Emergent financial technology group Algomi has started the year in the full glare of the media spotlight.
With expansion plans for the US and Asia regions confirmed, new products in development and a deal with the SIX Swiss Exchange announced yesterday, chief executive Stu Taylor has been busy.
Yesterday, Algomi was announced as the company chosen to provide the technology for the SIX Swiss Exchange’s corporate bond trading venue in what is further recognition of the group’s rapidly growing popularity.
Speaking to The TRADE, Stu Taylor, chief executive officer of Algomi, said the company is now in conversations with other exchanges about offering its services but stresses that Algomi has no desire to “present itself as a trading venue.”
He explained: “We are in conversations with other exchanges and what is clear is that there will be different flavours for different regions. The US market is materially different from Europe.
“Algomi doesn’t want to present itself as a trading venue. We don’t earn per trade. We are all about information matching.”
As part of the group’s expansion it is currently negotiating on a lease for office space in New York and a smaller office in Boston in the third quarter. It is hoped there will be 50 to 60 people in the US operation once these bases open.
Meanwhile, in Asia, the group hired Jesper Bruun-Olsen – a former director from Oanda – to lead its efforts in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Banks that have confirmed they are working with Algomi include Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Nomura and HSBC but there are many others installing the technology who are not yet ready to go public, says Taylor.
With a handful of other fixed income trading projects currently in the pipeline, Taylor could be forgiven for pausing to take stock. However, he believes that some of the newer projects that have come to light recently will not challenge the Algomi model because its platform is not a “hub”.
He explained: “What we do is very different. We run our matching software inside the banks itself. That is critical because banks are sensitive about the information they release outside of the organisation.
“We can access every bit of bank data that they have but, because it is not leaving the building, they [our customers] are not concerned. As soon as you have a hub, you get this natural disincentive.”
Algomi started life in 2012, having been founded by three former UBS employees, including Taylor, who identified a potential gap in the market amid concerns about future market liquidity.