On April 25th, 2019, Clearpool was named “Best Company” in the Algorithmic Trading Category as part of the 2019 Markets Media Choice Awards. Accepting the award on behalf of Clearpool, founders Joe Wald, Brian Schaeffer and Ray Ross are excited to celebrate such an honor, noting that Clearpool wouldn’t be what it is today without the dedication of the broader team.
How a four-year-old company is transforming electronic trading
Launched in 2014, Clearpool Group, Inc. is an electronic trading software provider and independent agency broker-dealer created to address the inherent lack of transparency in broker routing. Our aim is to empower market participants to achieve better quality executions by delivering advanced electronic trading solutions for an evolving equity market microstructure and competitive landscape.
To that end, we offer an Algorithmic Management System (AMS) that is transforming electronic trading with a fully customizable suite of algorithmic trading tools, offering total visibility and control from strategy to execution. Brokers use the Clearpool AMS to customize algorithms, analyze performance, and collaborate on best execution protocols with their buy-side clients.
Leading future development in transparency
Building on the success of the AMS, in the spring of 2018 we also launched Venue Analysis, a forensic tool for examining venue performance across the equities market. This allows subscribers to view performance of venues on a monthly or quarterly basis along with interactive data visualizations that make venue performance clearer. Brokers and asset managers use Venue Analysis to analyze performance and collaborate to optimize the priority of venues in their algorithm’s routing tables to improve trading performance. Additionally, subscribers can also validate their routing protocols and demonstrate best execution.
Our solutions enable the buy and sell side to collaborate more deeply by providing them with unbiased data which they can use to make decisions about which venues are included or excluded in their routing tables based on the intent of a trade.
Following a high-growth trajectory
Soon after launch, Clearpool demonstrated a growth rate strong enough to attract the attention of (and subsequent funding from) a successful venture capital firm specializing in high growth, recurring revenue technology companies in the fintech industry.
In just four years we have seen tremendous growth, amassing 120 AMS clients and jumping from only 28 employees at inception in 2014 to over 60 team members today.
Equally as impressive, Clearpool has made inroads with major banks, solidifying multi-year strategic partnerships. Clearpool’s award-winning AMS will empower these partners to deliver fully customizable algorithms, have control and transparency in their routing protocols, and to utilize comprehensive real-time performance and routing analytics. For these and other Clearpool partners, the AMS has become an integral part of the trading process they have in place with their customers, who represent some of the largest asset managers in the nation.
In Q2 2019, we will be expanding into Canada—including the ability to trade interlisted securities—and also looking to expand our product suite to include other asset classes. With this move, we aim to drive beyond our focus on providing transparency and control to include arming brokers with the ability to differentiate themselves and become “execution consultants” for their clients. Meaning, machines and technology can execute trading, but the value the broker brings to the table is how they use their knowledge of venues, order types, and market structure to create routing protocol recommendations tailored to each clients’ unique trading objectives. That level of sophistication can only be obtained when they have access to trading solutions like Clearpool’s AMS and Venue Analysis that provide them with real-time and historical views of trades allowing them to make informed decisions/recommendations about their routing protocols.
More than a technology provider
The success of Clearpool embodies the concept of “punching above one’s weight,” leaning on the specialist training of a small team that brought a big idea to life. Ultimately, we have brought to bear a much-needed solution that hadn’t previously existed—a nimble, completely cloud-based software system that provides transparency for the modern market microstructure.
We’re thrilled to be recognized by Markets Media as Best Algorithmic Trading Company for 2019 and look forward to even more growth this year and those to come.