Be it for cost-cutting purposes, seamless execution or ease of transacting reverse inquiry business, the electronic structured products business has emerged, in recent years, as one of the centrepieces of private banks’ pursuit of scale in Asia.Ultimately, the promise of increased margins on client-directed trading, deeper client relationships due to a reallocation of resources, and greater conversions of client assets to fee-based offerings have enticed many to test the multi-dealer platform space.

Given that market conditions have not been favourable for eld testing the automation of large volumes, 2016 has proven a tough year for gauging the absolute effectiveness of multi-dealer platforms. Invariably though, exceptional multi-dealer platform providers hold a long-term mentality and the belief that a business driven by markets and appetite demands perseverance.

One such provider has remained resilient amidst financial, economic, and political head- winds. Contineo, the equity-linked platform supported by a gallery of bulge bracket providers, experienced an exponential growth in orders and a doubling client base in what managing director, Mark Muñoz, calls a banner year.

“The volume increase was not deterred by overall market performance as we rolled out access to relationship managers and more trade desk users,” he says.

Muñoz attributes Contineo’s success to a number of developments to the platform, with the rm rolling out updates to tools like Contineo I/O, a data service that allows for mar- ket analysis through evaluation of user data. us far, these updates have numbered an impressive 50, including the implementation of utilities for the amendment of orders and the uploading of complex pricing requests through spreadsheets.

“These new features are widely praised by our clients and have also increased the amount of flow the firms trade electronically,” he adds. “We are very excited for the next steps in the company’s growth. We are currently working with our clients to determine the next set of payoffs and how we can assist in post-trade services, as well as further enhancing our new data services.”

For its continuous commitment to enhancement and a ra of new milestones achieved, Contineo has been voted as this year’s Best Multi-dealer Platform.

ABOUT CONTINEO

Contineo is the first industry supported, open messaging network for private banks and wealth management firms to access issuers of structured products. Together we are a community with a shared vision and purpose.

We believe that technology should be intuitive, easy to access, and available to all participants. This means creating an open messaging standard in concert with the buy-side and sell-side, and enabling access to all parties, including other certified technology vendors.

This mission is shared by our current subscribers, who recognise the importance of an open, efficient and transparent network.