MarketAxess expanded its partnership with BlackRock to optimize credit market trading efficiency. This development aims to allow shared clients to benefit from connectivity and access to trading tools within BlackRock's Aladdin platform.

A Decade-Long Partnership

The collaboration between MarketAxess and BlackRock began in 2013, focusing on Open Trading and data analytics. The two firms now plan to take their partnership further by integrating MarketAxess' credit trading protocols directly into Aladdin, BlackRock's order execution management system (OEMS).

According to the company's announcement, this new connectivity promises to streamline credit trading for joint clients by embedding MarketAxess' key protocols into Aladdin's infrastructure.

Commenting about the new agreement, Rich Schiffman, the Global Head of Trading Solutions at MarketAxess, said: "Our two firms have a long-standing relationship and history of successful collaboration to cater to our clients' liquidity, workflow, and data needs. As the market evolves, we're seeing increased adoption of our automation protocols, with many of our clients turning to our strategies for over 90% of their trading volumes.

"We look forward to bringing the latest of our automation protocols, Adaptive Auto-X, as well as our market-leading RFQ solutions, Open Trading, and Live Markets central limit order book directly to Aladdin clients through this partnership."

The Future of Credit Trading

Aladdin, BlackRock's investment management platform, is known for unifying the trading process across institutions by using a common data language. The integration with MarketAxess will reportedly allow traders to access credit trading solutions within the Aladdin ecosystem.

The partnership seeks to further electronify global credit markets by combining MarketAxess' technology with Aladdin's portfolio management capabilities.

Last month, MarketAxess reported a notable increase in trading activity boosted by credit and rate trading volumes. The electronic trading platform registered a 39.6% jump in total average daily volume (ADV), reaching $41.6 billion.

The platform's portfolio trading, especially in US high-grade and municipal bonds, reportedly contributed to this expansion. MarketAxess' total credit ADV increased by 27%. US high-grade ADV expanded by 33.7%, while emerging markets and municipal bonds posted substantial growth of 25.5% and 49.5%, respectively.