October 16, 2013

Levinson TCA via Charles River

By

Peter Chapman

Institutional brokerage S.J. Levinson & Sons and vendor Charles River formed a partnership to distribute Levinson's transaction-cost analysis software through Charles River's trading and portfolio management system.

Levinson built the technology-known as TAP, for Trade Analysis Program-a few years back for its own buyside clients. The agreement with Charles River "opens new avenues of distribution," according to Levinson president Ethan Levinson.

For its part, Charles River already offers its buyside customers access to third-party TCA systems, but that involves hopping off Charles River and onto another system. TAP will be "embedded" in the Charles River Investment Management Solution, said Des Gallacher, a Charles River vice president responsible for product management.

Charles River's IMS system is used by both traders and portfolio managers and includes an order and execution management system, as well as a portfolio management system. The addition of TCA will give them the ability to analyze trades after they occur, as well as to formulate their strategies beforehand.

Most buyside shops typically perform transaction-cost analysis using broker-supplied technology. That only gives them the ability to examine trades done with that particular broker, however. With the Charles River-Levinson setup, they will be able examine all their trades, as Charles River houses the order and trade data.

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