Block Trading Solution Launch
Q: What's the plan to grow your new block trading solution?
A: We recently launched our targeted block trading solution, X-Pro, to capture large block trades that account for 30–40% of the market. Early feedback from pilot clients is positive, and we're leveraging pre-trade analytics and AI-driven dealer selection to reduce information leakage and improve execution. We're moving from defense to offense, targeting the phone and chat market with better data and fewer clicks.

Portfolio Trading Competitiveness
Q: How competitive is your portfolio trading offering now?
A: We're still behind our primary competitor but are rapidly enhancing our portfolio trading tools. We've recently added benchmark trading features and plan significant upgrades by the end of Q1. Despite not being on par yet, we're growing market share and expect our fully enhanced offering to drive further gains.

Fee Per Million Dynamics
Q: How will duration and yields affect fee per million?
A: An increase of one year in weighted average years to maturity adds approximately $15 per million in high-grade fee capture. Additionally, a 100 basis point decline in yields can add $3–$5 per million. We're currently at about 9 years weighted average maturity, up from 8 in Q2.

Emerging Markets Growth
Q: What's driving your strong growth in emerging markets?
A: Emerging markets volume grew 19% year-over-year in Q3. We're seeing record block trading volumes, up 24%. The competitive landscape is favorable, with the phone being the main competitor, and we're capitalizing on new electronic solutions like our request-for-market protocol.

Electronification Pace
Q: Do you expect electronification to accelerate in high-grade markets?
A: Yes, we anticipate faster electronification than in the past 25 years. The adoption of electronic solutions like portfolio trading, now 10–13% of the market, shows clients embracing electronification. We're optimistic about increased adoption of electronic block trading due to commercial pressures and efficiency gains.

Automation Suite Advancements
Q: How is your automation suite progressing?
A: Automation grew 32% year-over-year and now represents 27% of trades on our platform. Clients are using it for larger trade sizes, including block trades. We've launched a new solution leveraging Pragma technology to enhance our adaptive Auto-X tool , and we're seeing growth across all products and regions.

ICE Partnership Benefits
Q: How is the ICE partnership developing?
A: The partnership with ICE is off to a great start, especially in munis and high-yield credit. ICE has become one of our top open trade liquidity providers, offering unique liquidity, particularly in smaller trade sizes. We're expanding connections with ICE bonds and exploring opportunities in treasury clearing.

Expense Management and Investments
Q: What's your plan for expenses and investments in 2025?
A: We're balancing investing for growth with disciplined expense management. While some fixed costs are shifting out of 2024, variable costs increased due to higher volumes. We remain focused on deploying resources into key investments like proprietary data sets and technology enhancements.

Trade Velocity Increase
Q: What's driving the increase in trade velocity?
A: Higher yields are attracting inflows into ETFs and mutual funds, requiring investment. Portfolio trading facilitates faster market exposure and portfolio changes, contributing to increased velocity. Record new issuance in 2024 also boosts turnover. We expect these trends to continue into 2025.

Dealer-to-Dealer Expansion
Q: How are you increasing share in dealer-to-dealer trading?
A: We're investing significantly in the dealer business, enhancing our RFQ protocol and automation solutions for sell-side traders. We've introduced a "Work up" protocol allowing traders to expand trades after initial execution. We're also investing in single-price auctions with our Mid-X product, expecting good results in 2025.