JP Morgan trade platform promises joined-up thinking
Buy-side clients are increasingly moving away from single asset classes
JP Morgan has begun rollout of its new multi-asset class trading platform, JP Morgan Markets, which the firm says will make it easier for clients to bring together different elements such as research and analytics and convert them into successful trades.
The idea behind JP Morgan Markets is to provide a single login for clients to all the firm’s services – and to make those services more interconnected so that customers are more likely to benefit from expertise in different areas. Previously, customers needed several different logins to access different parts of the firm’s business.
Since 7 January, users have been able to access pre-trade research and analytics, FX, rates and commodities trade execution and post-trade services. JP Morgan now plans that its customers will be able to use the platform to draw on research, analytics, structuring tools, trade execution across several different asset classes and post-trade abilities. The firm says it will gradually add more elements including algorithmic tools and connectivity to trading venues over the remainder of the year.
“There’s an enormous amount of analytical expertise we’re putting into this platform,” said James Taylor, head of FX e-trading at JP Morgan. “We’re bringing research, analytics and trading tools together in one place, allowing clients to easily generate trade ideas and execute them across multiple asset classes. Post-trade clearing and settlement is also integrated and completes the entire trade lifecycle on one platform.”
Taylor added that a major advantage of the new platform is its ability to connect different parts of JP Morgan’s business, bringing staff and expertise in different areas that might not previously have interacted together and promoting exchange of ideas and knowledge for the benefit of customers.
Investors and asset managers have been increasingly demanding multi-asset class trading tools in recent years, as stock picking has produced relatively poor returns since the financial crisis and many firms have turned to diversification as a means of improving portfolio returns.
At the same time, technology vendors and banks have been keen to develop integrated solutions that can safeguard their customer flow and help boost customer loyalty as broker commission pools and equity trading volumes decline across the developed markets. On the retail side, platforms such as Mint.com have also been developed to bring together customers’ various online banking and financial management tools and make them available through a single portal.
