New Partnerships for Options Technology Providers
February 16, 2009
Technology providers Derivix Corp. and Activ Financial unveiled new partnerships last week that signal growing competition in the options market.
Derivix, a New York-based supplier of options pricing, risk visualization and analytics solutions, has linked its platform with Credit Suisse's Advanced Execution Services (AES). Customers had been asking Derivix to connect to AES algorithms for some time, said CEO Jonathan Weedon. "We're pretty excited to have that capability built into our front end," he said, adding that Derivix has established similar relationships with brokers such as Goldman Sachs.
In a statement, the companies noted that traders are increasingly using options to manage risk exposures and develop more effective execution strategies. "Working with front-end analytics solutions providers such as Derivix gives customers the right combination of tools for a competitive edge in options trading," said AES director Guy Cirillo. Users of the Derivix analytics system can access AES offerings via the FIX protocol.
Meanwhile, Ballista Securities, which operates an alternative trading system (ATS) for equity options that launched in November, announced that it is using data from Chicago-based Activ Financial for all North American equity and options listings. Activ is Ballista's "partner on the front lines of electronic options trading," said Ballista CTO Daniel Marques in a statement. "Using Activ as our market data provider ensures that Ballista ATS users do not have to worry about data latency as they attempt to capitalize on market conditions."
Ballista is using a hosted solution from Activ to manage its tick data. Frank Piasecki, president and co-founder of Activ, noted that more than half of his company's 300 customers, which include market makers, prime brokerages, hedge funds and trading platforms, are in the options sector.
In November, Activ said that it had integrated its direct feed ticker plant into Derivix's platform. "Activ's highly reliable and scalable low-latency infrastructure is the perfect choice to power our real-time analytics," said Michael Barrett Stern, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Derivix, at the time.
