Trumid, Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Hillhouse Capital have formed a joint venture, XinTru, to better support liquidity and execution in the Asian bond market for global clients.
This partnership combines Trumid’s technology and fixed income expertise, SGX’s experience in Asian financial market infrastructure and electronic trading, and Hillhouse’s expertise and network in Asia and the financial services sector.
XinTru will launch and operate Trumid XT, an electronic bond trading and analytics platform. With an emphasis on domain-focused product design, the platform is designed to fit into traders’ workflows. Trumid XT will connect the commercial footprint and liquidity from SGX’s Bond Pro and Trumid’s Market Center in the United States (US), to provide a network for trading of Asian fixed income.
Trumid XT could potentially increase international access to Asian bond markets, while also facilitating Asian investor participation in US and global emerging market credit. Asia’s fixed income market continues to expand on the back of economic growth and low interest rates, which have driven increases in corporate bond issuance and inflows to Asia-focused funds.
Trumid has established a strong position in electronic bond trading since launching 2015. Its bond trading and market intelligence platform in the US features unique trading protocols and a network of over 535 buy- and sell side institutions. Trumid saw trade volumes growing 374% year-on-year in 2020.
SGX reports trading over 40% of Asia Pacific’s G3 currency issuances listed on the exchange. It has over 6,600 listed securities issued by more than 1,600 firms from 66 countries, with amounts issued of over US$2.2 trillion in 26 currencies.
Its platform SGX Bond Pro will allow clients across Asia Pacific, UK, Europe and the Middle East to connect on one platform via XinTru.
XinTru’s management team includes chief revenue officer, Ben Falloon, who brings 20 years of Asia fixed income experience and relationships, and chief operating officer, Mark Leahy, who has significant experience building and operating capital markets businesses in the region.
SGX first invested in Trumid back in 2018 and subsequently joined Hillhouse Capital in another round of investment in 2019 when Hillhouse Capital took a minority stake in Trumid.
Loh Boon Chye, chief executive officer of SGX said, “Our early investment in Trumid paved the way for this deeper collaboration to advance the overall bond market infrastructure in Asia. Leveraging our Asian network and our Bond Pro business, we are excited to partner with Trumid and Hillhouse to accelerate the digitalisation and realise the full potential of Asia’s bond trading markets. XinTru brings together the unique characteristics of the partners in a joint venture where the sum is much greater than the parts.”
Mike Sobel, president of Trumid, said, “Our US experience demonstrates that built-for-purpose technology and workflow tools can transform the bond trading experience. Our US clients are excited to introduce their colleagues in Asia to the Trumid XT platform. With our partners, we look forward to adding value for our global client base and driving growth of electronic bond trading in Asia.”
©The DESK 2020
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