AWARDS Best vendor for risk management options pricing software: Fenics

The approaching arrival of the second Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II) has led to a lot of internal housekeeping. Initially, with compliance in mind, the opportunity to examine and assess technology, systems and workflow processes has proved to be an unexpected boon for future-proofing business models.

As a result, several institutions have decided to view the burdensome technology change as an opportunity to service clients better, says Richard Brunt, chief executive officer of Fenics, which has been voted the winner of the Best Vendor for Risk Management Options Pricing Software category at the 2017 FX Week Best Banks Awards.

“We have seen companies using Mifid II as a trigger for investing in technology, not only to ensure their compliance but also to empower their businesses and give their institutions a competitive advantage,” Brunt says.

In the foreign exchange derivatives space, one of the key trends over the past 12 months has been how to deal with increasingly fractured and fragmented liquidity conditions, he adds.

John Crisp, director of product at Fenics, says regional dealers are continuing to step into the liquidity gaps left from the pullback by the biggest global players.

To help these specialist banks fill the void, Fenics Trading Solutions (TS) was launched last year. The venue-agnostic system supports multiple APIs, giving clients access to various front ends and venues, and the ability to switch between them, according to their business needs.

We have seen companies using Mifid II as a trigger for investing in technology, not only to ensure their compliance but also to empower their businesses and give their institutions a competitive advantage

Richard Brunt, Fenics

The launch has highlighted demand for efficient electronic distribution and pricing solutions, resulting in a 35% rise in sales this year for Fenics. Crisp says clients are keen on using Fenics TS as it gives them the ability to carry out market-making on venues and proprietary platforms in a Mifid II-compliant way.

“Client-making markets on competitive venues are only as good as their pricing. TS gives our clients the tools to do this,” says Crisp.

“Customer feedback has been tremendously positive, across different client types and across different regions. This global support for Fenics TS will be a key driver [for] our business in 2018,” Brunt adds.

Fenics has also seen traction with new client types in 2017. One such client segment has been the US-based money-market broker space, while the buy side continues to grow. The firm is also gearing up to add new asset classes to its offering in 2018.

“All indications are that 2018 will be a very good year,” Brunt says. “Our challenge is to maintain our existing momentum, and build on it with new asset classes and products. We have done a lot of work this year to lay the groundwork and we are excited about the new year.”