Options volumes have been trending upward for the last decade, but growth over the past two years has really been explosive, said Stino Milito, DASH Financial Technologies President.
The reasons for this are multiple with the biggest drivers being the significant uptick in retail market participation and institutions are now looking at options as mainstream investing tools, he said.
“Option education has also greatly increased and people are starting to understand the power of options when used correctly,” he told Traders Magazine.
Milito said that institutional traders on both the buy- and sell sides have dramatically ramped up the volume of listed option contracts they are trading and are looking for workflow solutions designed specifically for options markets given how unique they are.
Earlier this month, the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) announced that 2021 saw a 32.2% increase in options contracts cleared versus 2020, which itself was a 52.4% over 2019.
Given recent trends, DASH has designed a modernized order management system (OMS), providing streamlined workflows to meet the demanding requirements of today’s trading professionals.
“DASH OMS was designed to meet the need of the institutional trading community,” commented Milito.
He explained that DASH was founded a decade ago on the idea that “performance” means different things to different people, so “traders should be empowered to tailor solutions – either directly or with the help of our market experts – that meet their precise needs”.
“All of our tools – routing, analytics, connectivity and post-trade products – are meant to be fully customized and used in parallel with our analytics and transparency suite, DASH360, to further refine and optimize performance,” he said.
According to Milito, there are obviously many OMSs in the market, but none were designed specifically for option traders.
The options markets are unique, he said, adding that the tools and analytics needed are “very specific, and the market data is an order of magnitude more intensive than other asset classes”.
“Complex order books require specific solutions, and so on – DASH OMS was built specifically for the nuances of this market. If you’re serious about trading options, this is a system that should be on your desktop,” he stressed.
Milito further said that DASH OMS was built using modern development techniques that will enable the rapid deployment of new features and functionalities.
This first version includes tight integration with DASH’s other products, but they will continue to enhance the functionality, Milito said.
Key features of DASH OMS include: access to routing and algorithmic execution tools; support for all US listed-option products; integration with DASH’s BrokerPoint network; access to pre- and post-trade tools; account management for Regulatory Reporting (CAT and OCC’s Actionable ID); integration with DASH360’s analytics and visualization tools; and an efficient market data consumption model.
“DASH was built by working closely with our clients to give them the precise tools they need to trade. DASH OMS will be no exception,” Milito added.
