IPC Systems, Inc., a leading global provider of specialised communications and managed network-as-a-service (MNaaS) solutions for the financial trading community, today announced the launch of a Financial Markets Cloud service for securely and reliably trading exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The groundbreaking solution introduced today enables sell-side firms as well as IPC’s diverse community of over 4,000 buy-side firms comprised of institutional investors, insurance companies, corporate treasuries, asset managers and hedge funds to trade ETFs electronically or via voice.

“ETFs provide transparency, standardisation and tight bid-ask spreads in addition to offering market makers an efficient way to manage and transfer risk,” said Anthony Perrotta, Partner and Global Head of Research and Consulting at TABB Group, a leading financial markets research and strategic advisory firm. “Electronic and voice connectivity to an established ecosystem of counterparties and liquidity venues is crucial for fixed income ETFs since they trade simultaneously both over-the-counter and on exchanges.”

Perrotta continued, “As ETFs continue to proliferate and fixed income market participants increasingly utilise the products to both manage beta and generate alpha, we foresee an increased demand for specialised communications and managed network services which will ensure optimum flow of information and data.”

“The combination of ETFs and our Financial Markets Cloud offers a powerful and transformational paradigm for the rapidly evolving global fixed income markets where sourcing liquidity, mitigating risk, connecting market participants and enabling all-to-all trading have become imperative,” said Joseph Pickel, Global Head of Sales and Marketing, Financial Markets Network, IPC. “Today’s announcement underscores our unwavering commitment to providing market participants with next generation solutions to reliably and securely trade ETFs in listed and over-the-counter markets around the world.”

The IPC Financial Markets Network service portfolio includes the Connexus Financial Extranet, Direct Connect and MPLS WAN data services, as well as Trader and Enhanced Voice connectivity services. IPC’s Financial Markets Network interconnects global financial centers and allows access to more than 6,000 market participant locations across 700 cities in more than 60 countries.