Nomura, an Asia-headquartered financial services firm which operates the largest brokerage in Japan, announced this Friday that it is investing in a venture established by European hedge fund management company Brevan Howard, called AIM2.
Brevan Howard manages assets for institutional investors around the world. The company launched AIM2 in 2015, with the goal to use a combination of data science and machine learning to create alpha investment strategies.
Now, AIM2 is focusing on the wholesale financial markets and is in the process of building tools for participants in this sector. This new direction is the direct result of collaboration between Nomura and AIM2 which started at the beginning of last year.
Nomura’s wholesale division is made up of its Global Markets segment, which offers research, sales and trading of global securities such as foreign exchange (FX), Equities , rates and more, as well as its Investment Banking segment, which offers capital raising and advisory services.
The new tool will provide quotes and recommendations by using artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to analyze high-frequency historical and real-time data, such as client flows and market data, the statement said.
Steve Ashley
Source: Best Execution
Commenting on the partnership, Steve Ashley, Global Head of Wholesale at Nomura, said: “The AIM2 team has a strong combination of data scientists and capital market experts, and has built an industry leading AI engine that we will use across all asset classes to enhance the client experience and increase market share in flow products. This solution will also form part of our plans to accelerate Nomura’s Wholesale digital transformation.”
Nomura to Revamp Wholesale Unit
The announcement today comes less than a month after Nomura reported its third-quarter financial results for its 2019 fiscal year, where the firm reported a loss due to a large write-off in its wholesale division.
The collaboration with Brevan Howard is to no doubt give its wholesale unit a much-needed revamp, as the firm has reported two consecutive quarterly losses, with both being weighed down by a lackluster performance in the division.
