Algomi, the network company providing information-matching solutions for the optimisation of fixed income liquidity, today announced its 100th buy-side firm has committed to its Honeycomb network globally. Algomi’s Honeycomb Network allows investment firms to see which dealer is best placed to facilitate illiquid corporate bond trades without disturbing the markets and having the price move against them. Algomi is continuing to add asset management, pension fund, sovereign wealth fund, endowment and hedge fund clients from offices in New York, London and Hong Kong, and client support and sales in Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston. More firms are coming online each week. Alongside the 100 buy-side firms, a swift increase in the 50 buy-side firms that had signed on by May 2015, 11 major banks have either installed or installing the Honeycomb network. An additional 120 buy-side firms are in contract negotiations. “The rapid uptake of the buy-side to the Honeycomb network demonstrates that there is an increasing need for more efficiency in voice corporate bond trading,” said Algomi co-founder and CEO Stu Taylor. “Doubling the number of firms on the Honeycomb network in such a short period of time is indicative of the liquidity problems that global credit markets face, and is testament to our robust sales process and technology teams that are onboarding the firms, enabling the buy-side to access the information that helps make illiquid trades happen.” The company made the Honeycomb network available to the sell-side in the spring of 2014, and buy-side firms started to join towards the end of the year. Algomi’s growth stems from changing market conditions in the fixed income market, driven by regulation stipulating that banks are now unable to warehouse the risk associated with illiquid bonds on their balance sheets.
In a market where other startups are struggling, Algomi continues to add clients globally. The firm has announced adding its 100th buy-side firm to its Honeycomb network, up from 11 in May , another just 50 are understood to be in contract negotiations. 11 major banks have also either installed, or are in the process of installing the Honeycomb Network network.