RBC Capital Markets raised $1 million on Tuesday for several youth-related charities during its second annual "RBC Trade for the Kids" day.
RBC's Fixed Income and Currencies (FIC), U.S. Equities, Global Equity Linked Products (GELP), and Central Funding businesses all donated the net revenue from client order flow on Tuesday to several children's charities.
The charities receiving funds included Youth INC, the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Ronald McDonald House of New York.
"We are delighted to support these worthy causes that assist children and families in need, reinforcing our commitment to driving positive, impactful change in our local communities," said Mike Meyer, Global Head of FIC.
RBC's Municipal Sales and Trading desk also did its part, donating its net revenue from Tuesday's activity on the Elevate system.
Elevate is RBC's electronic trading platform for municipal bonds, which connects to multiple electronic distribution channels and offers customizable algorithms. It is built on RBC's Muni Decision Support System (MuniDSS) and has two main components – PowerPlay and MuniBots.
"We have been focused on technology and innovation for a long time," said Keith Solomon, Managing Director and Deputy Head of Municipal Products. "We have a dedicated IT team, have made continued investments in technology over the years and have made slow and steady progress toward creating this innovative platform."
PowerPlay automates the processing of muni bond offerings on multiple electronic distribution channels while mitigating operational risks, such as avoiding the creation of unintended short positions.
MuniBots lets customers create specific algorithms that analyze different sources of data and leverage market intelligence to identify market opportunities across multiples sources of liquidity.
"We think Elevate lets us better share IT innovation and the further electronification of the muni market with our customers," Solomon said, adding that he was proud to join in such a worthy children's cause.
RBC is has made a five-year $100 million commitment to improve the well-being of 1 million children around the world through the RBC Kids Pledge, which is achieved through events like RBC Trade for the Kids and RBC Race for the Kids.
"We're grateful to our clients for their support and to our employees for their dedication, enabling us to make a meaningful contribution to these exceptional charities," said Daniel Rosenbaum, Head of Central Funding.
In New York, the next major charitable event will be the RBC Race for the Kids, which takes place on Saturday, Oct. 1, in downtown Manhattan. This family gathering will involve a 5K race, a multi-event team challenge, and children's entertainment.
"RBC's long legacy of supporting charities benefiting youth at the grass-roots level underscores our purpose of helping clients thrive and communities prosper," said Bobby Grubert, Head of U.S. and European Equities.