TRADERS MAGAZINE | “Best Options Trading Technology Provider: Matrix Executions”
Traders Magazine spoke with Allen Greenberg, COO of Matrix Executions, which won '“Best Options Trading Technology Provider” at the 2023 Markets Choice Awards.
By Anna Lyudvig — June 21, 2023
Please tell us about your trading solutions for option traders.
Matrix solutions for options traders cut a wide swath, offering very sophisticated solutions for almost all professional options traders. First and foremost comes our electronic offering, led by our proprietary front ends – Matrix Pro for buy-side users, and Matrix Elite (more sell-side focused). Matrix has certified with most leading EMS/OMS front-ends in the industry, allowing firms to connect with us quickly and easily. Providing that cross-functionality is hugely important today. The pièce de résistance of Matrix’s electronic offering is our proprietary algo rack. Matrix’s algos are highly-adaptable and agile, allowing us to collaborate with clients to completely customize our offering to their needs, essentially designing a bespoke solution for each user/client. Matrix’s High-Touch offering provides added expertise for traders requiring that level of service via Matrix brokers on the BOX floor and in Cboe’s SPX pit. Our HT teams assist traders in price discovery and price improvement through our network of liquidity providers, and uniquely, are fully integrated with our electronic offering.
What are the current options trading trends?
The biggest trend is the expansion of FLEX options, where we’ve been active for some time. The number of firms initiating FLEX option trades has expanded significantly, leading to a proliferation of liquidity-providing/market-making firms entering the arena. The growth of this type of product points to a longevity in what was once a very niche market.
How does Matrix Executions differentiate in a competitive landscape?
A few things set us apart from competitors, experience being number one. We bring 40 years of industry experience to the table. We have been traders, brokers, developers since options were in their infancy and have stood in our client’s shoes. Our access to trading expertise, deep industry relationships, and extensive market structure knowledge is unparalleled. Technologically, Matrix’s algo stack, which is completely customizable, delivers a fully tailored offering for each user/client. To supplement these high-performance algo routing capabilities, we also offer ultra-low latency DMA routing.
What are your long-term objectives and ambitions?
Our long-term objectives have remained constant. Since day one, Matrix’s goal has been to provide an innovative product line at a competitive price in an area where, traditionally, there haven’t been many choices. We’re committed to continuously improving our products, our HT offering, and delivering that white-glove service client experience for those we work with – our own experience and the team we have put together have gone a long way in helping us achieve those goals.
What strategy are you using to improve clients’ experience for your business?
Matrix strives to ensure an environment of innovation and collaboration within our team, but more importantly, with our clients. We welcome and encourage open, continuous communication and evolution in our business. We take each client interaction and outcome as an opportunity for growth and improvement vis-à-vis tools, processes, client experience. We handle our technology in-house and oversee our clients’ trade life-cycles from start to finish – this is the capstone of Matrix’s holistic, full-service client approach.
Internally, we provide training (and cross-training) within all areas of the organization to ensure a superior experience for our users. For instance, while a Salesperson may never be a Developer (or vice-versa), each side’s understanding of the other’s processes and stress points leads to greater collaboration, a better understanding of how to navigate issues, and ultimately, a results in a better client experience.
What are recent accomplishments for Matrix Executions?
This year, the most obvious would be Matrix Executions being nominated for and ultimately winning the 2023 Markets Choice Awards as the “Best Options Trading Technology Provider” of the year.
Matrix has also been shortlisted as one of the “Top Ten Trading Solutions Providers of 2023” by Financial Services Review Magazine. That said, it would be remiss of us not to mention just the sheer, overall growth that Matrix has seen since our inception back in 2018 — in terms of our team, range of solutions, number of clients — it has rruly been an incredible journey.
What are your current initiatives at Matrix Executions and what can we expect from Matrix Executions in the nearest future?
One initiative that we’re currently working on is a first-of-its-kind system for use with FLEX options. Our clients have mentioned that current processes for trading FLEX options are slow, tedious, and labor-intensive – a completely disjointed workflow leading to inefficiencies and also quite error-prone. To address this, Matrix is building a system that will seamlessly streamline the entire FLEX process — from pricing options, to sourcing liquidity, execution, reporting, audit trails, etc.
Another initiative is focused on complex orders and the Complex Order Books at those exchanges that support them. A challenge for many traders is that each exchange has its own set of rules — and each exchange is not necessarily required to honor better prices at other exchanges when it comes to complex orders. Matrix is currently in the process of building a new hybrid system that can not only trade displayed complex orders (within the COBs), but, it can trade implied “leg” prices across multiple exchanges in order to give traders the best pricing possible.
Of course, Matrix continues to add to its option liquidity-sourcing capabilities, both through further integrations of price-discovery & liquidity-sourcing behaviors into our own options strategies, and through the continued expansion of our liquidity pool destinations.