ITG’s routing networks are bundled products no more. The electronic agency broker has combined two separate proprietary routing networks-its own and that of Macgregor, its order management system-and is now offering them as a single routing product that is also unbundled. This development means that ITG Net, the new network, can plug-and-play with any OMS or execution management system on the Street.
Previously, only users of ITG’s Triton and Radical EMSs were able to use its routing network. Similarly, users of Macgregor’s OMS-XIP-were the only ones who could use the Macgregor Financial Network (MFN). Now the two networks are one, and buyside subscribers can access the 80 brokers previously on ITG’s network and the 380 brokers on MFN, regardless of their OMS or EMS.
Stephen Alepa, an ITG managing director overseeing the rollout, said there has always been demand from non-Macgregor users to hook into MFN. The move to combine and unbundle the products is a result of ITG’s broker-neutral strategy, but is also happening because the company sees revenue opportunities selling the network as a stand-alone product. “We’ve come out of the gate very well,” Alepa said. “A few firms have already signed on.”
ITG Net’s is going head to head against Thomson’s TradeRoute and NYFIX’s network, Alepa said. He thinks it can compete because of its long-standing familiarity with the connections and the clients. “The value lies in the service model,” he said. ITG is also putting its money on its “international footprint.” About one-third of its connections are outside the U.S. in both Europe and Asia, Alepa said.
