Investortools participated in the ICE Strategic Partners Alliances Forum at the New York Stock Exchange, showcasing its industry-leading technology alongside fellow panelists FlexTrade, an advanced order and execution management solution provider, and Trumid, a prominent fixed-income electronic trading platform. The panel explored how streamlining trading workflows can deliver a seamless experience for asset managers, broker-dealers, and institutional investors.
James Morris, Senior Vice President at Investortools, offered key insights into the firm’s robust capabilities and ongoing impact on municipal bond trading. Expanding on this topic in a recent FlexTrade article, James emphasized the unique strengths of Investortools’ comprehensive Portfolio, Order, and Execution Management (POEM) System, Perform®.
Integrated Portfolio, Order, and Execution Management
At the heart of Investortools’ SaaS solutions is Perform, a sophisticated platform that blends advanced analytics and integrated functionalities to effectively manage risk, enhance liquidity, and optimize portfolio performance. Serving as an all-in-one portfolio management system (PMS), order management system (OMS), and execution management system (EMS), Perform streamlines the entire trade lifecycle, from initial order origination through to trade execution and confirmation.
Crucial to Perform’s effectiveness is the Investortools Dealer Network (IDN), which provides extensive liquidity and market depth through direct bilateral connectivity to dealers, trading venues, and alternative trading systems (ATS). The IDN offers unparalleled visibility into market opportunities, including over half a million live, tradable offers, Requests for Quote (RFQ), and Bids Wanted in Competition (BWIC). This comprehensive view, combined with best-in-class analytics and market data like multiple sources of intra-day pricing , ensures superior trade execution, reduces spreads, and supports alpha generation.
"Our platform consumes extensive reference data, recalculates analytics for municipal securities, and integrates intraday pricing. Leveraging FIX connectivity with various trading venues and direct dealers, we can put all this together alongside our clients’ bespoke data."
James Morris, Senior Vice President
James has dedicated over 22 years at Investortools to building enduring relationships with clients and partners while driving innovation in the fixed-income trading space. He has been instrumental in shaping the development of the Investortools Dealer Network, which is revolutionizing the world of fixed income trading. James’s contributions to the sector have earned him recognition on prominent platforms including Forbes, Institutional Investor, Bloomberg Intelligence, and The Bond Buyer.
Pinoeering Automated Fixed-Income Trading
Investortools continues to innovate by introducing automated trading capabilities critical for scaling separately managed accounts (SMAs). Recognizing that municipal bond portfolios are frequently constructed based on defined attributes rather than specific securities (CUSIPs), Perform automates the sourcing and identification of ideal bonds according to user-defined constraints and portfolio objectives.
This targeted approach allows portfolio managers and traders to efficiently faciliate pre- and post-trade allocation, quickly assess trading opportunities, and execute transactions in real-time. Notably, clients have reported fully investing portfolios within as little as 36 hours, dramatically accelerating the investment process while maintaining rigorous risk management and quality standards.
Perform’s automation extends further, providing users the capability to execute pre-approved trades automatically via AutoEx functionality. By centralizing and automating the RFQ process, users can effortlessly distribute bid lists across multiple trading platforms, consolidate bids, and evaluate opportunities within a unified view in Perform. This optimized workflow ensures best execution, maximizes liquidity, and enhances strategic decision-making.
“We’re doing auto portfolio refinement, and the latest version of it is automated portfolio building and automated restructuring, which involves sending out an RFQ at the other end of it."
More Automation to Come
Investortools is committed to continous advancement to its fixed-income automation capabilities. Upcoming developments will further automate sophisticated portfolio restructuring using real-time market data and live analytics. By reducing manual tasks typically associated with fixed-income, Investortools enables trading desks to focus on higher-value strategic tasks, thereby enhancing portfolio management effectiveness, risk management practices, and overall market responsiveness.
About Investortools
For more than four decades, Investortools has been a leading SaaS provider of solutions regarded by the industry as a prerequisite for fixed-income investment management. Its comprehensive product suite covers portfolio, order, and execution management, performance analytics, 2a-7 compliance, and credit analysis. Trusted by over 200 firms managing more than $1 trillion in assets, Investortools supports SMA managers, fund managers, broker-dealers, and other key market participants.
