17 February 2008

Mitsubishi UFJ Securities has successfully completed the initial phase of its algorithmic execution service based on Fidessa’s algorithmic trading platform, BlueBox.

Fidessa BlueBox has a Microsoft Windows front-end and provides easy access to pre-built, industry standard algorithmic trading strategies along with a toolkit that enables clients to build their own proprietary models. BlueBox incorporates low-latency market data and global exchange connectivity, and provides a proven, easy to deploy and cost-effective solution for brokers wanting to enter the algorithmic trading space.

“With the growth in electronic trading and rapid developments in trading technologies, there are many types of client orders which can be more efficiently handled and executed using algorithms,” said Mr Yoshiki Shinchou, general manager of the R&D division in the global markets business unit at MUS. “It is our mission to provide the highest quality execution service to handle these types of orders so, for us, algorithmic trading is a must-have execution channel for our clients.”

“Time to market was a very important factor for us,” added Mr Yoshiki Shinchou. “One of the key issues in developing algorithmic execution capabilities lies in successful integration with the order management system. Fidessa BlueBox enabled us to bypass this issue, so we were able to launch phase one of our algorithmic trading service within three months of the project start date.”

Having completed the first phase of its algorithmic trading service, MUS now provides its clients with TWAP and Short Sell strategies, including a combined TWAP/Short Sell strategy, as a trader-intermediate execution. A VWAP model and volume-in-line will be added in the next phase of the project.

“Since its launch in 2007, we’ve seen uptake of our algorithmic trading platform with our large domestic broker clients,” said Hiroshi Matsubara, head of marketing for Fidessa Japan. “The ability to deploy a range of bespoke algorithms and deliver these to the market at an accelerated pace gives BlueBox users a real advantage in the increasingly competitive automated trading space.”