This year, ConnEx has introduced additional tools for its customer to provide more services. Some of the additions include a CRM type system managing customer connectivity in one location, real-time monitoring, an updated Pre-Trade Risk Management module and a centralized tool to monitor the condition of the FIX engine and FIX sessions so the customer can view and manage their assets.
"In the past 12 months, the number of new customers that have signed on with ConnEx has exceeded our initial plan by more than three-fold. With the average ConnEx customer seeing a 15- to 18-percent reduction in their FIX network expenses, we expect this momentum to continue. In addition, we have seen strong interest in ConnEx's pre-trade risk management tool from U.S. broker-dealers who use it in their overall Market Access Rule compliance strategy. Several Canadian brokers have also expressed interest with the Canadian Market Access Rule set to go live in early 2013," said George Rosenberger, managing director and head of ConnEx.
Tools created by organizations for the greater good such as FIX ensure that industry insiders protect their assets without the over-regulated systems created by municipalities. As long as they follow the framework of the protocol and spirit of the voluntary efforts of the members – and abide by the FIX Protocol Limited (FPL) mission statement, "To improve the global trading process by defining, managing and promoting an open protocol for real-time, electronic communication between industry participants, while complementing industry standards” – they will be all right.
Edited by
Braden Becker
