The DESK’s Trading Intentions Survey 2021

“A notable new addition this year is LedgerEdge which is expected to offer an ‘ecosystem’ for bond trading rather than a specific platform, yet is clearly anticipated as providing more pre-trade transparency in the future.”

This year sees tighter pipelines for new business and a wider array of trading protocols.

Executive summary
One year on from the sell-off in Q1 2020, engagement with electronic trading has increased across the board.

Bloomberg still has the most widely used data, trading interfaces and venue for corporate bond trading, while confidence in its data/analytics and trading interfaces remains highest over the medium to long term.

MarketAxess’s tools continue to be perceived as the most effective at finding liquidity in credit markets today, and its trading venue is future-proofed with traders having greatest confidence in still using them out to 2025.

Tradeweb has significantly increased engagement since 2020 with double figure rises in use across its interface and its trading venue, plus the largest pipeline of traders planning to engage with it for pre-trade data and analytics.

New primary market tools are neck-and-neck in expected adoption making for some tough decisions on buy-side trading desks. Direct dealer connectivity continues to rise as a tool for executing trades, potentially representing the greatest threat to smaller platforms who are looking to get a foothold through more significant market share.

Read the full report here.