BestX, an independent entity within State Street's GlobalLink franchise, continues to be an industry-standard in FX and has significantly evolved its offering with a number of key initiatives.
One important development has been the improvement of BestX’s FX pre-trade module, which has undergone substantial upgrades in response to client feedback. These enhancements include a refined user interface and the introduction of a pre-trade application programming interface (API), both aimed at providing actionable data that traders can use to reduce execution costs and boost trading efficiency. These improvements have allowed traders to optimize their execution strategies more effectively.
The launch of the pre-trade API was aimed at enhancing its integration with buyside clients. This solution offers valuable insights such as optimal algorithm suggestions, request-for-quote (RFQ) panel sizes and counterparty selection. Fully compliant with FDC3 standards, the tool boosts platform interoperability, providing traders with crucial data at the point of trade.
Central to these enhancements was BestX's extensive database, powered by over $110 trillion in traded notional. This vast repository allows users to query and leverage data from their own trading history or the broader BestX pool, facilitating more informed and strategic trading decisions.
BestX has also strengthened its presence in the real-money market by partnering with FX Connect to integrate its advanced analytics directly into its platform. This allowed clients to access real-time analytics during execution, improving RFQ trades and algorithmic performance. Notably, the collaboration enabled two-way communication between an execution management system (EMS) and a transaction cost analysis (TCA) provider. Unlike traditional TCA providers, which only offer post-trade data, BestX delivers pre-trade insights back into the EMS, enabling automated counterparty selection and improving workflows and user experience.
“We’re committed to designing new functionality to enhance the client experience and streamline workflows,” says Greg Fortuna, senior managing director at State Street.
“Combining the precision of our BestX TCA insights and the power of our FX Connect trading platform, our partnership provides clients with the first-of-its-kind decision augmentation tool that offers actionable pre-trade analytics to optimize RFQs and algo execution. Within their set parameters, clients are able to see real-time analytics at the point of execution, empowering clients to make more informed trade decisions.”