TradingTech Insight Brief
TS Imagine Expands TradeSmart Fixed Income EMS to Support Comprehensive Loans Trading
TS Imagine has expanded the product coverage within its TradeSmart Fixed Income Execution Management System (EMS) to include comprehensive support for loans trading. This update allows users to trade leveraged loans, syndicated loans, and distressed debt through the platform. The addition addresses a growing demand from trading desks for more scalable, automated, and integrated workflows across their fixed income operations.
This expansion builds upon TradeSmart’s existing fixed income capabilities, which already encompass investment-grade, high-yield, municipal, mortgage, and government bonds. The platform also supports asset-backed securities, credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, listed securities, and cryptocurrency, enabling users to manage a diverse multi-asset portfolio through a single interface.
The new feature follows significant growth in fixed income automation for the company. Driven by the recent launch of its event-driven Automation 2.0 platform, TS Imagine reported a 200% year-over-year increase in automated fixed income execution volumes in Q1 2026, alongside a 44% year-on-year rise in overall fixed income trading.
BestEx Research Group Launches End-to-End Algorithmic Trading Platform for Banks and Brokers
BestEx Research Group LLC, the independent provider of algorithmic execution and trading analytics, has launched AMS One, an end-to-end algorithmic trading platform allowing banks and brokers to build and operate their own execution businesses across global equities and futures markets.
The platform integrates four key components required to run a competitive algorithmic execution enterprise, according to the company. It features high-performance execution algorithms alongside tools that allow firms to build branded algorithms tailored to specific client objectives. Additionally, it includes an integrated transaction cost analytics module to support execution consulting, offering a consistent user experience across different asset classes and global jurisdictions.
From launch, AMS One provides comprehensive market access across global equities and futures contracts on 21 global exchanges. Its equities coverage spans the US, Canada, 15 European markets, and four markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
Clearstream Unveils Next-Generation Hybrid Digital Securities Infrastructure
Clearstream, the post-trade business of Deutsche Börse Group, has announced a next-generation digital securities infrastructure designed to integrate traditional and tokenised asset markets. The hybrid platform will enable market participants to combine traditional securities, digital assets, and various cash forms within a single portfolio. Operating across Europe and connecting 60 global markets, the initiative aims to support the EU’s Savings & Investments Union by streamlining international investment flows.
Launching in phases throughout 2026 and 2027, the infrastructure remains subject to regulatory approval. Once live, it will span the full securities lifecycle—including issuance, settlement, custody, and financing—for all assets regulated under the EU’s MiFID and MiCA frameworks. The platform will grant institutional access to blockchain technology, stablecoins, and security tokens regardless of the underlying technology or asset type.
Developed alongside market partners, the platform builds on Clearstream’s existing financial infrastructure, which holds EUR 22 trillion in assets under custody. The collaboration focuses on practical market applications, such as large-scale asset tokenisation, direct blockchain settlement, and the reuse of digital assets as collateral across multiple transactions.
Investor Pointe Launches Unified Technology and Services Platform for Private Markets
Investor Pointe has launched as a technology and services company designed to unify operations for private markets firms. Led by newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Scott Hofmann, the company combines an AI-enabled platform, a specialist services team, and tailored solutions to support firms across the entire investor lifecycle. This ranges from fund design and fundraising to investor servicing, reporting, and data optimisation.
The launch addresses growing operational complexity and investor demands for transparency and digital-first experiences. By combining the decade-long operational expertise of industry players Bite Investments and Untap, Investor Pointe replaces disconnected legacy systems with a single, unified operating model.
The company’s portfolio features seven tailored solutions covering areas such as fund design, digital onboarding, distribution enablement, and agentic data optimisation. These solutions can be fully managed by Investor Pointe, run internally by client teams, or delivered via a hybrid approach to match the client’s scale and operational needs.
OpenYield Secures $6 Million Series A Funding and Partners with LeveL Markets
Bond marketplace OpenYield has closed a Series A funding round of over $6 million, led by LeveL Markets with participation from Draper Associates, Canapi Ventures, and Clocktower Ventures. Launched in 2024 as an alternative trading system (ATS), OpenYield provides an automated, equity-like trading experience for fixed income. To date, the platform has executed nearly $2 billion in volume across corporate, municipal, and US Treasury bonds, serving more than 60 institutional clients representing over $5 trillion in assets under management.
Alongside the investment, a strategic commercial partnership will see LeveL Markets integrate OpenYield into its equities platform. This integration grants LeveL’s institutional clients direct access to OpenYield’s bond liquidity through existing equity trading infrastructure, requiring no new development. For LeveL, which is backed by major institutions including Nasdaq and BlackRock, this marks its first strategic investment as it expands its equity-market connectivity into new asset classes.
OpenYield will use the capital to expand its marketplace by adding buy-side and sell-side firms, deepen institutional order system integrations, and grow its trading data products. The funds will also support the development of agentic trading workflows and advance tokenised bond trading. The expansion aims to capitalise on the fixed-income market’s ongoing shift toward automation, particularly within municipal bonds and separately managed accounts requiring efficient, low-cost execution.
