Quant Firm Man Numeric Aims to Go 100% Electronic for Credit Trades By 2025

  • About 90% of its corporate bond trades are electronic now
  • Growth of quant traders can boost market liquidity, firm says

Across the high-grade market, about 40% of trades are online, up from less than a tenth a decade ago.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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An electronic trading revolution is finally coming to corporate bonds, years after reaching other financial markets.

That’s what Man Numeric, a quant investment arm of the world’s largest publicly listed hedge fund manager, believes. The firm is executing 90% of its high-yield and investment-grade trades through digital platforms, and expects to get to 100% within two years. A year ago, only about a third of its junk bond trades were electronic, with the rest happening on the telephone or a messaging platform.