Clearpool launches Iris to improve equity trading efficiency 

Clearpool Group today announced the roll-out of Iris, technology designed to transform how orders are handled electronically to improve liquidity interaction and fill rates.

Iris aggregates orders to elevate their prioritization in a venue’s execution queue, giving clients trading through Clearpool Execution Services, an independent agency broker-dealer, the opportunity to derive a better quality print. Clearpool is a new generation trading software development and execution business.

“Iris is a clear reflection of how we see the changing landscape in equity trading,” said Clearpool Group CEO, Joseph Wald. “This technology enables firms to compete head-to-head with market participants who have for too long dominated electronic trading.”

All clients trading through Clearpool Execution Services will automatically have their order placement guided by Iris to improve handling in both price/time and price/size venues, with cancel/replace orders and in sourcing block liquidity in dark venues:

How Iris Improves Order Handling in a Price/Time Venue: With Iris, child orders routed to a venue are decoupled from the parent. When a customer cancels an order, Iris will in turn cancel or reduce the order with the lowest queue priority. This automatic response effectively enhances the queue priority of all other Iris orders. Without Iris, a queue position is lost when better positioned orders are cancelled.

How Iris Improves Cancel/Replaces: Iris knows the rules for how each market center handles cancel/replace requests. If a customer increases the size of an order that would, in turn, cause the order to lose its priority Iris will split the order in two, keeping the priority of the earlier order. Without Iris, cancel/replaces are managed as is and can result in loss of position.

How Iris Improves Order Handling in a Price/Size Venue: With Iris, child orders to a price/size venue are decoupled and aggregated as one. Aggregating interest across customers allows Iris to use our scale to optimize queue position. Larger orders provide for a better position. Without Iris, child to optimize queue position. Larger orders provide for a better position. Without Iris, child orders are worked independently with each assigned a lower queue priority.

How Iris Sources Block Liquidity in Dark Venues: (A) With Iris, orders are aggregated in dark pools that have minimum size order types and requirements, enabling clients to interact with block liquidity that may otherwise be unattainable depending on the size of their order. (B) Iris will also aggregate orders in dark pools in order to take advantage of the conditional order types available in these venues. In both instances, Iris exposes orders to more block liquidity through its aggregation techniques.

Clearpool also launched a new branding campaign to spotlight the changing market microstructure and the company’s role as a solutions provider with new technology, developed by the firm, to address the emerging needs of market participants. “The New Frontier in Trading,” said Wald “is Clearpool’s branding statement to traders who recognize shifts in electronic equity trading and are looking for answers that will enable them to compete more effectively, as well as preserve the integrity of their business and the market. Iris is `For the New Frontier in Trading’,” said Wald “and Clearpool has more innovations in store that will further underscore our brand message.”

“The software and tools we’re developing from scratch,” said Ray Ross, Clearpool Executive Vice President & CTO, “are for traders looking to compete in an equity market that is undergoing substantial changes and where the technology of yesterday simply won’t keep them in the lead.”

Last year, Tom Joyce joined Clearpool’s advisory board. Joyce is a recognized leader in the financial services industry with over thirty years of experience, most recently as chairman and CEO of Knight Capital Group. Before then, Joyce served as Global Head of Trading at S.C. Bernstein & Co. and he held leadership roles in the Global Institutional Equity business during his nearly fifteen years at Merrill Lynch & Co.

“Clearpool’s technology and vision are what attracted me to this firm, and I’m delighted to partner with the senior team in establishing a strategic direction that will benefit trading clients,” said Clearpool Advisory Board member, Tom Joyce.

Wald was appointed CEO of Clearpool Group in May 2014. He joined from GAIN Capital where as executive vice president he ran GTX, the firm’s institutional electronic FX trading business. Earlier, Wald was a managing director and head of Knight Direct, Knight Capital Group’s institutional electronic trade execution business. Before Knight Capital, Wald was CEO and co-founder of EdgeTrade Inc., the pioneer developer of agency-only, liquidity seeking algorithms.

 

Source: Finextra – Clearpool launches Iris to improve equity trading efficiency

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