APIs and algorithms push fixed income deeper into FinTech territory

By Puja Sharma

TS Imagine, a global multi-asset SaaS platform offering portfolio and risk management, electronic trading, and prime brokerage solutions for the buy- and sell side, released new year-over-year data from its TradeSmart fixed income execution management system (EMS) showing that fixed income electronification continues to accelerate and trading behavior continues to evolve.

The data highlights sustained growth in the global buy-side’s adoption of fixed income electronic trading tools and workflows, driven by rising demands for scale, sharper price discovery, and tighter control over information leakage—pressures being felt across markets from North America and Europe to Asia-Pacific.

Fixed income trading on TradeSmart grew 44% year over year in 2025, underscoring a broader global shift away from voice-heavy workflows toward digitally enabled execution. This growth was led by strong government bond activity, where volumes increased 76%, reflecting continued momentum in electronic execution even across the most liquid fixed income markets.

At a protocol level, the data points to deeper structural changes in how fixed income risk is being transferred and managed globally:

• Portfolio trading volumes surged 607% year over year, signalling rapid adoption of scalable execution strategies designed to handle complex, multi-instrument risk efficiently.
• RFQ responding volumes rose 109%, indicating stronger two-sided engagement and growing comfort with electronic negotiation workflows.
• Click-to-Trade usage increased by 81%, highlighting rising confidence in firm, executable pricing and faster decision-making.
• Direct Dealer trading volumes grew 66%, reflecting sustained global demand for point-to-point electronic liquidity and improved pricing outcomes.

Overall, the number of trades increased by 24% compared to 2024, pointing to broader platform adoption and more consistent electronic engagement across protocols, regions, and asset classes.

Andrew Morgan, President and Chief Revenue Officer at TS Imagine, said the data reflects a fundamental shift in market structure rather than a short-term trend. “This data highlights how the electronification of fixed income markets is accelerating across geographies and sub-asset classes. The sharp increase in portfolio trading volumes, in particular, shows how trading is becoming more balance-sheet-aware and increasingly reliant on scalable execution strategies. As liquidity becomes more complex to access, execution management systems must provide traders with a unified view across execution, analytics, and risk.”

As global fixed income markets contend with tighter liquidity conditions, evolving regulation, and growing cost pressures, the data suggests that electronic execution is moving beyond efficiency gains to become core market infrastructure—reshaping how institutions access liquidity, manage risk, and compete across borders.

TS Imagine’s TradeSmart is a multi-asset execution management platform that enables global financial institutions to trade with their counterparties through a single, integrated workflow. The platform connects users to a global network of liquidity providers, brokers, and venues, while offering advanced execution tools, real-time market data, and analytics across more than 25 million financial instruments.