EMS giant FlexTrade has rolled out an artificial intelligence application within its flagship multi-asset solution, FlexTRADER EMS, which it claims will “revolutionise” how trading teams interact with their data and trading technology solutions. Best Execution talks to FlexTrade managing director Andy Mahoney to learn more…
‘FlexA’ (working title) is a new AI natural language interface layer across FlexTRADER EMS which aims to simplify the interaction between the trader and their technology platform, allowing them to more easily and intuitively process large quantities of information.
“Initiatives such as ‘FlexA’ present a glimpse into the future of trading technology and what is possible,” said Andy Mahoney, managing director at FlexTrade, speaking exclusively to Best Execution.
“Not only as they demonstrate that cutting-edge tools are no longer conceptual, they are here now – but because they offer clients the ability to immediately input back to optimize and refine them to deliver value.”
The application can be controlled via both voice commands or a text-based chat interface, meaning that users can ask either verbal or written questions to achieve what FlexTrade call a “deep situational awareness” of orders within their blotter, using a combination of specific criteria or characteristics (for example: “What is the value of my Swiss orders over 10% ADV?”).
They can also request further information – such as ad-hoc reports on historical trading to help with pre-trade decision-making, using questions like “show me a chart of my US traded venues for US orders in February”. They can also request actions to be automated to speed up workflow, for example: “Create a ticket for my US orders less than 500k using the VWAP AlgoWheel.”
OpenAI solutions such as ChatGPT have spawned numerous equivalents for the financial markets, including Bloomberg’s 50-billion parameter large language model, BloombergGPT, launched in April 2023. However, the new offering from FlexTrade is one of the first examples of the technology being used directly within an OEMS solution.
FlexTrade Systems CEO Vijay Kedia noted that the launch was a “milestone achievement” in the “revolutionary moment” of OpenAi development, which should enable traders to use natural language to rapidly interact, interrogate and understand data in the manner that makes most sense to them. “The outcome is that it erodes the barriers created by traditional input devices such as keyboard and mouse,” he explained, “enabling teams to work quickly to understand and optimise their pre-trade decisions.”
The response from the market so far has been positive, with traders keen to see how the functionality can materially assist them in their day-to-day activities – and the technology is likely to be refined yet further, as use cases start to roll in.
“We’ve quietly taken “FlexA” on the road, so to speak, and have trialled it at events such as TradeTech, and it has been fascinating to see how it can understand questions or perform actions requested,” Mahoney revealed to Best Execution.
“It allows the user to be in tune with technology and will improve as we refine it with our data scientists and industry input from clients, prospects and partners.”
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