LiquidityBook, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based provider of buy- and sell-side trading solutions, has reported record results for 2019 across all sales and client growth metrics tracked by the firm. This rapid growth was fuelled by a continued rise in demand for its
POEMS (portfolio, order and execution management system) platform, which provides significant cost, management and functionality benefits over the legacy platforms many investment managers currently employ.
LiquidityBook’s total revenues for 2019 were up 33 per cent year-over-year, fueled by steady client wins for each of the firm’s products: LBX Buy-Side, LBX Sell-Side and LBX Outsourced Trader. Recently, the firm signed multi-strategy manager FNY Investment Advisers, which resulted in significant enhancements to the LiquidityBook back end to optimize the way LBX utilises market data and processes fills.
Ninety fover per cent of new deployments were replacements of legacy platforms. Growth in the overall client base led to an 85 per cent increase in total orders sent via LBX Connect, LiquidityBook’s proprietary FIX network, as well as a 35 per cent increase in overall fill traffic. LBX Connect now has over 180 broker-dealers on the network globally, with clients able to send Equities, Options, Futures, FX and Swap/CFD orders, as well as allocations, to them. In addition, a primary focus in 2019 was the integration of multiple new OTC/credit-focused EMS and ATS platforms, with clients trading record amounts of Credit, Repos, Collateralized Loan Products and Credit Derivatives through LiquidityBook over the course of the year.
LiquidityBook continued to expand its global footprint in 2019, establishing a fourth office – in Sydney – in response to a rapid increase in clients seeking to execute investment ideas in the Asia-Pacific region. Opened by Chief Architect Andy Carroll, the office plays a vital role in providing local service and support to LiquidityBook’s growing roster of clients trading around the clock. The office will play a vital part in LiquidityBook’s plans to further expand into Asia-Pacific.
LiquidityBook also continued expanding its global development and client service organisation, making several key hires in 2019 including Alexander Ponyrko as Principal Software Engineer and Andre Meintjes as Asia-Pacific Client Services Lead. Over the course of 2019, Liquiditybook increased its headcount by nearly 50 per cent, all of which were in product development and client service.
During the year, LiquidityBook experienced a number of “firsts” as a company, including onboarding its first client trading over 50 million shares a day, as well as its first client with over USD20 billion in credit assets (Repos, Bank Debt, Collateralised Loans and Credit Derivatives).
Chief Revenue Officer Sean Sullivan says: “Thanks to a record-setting number of new engagements, we finished the decade with our strongest year yet. The discussion around SaaS-based technologies and the benefits they offer on cost, functionality and service continues to be a key factor in firms’ willingness and desire to migrate from legacy platforms. People today clearly recognise how valuable web-based apps are in their everyday lives, and it’s only logical that there is a growing market for this model in the trading technology space as well.
“It’s no secret that investment professionals must today offer more diverse products across the cap structure to stay competitive and retain assets. It is therefore very important to have a foundational product like Liquiditybook that can move with you as your business demands it to. Our workflow and asset class flexibility is one of the primary drivers for our 2019 growth, and based on our pipeline, we expect to see similarly strong demand in 2020.”
