Alternative investment firm RiverRock is up and running with Horizon Software’s Automated Trader solution that offers an out-of-the-box low latency and high frequency trading platform, as well as a flexible development environment that RiverRock is using to develop proprietary algorithmic trading strategies.
The firm previously built algo trading strategies manually and went to market with a view to finding a solution that would industrialise the process and allow it to test new trading ideas quickly. Horizon Software was selected and worked with RiverRock to implement Automated Trader over a period of three months. The software went live a couple of weeks ago and is initially being used to develop cross-asset and cross-product algo trading strategies for cash and derivatives markets.
Olivier Claudon, senior fund manager at RiverRock, says: “Having looked at a number of systems it was clear that Horizon’s algorithmic trading software was able to deliver the functionality, reliability and scalability we needed. The expertise of the team members at Horizon is impressive and the team made the implementation phase quick and painless.”
Horizon Automated Trader includes numerous built-in tools and features including pre-trade risk safety nets, basket trading, advanced order types, trading automatons, pricing, position keeping and hedging. It uses a variety of data, such as real-time exchange and vendor sourced data, internal and external price feeds, and data from internal and external position management systems. It is also possible to include other sources of market data and information.
Claudon comments: “Horizon’s tools allow us to develop, test and implement algorithms much more quickly and cost-effectively than we were able to previously. This allows us to remain very competitive.”
Guillaume Poitevin, head of business development at Horizon Software, a privately held company set up in Paris in 1998, describes the company’s deal with RiverRock as an interesting win. He explains: “Historically, we provided electronic trading platforms and connectivity to the sell side. We were not so present in the buy side, but as it became more sophisticated, we decided to use our experience in the sell side in the buy side. We are now working with traditional hedge funds and alternative investment firms such as RiverRock that want to implement innovative trading strategies in a short space of time.”
Horizon Software has accrued about 50 clients since it was set up, half of which are in EMEA. Many of the others are in Asia, where the company is beginning to target emerging countries, and some are in the Americas, where the company also has plans to increase its presence.
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