PHOENIX – MarketAxess Holdings Inc., a publicly-traded company that operates an electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, announced Thursday that it will expand its trading system in April to include the municipal market.
MarketAxess, founded in 2000 by several dealer firms, expects to have approximately 60 dealers and 250 institutional investor firms connected to the muni bond platform when it launches, the company said in an announcement. MarketAxess currently has more than 1,000 institutional investors and broker dealers worldwide on its corporate bond platform.
John Gallagher, head of dealer relationship management and investment grade product manager said the new platform for munis will differ from existing muni electronic trading services by serving as a major hub for major institutional investors, rather than focusing on the retail market or on smaller broker-dealers.
Kevin McPherson, global head of sales for MarketAxess, said the new product aims to fulfill what the company’s clients have said is a need in the muni market.
“This launch is an exciting opportunity to bring our 15 years of electronic trading expertise and innovation to a highly fragmented market that still relies heavily on manual processes,” McPherson said.
MarketAxess has hired Hardy Manges to spearhead its dealer sales efforts for municipal bonds. Manges joins from Cantor Fitzgerald, where he was Managing Director of Municipal Trading. Pat Furlong, previously of Sterne Agee, has also joined the firm to focus on the development of the municipal bond platform. Furlong, who has more than 30 years of experience in the municipal bond industry, will spearhead the firm’s buy-side sales effort.
Increased use of electronic platforms has been a hot topic in the market for several years, as many market participants have said it could increase pricing transparency and potentially help dealers fulfill their best execution obligations under Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules.
“MarketAxess has been a valuable partner for us for electronic trading for U.S. high-grade and other credit products, helping to streamline our trade processes, increase efficiencies and support best execution,” said James Pruskowski, portfolio manager for BlackRock’s municipal institutional & wealth management team. “The municipal bond market trades much like the high-grade market did 15 years ago, and we believe that MarketAxess is well placed to bring these same benefits to the muni market.”
MarketAxess maintains its headquarters in New York and has offices in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco as well as internationally.
