MarketAxess Announces Monthly Volume Statistics for September and Third Quarter 2023

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, today announced monthly trading volume and preliminary variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.1

Chris Concannon, CEO of MarketAxess, commented:

“Our international businesses and our municipal bond offering registered solid ADV growth in the quarter, reflecting the benefits of our geographic and product diversification. Continued low levels of volatility dampened ETF market maker activity and favored select trading protocols, including portfolio trading. Adoption of our new trading platform, MarketAxess X-Pro, continues to expand. We are seeing early signs that our unique proprietary data is enhancing the client experience, including the execution of portfolio trades, and the final week of September was our second strongest week of credit trading volume ever. Additionally, we just completed the acquisition of Pragma, which we expect to accelerate our automation and client algo strategies. We believe that the rapid increase in interest rates since 2022 and the growing risks in financial markets will drive increased credit market volatility in the coming quarters.”

Select 3Q23 highlights*

  • Total credit average daily volume (“ADV”) of $11.2 billion, up 1.7%.
  • U.S. high-grade ADV of $5.2 billion, up 1.1% with estimated market share of 20.0%. U.S. high-grade estimated market ADV increased 6.4%.
  • U.S. high-yield ADV of $1.3 billion, down 20.4% with estimated market share of 16.1%. U.S. high-yield estimated market ADV decreased 4.5%. The decrease in U.S. high-yield estimated market share was driven principally by low levels of credit spread volatility, resulting in a decrease in ETF market maker activity on the platform. The VIX index, an indicator of volatility, was an average 15.1 in 3Q23, down 39.1% from 24.7 in 3Q22.
  • 8.0% increase in emerging markets ADV to $2.8 billion, driven by a 26.9% increase in local markets trading volume, partially offset by a 4.2% decline in hard currency trading volume; 4.3% decrease in emerging markets estimated market ADV.2
  • 18.2% increase in Eurobonds ADV to $1.5 billion. Eurobonds estimated market ADV increased 31.6%.3
  • Municipal bond ADV of $388 million, up 7.5% with estimated market share of 5.8%. Municipal bond estimated market ADV decreased 10.1%.
  • $27.5 billion in total portfolio trading volume, up 11.1% from $24.7 billion in 3Q22.
  • 33% Open Trading® share4 of total credit trading volume, down from 37% in the prior year on lower volatility. Estimated price improvement5 via Open Trading in the quarter was approximately $120 million and is $529 million year-to-date through September 2023 on lower volatility.
  • The preliminary FPM1 for total credit for 3Q23 was approximately $155, compared to $157 in 2Q23 and $166 in the prior year. The decline in total credit FPM in 3Q23 compared to the prior year was due principally to a change in the mix of credit products traded, specifically a decline in U.S. high-yield trading volume, which is the highest FPM product, and the lower duration of bonds traded in U.S. high-grade. The preliminary FPM for total rates was $4.60, compared to $4.17 in the prior year.

*All comparisons versus 3Q22 unless otherwise noted.

Table 1: September 2023 trading ADV

CREDIT RATES
$ in millions

(unaudited)
US/UK Trading Days6 Total

ADV
Total

Credit
High-Grade High-Yield Emerging

Markets
Eurobonds Municipal Bonds Total

Rates
US Govt.

Bonds
Agcy./Other

Govt. Bonds
Sep-23

20/21

$29,625

$11,764

$5,388

$1,326

$2,949

$1,658

$427

$17,861

$17,331

$530

Sep-22

21/21

$32,618

$12,249

$5,721

$1,828

$2,810

$1,513

$360

$20,369

$19,948

$421

% Change

 

(9%)

(4%)

(6%)

(27%)

5%

10%

19%

(12%)

(13%)

26%

Table 1A: September 2023 estimated market share

CREDIT RATES


(unaudited)
High-Grade High-Yield High-Grade/

High-Yield Combined
Eurobonds3 Composite

Corporate Bond7
Municipals US Govt.

Bonds
Sep-23

19.5%

15.4%

18.5%

15.5%

18.1%

5.9%

2.9%

Sep-22

21.7%

21.3%

21.6%

18.3%

21.4%

4.2%

3.8%

Bps Change

(220) bps

(590) bps

(310) bps

(280) bps

(330) bps

+170 bps

(90) bps

Table 1B: 3Q23 trading ADV

CREDIT RATES
$ in millions

(unaudited)
US/UK

Trading Days6
Total

ADV
Total

Credit
High-Grade High-Yield Emerging

Markets
Eurobonds Municipal

Bonds
Total

Rates
US Govt.

