A.W. Bertsch Signs Order Routing and Communications Pact With Eze Castle
Only a couple of weeks after the firm tapped into the AutEx's TradeRoute+ order routing and execution network (ETW, 7/5/99), A.W. Bertsch has signed a deal to use to a pair of systems from Eze Castle.
A.W. Bertsch, a New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) floor broker, plans to offer Eze Castle's trade order management (TOM) system and ez-eXchange communications platform to its institutional investor and money manager-oriented client base.
"It's simple math," says Matt Fox, A.W. Bertsch chief technology officer. "Trade volume is going up, our rates continue to go down, and to remain competitive, we need to use technology. More orders are coming in electronically and we can respond to that demand. It replaces the need for phone calls and paper and brings us closer to STP (straight-through processing)."
The first phase of the two-tier implementation includes the ez-eXchange implementation. The system is a real-time chatting program that will allow A.W. Bertsch's customers to contact its brokers on the floor of the NYSE -- asking for quote information. Brokers will receive the queries via the NYSE's broker booth support system (BBSS).
Ez-eXchange should be up and running within a month, Fox says. Soon thereafter, the firm will make the TOM system available to its customers. An institution entering a trade order into the Eze Castle TOM will see that order routed over the AutEx TradeRoute+ network, which will translate it into a financial information exchange (FIX) protocol so that it can be read by A.W. Bertsch's FIX servers. Those servers will then convert the message into the NYSE's messaging protocol standard, so that it can be processed by SIAC--the exchange's information services arm--and then routed to the A.W. Bertsch location on the floor of exchange.
Once A.W. Bertsch receives the order, it can then route the order to the appropriate broker, who will receive it on the BBSS. Once the trade is conducted, execution information and other pertinent data will be relayed back to the institution or money manager through the same process.
That said, though A.W. Bertsch has some big plans Eze Caste's TOM, it will not be the only order management application the firm will offer its clients. In an attempt to broaden its clients' options, Fox explains, A.W. Bertsch is currently speaking with a handful of other TOM vendors.
Meanwhile, since installing AutEx's TradeRoute+ earlier this month, A.W. Bertsch has signed up four customers to use the system. Fox declines to name those clients, but says that users of TradeRoute+ will enter orders via a simple graphical user interface (GUI) that is included with the AutEx network.
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