New York — LiquidityBook, a leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based provider of buy- and sell-side trading solutions, today announced that 2017 was a record year across all sales and client growth metrics the firm tracks. The growth was fueled by exceptionally strong demand globally for its industry-leading POEMS (portfolio, order and execution management system) platform, which provides considerable cost, management and functionality benefits versus the legacy platforms many investment managers currently employ.
Highlights from the year include the following:
- Overall the firm’s global client base grew by nearly 25% in 2017. This included 10 new client wins in the fourth quarter alone, half of which were multi-billion AUM funds. Much of the client growth was driven by demand from managers in the United Kingdom, where LiquidityBook opened a new London office to support the expansion in the region.
- Ninety percent of new revenue booked in 2017 was from clients who were replacing legacy platforms, and the majority of this new revenue came from $5B+ AUM funds. This resulted in a 63% increase in the number of individual LiquidityBook users, and 30% growth in volume routed via LiquidityBook’s proprietary FIX network, which is included as a value-added service for all LBX Buy-Side and LBX Sell-Side
- LiquidityBook expanded its product suite, announcing the formal launch of LBX Outsourced Trader, a fully SaaS-based POEMS developed specifically to meet the unique needs of an outsourced trading firm. The platform has seen rapid adoption by multiple large outsourced trading firms and is quickly becoming the leading platform in a growing segment of the market.
- In October LiquidityBook announced the completion of its migration to Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers globally to support its multi-tenant, SaaS-based platform. With the full move to AWS, the firm is able to rapidly scale to meet client demand as as necessary as well as support users in new geographies, including Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The migration project was lead by Chief Architect Andy Carroll, who joined the firm earlier in the year from Twitter.
- LiquidityBook also made several senior hires across its sales and client service teams. In May the firm hired Les Vital as Head of Technical Sales, and in June it added Nicholas Thompson as EMEA Client Services Manager.
Commenting on the record year, Chief Revenue Officer Sean Sullivan said: “The last three years have each been record revenue years for our firm, but 2017 represented something more. In our view, it was the year that even the largest funds in the industry reached a tipping point in their opinions on SaaS-based trading platforms given the clear benefits they offer in comparison to traditionally deployed systems. Users have grown accustomed to web-based consumer apps and the advantages they provide, and they now rightfully expect that same user experience with their institutional applications. We believe there is a clear market tailwind behind our model and are looking forward to continuing to grow the business in 2018.”
The LiquidityBook platform delivers significant benefits in the following areas:
- Cost: LBX is a fully SaaS-based product, delivered 100% via the cloud leveraging AWS’s global footprint and architecture, which is the most reliable and secure in the industry. That means there is no need to pay for servers, hosting, BCP, back-up data or mobile/remote connectivity, which also eliminates fees paid to vendors such as Abacus, ECI or Citrix. The platform provides full redundancy and accessibility anywhere in the world; users simply need a browser and connectivity to trade.
- Stability and Service: LBX is an OMS/PMS/FIX order routing platform built on a single code base. Every client runs the same version, and updates are rolled out weekly. The platform is not an amalgamation of different stitched-together products; it was developed only a few years ago, making it far more reliable than competitive offerings.
- Functionality: The fact that the product is one integrated platform has significant usability benefits. For instance, the GUI is incredibly flexible, allowing users to create custom columns and calculations on the fly.
- Business Model: Since LiquidityBook provides its products on a SaaS basis, the firm can offer them at a very competitive price point while still being able to fully fund development, growth and product enhancements. The firm is not and has never been dependent on transactional fees to drive revenue growth. Not only do those cut into broker commission wallet commitments that many buy side are struggling to reach, this model is also potentially considered an inducement under MiFID II unless the vendor also provides connectivity.
About LiquidityBook
LiquidityBook is a leading SaaS-based provider of buy- and sell-side trading solutions, including order management, portfolio management, trading, FIX network connectivity, compliance and pre- and post-trade processing. Founded in 2005, the LiquidityBook platform is trusted by many of the industry’s most sophisticated buy- and sell-side firms globally to power their trading workflows. For more information please visit www.liquiditybook.com or contact sales@dck.kas.mybluehost.me.