Bonds
Agcy./Other

Govt. Bonds

3Q23

63/64

$29,285

$11,156

$5,179

$1,294

$2,799

$1,484

$388

$18,129

$17,713

$416

3Q22

64/64

$31,440

$10,974

$5,124

$1,626

$2,592

$1,255

$361

$20,466

$20,133

$333

% Change

 

(7%)

2%

1%

(20%)

8%

18%

7%

(11%)

(12%)

25%

Table 1C: 3Q23 estimated market share

CREDIT RATES


(unaudited)
High-Grade High-Yield High-Grade/

High-Yield Combined
Eurobonds3 Composite

Corporate Bond7
Municipals US Govt.

Bonds

3Q23

20.0%

16.1%

19.1%

15.8%

18.8%

5.8%

2.9%

3Q22

21.1%

19.3%

20.6%

17.6%

20.6%

4.9%

3.6%

Bps Change

(110) bps

(320) bps

(150) bps

(180) bps

(180) bps

+90 bps

(70) bps

Table 1D: Rolling 6-month trading ADV (period ending September 30, 2023 compared to period ending September 30, 2022)

CREDIT RATES
$ in millions

(unaudited)
US/UK

Trading Days6
Total

ADV
Total

Credit
High-Grade High-Yield Emerging

Markets
Eurobonds Municipal

Bonds
Total

Rates
US Govt.

Bonds
Agcy./Other

Govt. Bonds

Sep-23

125/124

$28,555

$11,680

$5,436

$1,383

$2,757

$1,705

$388

$16,875

$16,448

$427

Sep-22

126/124

$33,380

$11,620

$5,458

$1,698

$2,708

$1,369

$366

$21,760

$21,375

$385

% Change

 

(14%)

1%

(0%)

(19%)

2%

25%

6%

(22%)

(23%)

11%

Table 1E: Rolling 6-month estimated market share (period ending September 30, 2023 compared to period ending September 30, 2022)

CREDIT RATES


(unaudited)
High-Grade High-Yield High-Grade/

High-Yield Combined
Eurobonds3 Composite

Corporate Bond7
Municipals US Govt.

Bonds
Sep-23

20.4%

16.3%

19.4%

17.2%

19.3%

5.8%

2.7%

Sep-22

21.7%

18.2%

20.8%

16.2%

20.4%

4.3%

3.6%

Bps Change

(130) bps

(190) bps

(140) bps

+100 bps

(110) bps

+150 bps

(90) bps

1

The FPM for total credit and total rates for 3Q23 are preliminary and may be revised in subsequent updates and public filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any fee information in future press releases.

 

 

2

Emerging markets estimated market ADV is derived by combining MarketAxess TraX emerging markets trading volume (currently estimated to represent approximately 60% of the total emerging markets market beginning in September 2023, up from the previous estimate of 55%) and FINRA TRACE-reportable emerging markets trading volume, principally U.S. dollar denominated corporates.

 

 

3

Eurobonds estimated market ADV and estimated market share are derived from MarketAxess TraX data for Eurobonds and covered bonds market trading volume, which is currently estimated to represent approximately 80% of the total European market beginning in September 2023, up from the previous estimate of 70%.

 

 

4

Open Trading share of total credit trading volume is derived by taking total Open Trading volume across all credit products where Open Trading is offered and dividing by total credit trading volume across all credit products where Open Trading is offered.

 

 

5

Estimated price improvement consists of estimated liquidity taker price improvement (defined as the difference between the winning price and the best disclosed dealer cover price) and estimated liquidity provider price improvement (defined as the difference between the winning price and then current Composite+ bid or offer level, offer if the provider is buying, bid if provider is selling) at the time of the inquiry.

 

 

6

The number of U.S. trading days is based on the SIFMA holiday recommendation calendar and the number of U.K. trading days is based primarily on the U.K. Bank holiday schedule.

 

 

7

Composite corporate bond estimated market share is defined as combined estimated market share across U.S. high-grade (derived from FINRA TRACE reported data), U.S. high-yield (derived from FINRA TRACE reported data), emerging markets (derived from FINRA TRACE-reportable emerging markets volume, principally U.S. dollar denominated corporates) and Eurobonds (derived from MarketAxess TRAX data which is currently estimated to represent approximately 70% of the total European market) product areas.

