Several of the leading names in order management systems for find managers -Charles River Development, Eze Castle Software, Linedata, Macgregor, SunGard and Thomson Financial – have agreed to add functionality to their systems to make it easier for fund managers to submit indications of interest (IOIs) to the Harborside+, a platform for matching up large block equity orders.
At present IOIs may be sent to Harborside+ through a variety of channels including a Web-based GUI developed by Harborside+, direct FIX connections, or by telephone to the Harborside+ agency desk. Harborsidse + says that adding a similar capability to order management systems will give buy and sell-side firms access to further sources of liquidity. “We have established numerous options for submitting IOIs, in an effort to create and build upon an expansive pool of liquidity for large block trading,” says Harborside+ President and CEO, Robert C. Hall.
Harborside+ and Macgregor have jointly developed an application (Harborside Indication Manager – HIM) that allows Harborside+ to receive IOIs from a trader’s order management system. HIM extracts information from orders that are eligible for Harborside+ from a trader’s blotter. The application then sends information on side and symbol to the Harborside+ central server as IOIs. Harborside+ and the order management system client are alerted once a match is discovered.
“We went to great lengths to ensure the application’s openness,” says Harborside+ CTO, Seth Gelberg. “As a result, the application will work with any order management system, commercial or proprietary.” Harbordside+ says HIM currently supports order management systems from Macgregor (MFTP and Predator), Charles River Development, Eze Castle Software, Linedata, SunGard Investment Management Systems and Thomson Financial, as well as three proprietary systems. “We’re giving our clients the best available tools for opening new sources of liquidity, so they can obtain best execution and lower their implicit costs of trading,” adds Macgregor Executive Vice President/Networks and e-Markets, Stephen Alepa.
“The connection between our OMS, Traders Console, and Harborside+ increases the electronic trading capabilities of our clients,” adds Eze Castle Software President, David Quinlan. David Brooks, head trader with The Boston Company Asset Management, agrees. “Any application that initiates the daily process and presents me with a few simple choices is a big help,” he says. “Once I’ve selected the stocks I want to submit to Harborside+ (via Traders Console), I don’t have to worry about updating or cancelling indications; the application does that for me. Harborside+ allows me to search for the contra-side without the risk of over-executing.”
“Harborside+ offers a subtle advantage by including the sell-side, and accommodating special requirements such as soft dollar commissions and step-out trades,” says Charles River Development Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Tom Driscoll. “We welcome Harborside+ as another venue for advancing electronic trading.” He adds that “numerous” Charles River clients are using the interface to Harborside+ already, and that he expects more to take advantage of it.
Pioneer Investment Management, a client of Charles River Development, is sending orders from its blotter to Harborside+. “Having Harborside+ run off our order management system makes the application easy to use,” says Pioneer Investment Management Senior Vice President and Director of U.S. Trading, Robert Gauvain. “The interface works the way it’s intended to and is a time-saver for us.”
Linedata Services has also rolled out the Harborside+ interface to its LongView clients. “The Harborside+ buy-side interface approach is innovative, seamless to clients and easy to use which is important to traders,” says Linedata Services Chief Operating Officer, Jack Wiener.
“We support the integration of our OMS, Decalog Trader, with a system-to-system electronic trading service such as Harborside+, because it offers a new, confidential source of liquidity for our clients,” adds SunGard Investment Management Systems Vice President, Eyal Yaron.
“Integrating Oneva Trade EQ with Harborside+ for unrestricted liquidity matching, is something our clients are excited about,” comments Thomson Financial Vice President Investment Operations, Christen Bremner.
Harborside + says traders submitting IOIs to Harborside+ only indicate whether they are buying or selling, and that unmatched IOIs are not seen by anyone – including the Harborside+ trading desk. Buyer, seller and Harborside+ trading desk are electronically alerted once the system finds a match, whereupon the service switches from the technological to the manual.
The Harborside+ trading desk assists counterparties in finalizing the transaction, through phone-based communication that keeps identities of the buyer and seller confidential. Trades are executed by Harborside Securities, a totally independent registered broker/dealer. Harborside+ insists that it is not an ECN or an ATS.