Using AI to Discover Liquidity in US Corporate Debt

In the early days of a Liquidity Score, you can tell it’s a little more static, it’s only available in terms of the liquidity that has traded particularly on that CUSIP within a certain platform or in terms of also harvesting that TRACE data. Inherently, you know what your liquidity is as a trader going in, but it’s going to be helpful to know that we’re moving more forward into a more dynamic situation where the Liquidity Score can be a lot more pertinent going forward. For instance, with the LTX platform, you change the price, you change the size, and the Liquidity Score is a lot more dynamic. Going forward, I think that’s going to be a very helpful tool, not only for the trading desk, but as a portfolio manager I think you can see as you look at that Stack and the Liquidity Scores that are dynamic across that Stack, you’re able to hone in on Liquidity a little bit more directly.

There’s only so many bonds, you want to be the first one to get there to buy them. And so having that data, looking at that historical trade data, can allow you to do that more effectively. In terms of novel data, I think the Liquidity Scores that you mentioned are going to be great – having the ability to incorporate that real-time transaction, real-time information is going to be huge, almost revolutionary, because it becomes embedded in that process and decision-making that defines the role of a trader.

The phone and chats are where the block trades, that risk is transferred, the size of trades. LTX is now a platform that allows you to do that with this new protocol, that is innovative and that I haven’t seen. What I find interesting is the fact that it maintains this relationship with the broker-dealer who is so important in the risk-transfer process in that they are committing capital.

In short, these are the types of tools that we will definitely be leveraging to help us achieve those goals of Best Ex and to express the views of portfolio managers and clients.

Because of the importance of the relationship between the buy-side trader and sell-side trader, the market maker that commits capital, you’ve got to have that trust. The symbiotic relationship, the partnership that you have needs to be kept intact with whatever system the future brings when transacting in larger sizes. Again, one of the reasons why I like LTX, the broker is involved, the partnership with your broker is still intact.