As part of a new, client-centric approach to execution consulting called UBS Quant on Demand (UBS QUOD), UBS has launched a new algorithmic trading tool called UBS QUOD Studio.
UBS QUOD Studio is an iPad® app allowing UBS algorithmic trading team members to collaborate with clients to rapidly design, simulate and develop execution strategies for trading in the securities markets.
“Our aim is to turn the process of product development and execution consulting on its head – making our platform client-centric and more immediate.” says Owain Self, Global Head of Algorithmic Trading at UBS. “The first tool we are launching in this family is ‘UBS QUOD Studio’ — an iPad-based application that delivers a next-generation, rapid algorithmic development framework. UBS Quant on Demand will, over time, deliver a series of highly sophisticated and automated quantitative, consultative and personalised solutions to clients ‘on demand’.”
Using a proprietary interactive iPad app, the UBS algorithmic trading team works with clients to design and build custom strategies that fit their specific workflow, view of the market, and individualised objectives. A strategy they can use the next day.
Phil Allison, Global Head of Cash for UBS, says: “What makes QUOD Studio unique is that UBS is custom fitting our technology to meet client needs, not vice-versa. Traders can simulate performance of algorithms before they build them – so they can try “what if” scenarios to see how the outcomes may change when various components and triggers are changed.”
A traditional custom algorithmic development process takes weeks to achieve and consumes significant resources, so clients and brokers are less likely to undertake projects to build strategies that may not have broad, long-term applications. UBS QUOD Studio allows users to create strategies opportunistically and change their minds often. They can design strategies that serve a very specific short-term need, or strategies that fundamentally alter the way they trade in certain circumstances. This level of speed and flexibility has never been offered before. With the UBS QUOD Studio iPad app, a process that used to take months — requiring quantitative analysts and developers to code thousands of lines of commands and engage in weeks of testing and adjustments — is now possible in 24 hours.
This platform will be made available* immediately for UBS specialist-driven client use in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. It will be made available across the Asia-Pacific region later this year.
UBS Direct Execution is the firm’s global institutional electronic trading business. Direct Execution offers ultra-low latency Direct Market Access (DMA), a suite of award-winning advanced Algorithmic Trading strategies, a state-of-the-art analytics platform – offering Real-Time TCA – called UBS Fusion, and a multi-asset international execution management system called UBS Pinpoint.