STP Investment Services Named Premier Partner for Lightspeed TDMS Fund Services
STP Investment Services (STP) has been officially designated as the Premier Partner for Fund Services by Lightspeed Data Solutions. This formalises a commercial relationship that began in 2019, positioning STP as the preferred operational partner for investment firms using the Lightspeed Trade Data Management System (TDMS) platform. The two firms already share 18 investment managers and fund services clients under this combined operating model.
The partnership integrates Lightspeed’s post-trade automation technology with STP’s operational teams, allowing investment firms to outsource trade settlement, reconciliation, and middle- and back-office operations without building internal infrastructure. Clients can choose from flexible engagement models, including standalone trade settlements, full outsourcing, or a managed service model where STP operates directly within the client’s own TDMS environment.
This expanded collaboration addresses a rapidly tightening global settlement landscape, following the US transition to T+1 in 2024 and ahead of the UK and EU transitions scheduled for October 2027. To mitigate the increased operational risks and costs of settlement failures under these tighter timelines, the platform features SmartSettle AI. This predictive analytics module identifies potential trade failures before they occur, preparing clients for future shifts toward T+0 settlement cycles.
Xceptor Launches AI-Driven Features to Streamline Reconciliation Configuration
Xceptor, the data automation specialist for capital markets, has introduced two new features, AI Reconciliation Rule Builder and Live Tester, to simplify the creation and validation of reconciliation logic. Initially accessible through the Xceptor Reconciliations SaaS platform, these tools use artificial intelligence alongside proprietary evaluation logic to automatically suggest matching and comparison rules from sample data.
The launch addresses a growing challenge for financial institutions, where rising data volumes and shorter settlement cycles require fast control deployment without expanding headcount. Traditionally, configuring and deploying new controls has created an operational bottleneck. This update allows non-technical operations teams to generate and test rules quickly within a controlled environment, identifying potential issues before deployment.
By streamlining this process, the functionality reduces the technical expertise required and accelerates the time between uploading a source file and establishing a working configuration. Internal testing by Xceptor indicates that the AI Reconciliation Rule Builder can reduce rule validation times by over 50%. The workflow keeps human operators in control of reviewing AI outputs, aiming to improve operational efficiency while maintaining strict governance standards.
Aiviq Launches AI-Powered Native App on Snowflake Marketplace
Aiviq, the client data platform for the investment management industry, has launched an AI-powered Native App on the Snowflake Marketplace. The application deepens the integration between the two firms, allowing joint customers to securely access Aiviq datasets, including assets under management (AUM), flow, and net revenue data, directly within their Snowflake environments.
The app utilises Snowflake’s Streamlit and Cortex Agent functionality to enable natural language querying and automated dashboard generation. Built on a semantic model designed to ensure query accuracy, the app provides immediate access to mastered client datasets covering companies, contacts, legal entities, agreements, and financial terms.
By running the application directly within their existing Snowflake accounts, clients can deploy pre-configured dashboards without moving their data. This integration eliminates the traditional 12- to 15-week IT setup period, making insights available immediately. Consequently, the application removes the need for internal data engineering resources, saving customers an estimated £125,000 in development and warehouse build costs, according to the company.
Clearstream Partners with Ares to Boost Access to Private Markets
Clearstream, the post-trade business of Deutsche Börse Group, has partnered with alternative investment manager Ares Management Corporation to add Ares’ private market strategies to its fund platform. The collaboration aims to simplify the investment process for fund distributors, allowing them to access private market investments with the same operational efficiency as traditional mutual funds.
For Ares, the integration opens up a broad distribution network that connects the firm with diverse wealth management sectors, including family offices and private banks. This alignment supports Ares’ strategy to make private market assets a core component of diversified portfolios for a wider range of investors.
The initiative also aligns with wider regulatory goals within Europe. By unlocking private savings for broader investment opportunities, the partnership directly supports the European Union’s objective to establish a stronger Savings and Investment Union (SIU) and deepen continent-wide capital markets.
Zema Global and Natural Gas Intelligence Enhance North American Energy Data Partnership
Zema Global and Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) have announced an enhanced data partnership designed to provide energy market participants with expanded natural gas pricing and flow data. Building on an existing seven-year relationship, the collaboration integrates NGI’s extensive datasets into Zema Global’s Decisioning Infrastructure to support curve analytics, portfolio valuation, trading, and risk management in the North American markets.
Under the expanded agreement, Zema Global customers can access NGI data covering more than 150 monthly and 170 daily physical natural gas price indexes across the US and Canada, alongside over 80 forward price curves and 40 Mexican price locations. The partnership also introduces additional NGI datasets, including North American LNG flow indicators, shale basin pricing, pipeline flow data, and indicative intraday pricing.
Furthermore, the integration includes NGI’s Entropic Analytics pipeline flows, which capture and normalise over 20,000 daily flow data points from more than 180 interstate North American pipelines. This data automation reduces manual ingestion and improves enterprise system consistency. The collaboration is also structured to support future customer demand, allowing Zema Global to develop new data processors in response to evolving client requirements.