Millennium opens Singapore office as Asia credit trading soars
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Use of electronic trading in Asia has jumped from a decade ago.
PHOTO: PIXABAY
Follow topic:
New York - Millennium Advisors has expanded its trading and sales operations into Asia to take advantage of surging demand for electronic trading and US dollar bonds.
The US-based firm opened a new office in Singapore after considering locations in Hong Kong and Dubai, it said. Trading began on July 3 with three employees.
Mr Laurent Paulhac, the firm’s group chief executive, said: “The most challenging question in business is not what to do, but when to do it. These markets are evolving quickly and you need to be there.”
The reason is clear: The electronic fixed-income market in the region has grown fast and is still scaling. In 2023, 56 per cent of Asian investors utilised electronic trading compared with 36 per cent a decade ago, according to a report from Coalition Greenwich, a financial information services provider.
Millennium sees it as an opportunity, saying its “core strength” is as an electronic liquidity provider.
“Asian fixed-income investors are already planning to increase their usage of e-trading across product categories and trading protocols,” Mr Kevin McPartland, head of research for market structure and technology at Coalition Greenwich, wrote in the report.
“As dealers increasingly price orders via algorithms, liquidity during Asian trading hours will continue to improve.”
It is an illustration of how quickly global fixed income has integrated itself into an electronic transaction world long dominated by equities.
The use of portfolio trading – which allows investors to buy and sell large lots of different bonds at once – is increasing, exchange-traded funds are providing easier access to retail buyers and higher yields are keeping demand strong.
The demand for dollar bonds from Asian investors has also soared, according to Millennium.
The firm’s average trade count jumped 50 per cent in July compared with the second quarter, while volumes surged 83 per cent.
“We have seen this appetite for dollar corporates only grow,” said Ms Caroline Serdarevic, Millennium’s global head of sales and head of UK and Singapore.
“With greater liquidity, more and more execution was happening earlier in the day in the Asia morning. We needed to have boots on the ground.” BLOOMBERG