Reported MarketAxess volume in all product categories includes only fully electronic trading volume. MarketAxess trading volumes, TRACE reported volumes and MarketAxess Post-Trade processed volumes are available on the Company’s website at investor.marketaxess.com/volume.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the outlook and prospects for Company, market conditions and industry growth, as well as statements about the Company’s future financial and operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future results and events are based on MarketAxess’ current expectations. The Company’s actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: global economic, political and market factors; risks relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the possible effects of the economic conditions worldwide resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; adverse effects as a result of climate change or other ESG risks that could affect our reputation; the level of trading volume transacted on the MarketAxess platform; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial services industry; the level and intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading industry and the pricing pressures that may result; reputational or credibility risks related to our data products and index business; the variability of our growth rate; our ability to introduce new fee plans and our clients’ response; our ability to attract clients or adapt our technology and marketing strategy to new markets; risks related to our growing international operations; our dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the loss of any of our significant institutional investor clients; our exposure to risks resulting from non-performance by counterparties to transactions executed between our clients in which we act as an intermediary in matched principal trades; risks related to self-clearing; risks related to sanctions levied against states or individuals that could expose us to operational or regulatory risks; the effect of rapid market or technological changes on us and the users of our technology; our dependence on third-party suppliers for key products and services; our ability to successfully maintain the integrity of our trading platform and our response to system failures, capacity constraints and business interruptions; the occurrence of design defects, errors, failures or delays with our platforms; our vulnerability to malicious cyber-attacks and attempted data security breaches; our actual or perceived failure to comply with privacy and data protection laws; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights or technology and defend against intellectual property infringement or other claims; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our business; our dependence on our management team and our ability to attract and retain talent; limitations on our flexibility because we operate in a highly regulated industry; the increasing government regulation of us and our clients; risks related to the divergence of U.K. and European Union legal and regulatory requirements following the U.K.’s exit from the European Union; our exposure to costs and penalties related to our extensive regulation; our risks of litigation and securities laws liability; our future capital needs and our ability to obtain capital when needed; limitations on our operating flexibility contained in our credit agreement; and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about these and other factors affecting MarketAxess’ business and prospects is contained in MarketAxess’ periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be accessed at www.marketaxess.com.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX) operates a leading electronic trading platform that delivers greater trading efficiency, a diversified pool of liquidity and significant cost savings to institutional investors and broker-dealers across the global fixed-income markets. Over 2,000 firms leverage MarketAxess’ patented technology to efficiently trade fixed-income securities. MarketAxess’ award-winning Open Trading® marketplace is widely regarded as the preferred all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets. Founded in 2000, MarketAxess connects a robust network of market participants through an advanced full trading lifecycle solution that includes automated trading solutions, intelligent data and index products and a range of post-trade services. Learn more at www.marketaxess.com and on Twitter @MarketAxess.

Table 2: Trading Volume Detail

 

 

 

 

Month Ended September 30,

 

In millions (unaudited)

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

Volume

 

 

ADV

 

 

Volume

 

 

 

ADV

 

 

Volume

 

 

ADV

 

Credit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High-grade

 

 

$

107,768

 

 

$

5,388

 

 

$

120,151

 

 

 

$

5,721

 

 

 

(10.3

)%

 

(5.8

)%

High-yield

 

 

 

26,516

 

 

 

1,326

 

 

 

38,397

 

 

 

 

1,828

 

 

 

(30.9

)

 

 

(27.5

)

Emerging markets

 

 

 

58,981

 

 

 

2,949

 

 

 

59,020

 

 

 

 

2,810

 

 

 

(0.1

)

 

 

4.9

 

Eurobonds

 

 

 

34,823

 

 

 

1,658

 

 

 

31,779

 

 

 

 

1,513

 

 

 

9.6

 

 

 

9.6

 

Other credit

 

 

 

8,879

 

 

 

443

 

 

 

7,923

 

 

 

 

377

 

 

 

12.1

 

 

 

17.5

 

Total credit trading1

 

 

 

236,967

 

 

 

11,764

 

 

 

257,270

 

 

 

 

12,249

 

 

 

(7.9

)

 

 

(4.0

)

Rates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. government bonds2

 

 

 

346,626

 

 

 

17,331

 

 

 

418,910

 

 

 

 

19,948

 

 

 

(17.3

)

 

 

(13.1

)

Agency and other government bonds1

 

 

 

10,888

 

 

 

530

 

 

 

8,837

 

 

 

 

421

 

 

 

23.2

 

 

 

25.9

 

Total rates trading

 

 

 

357,514

 

 

 

17,861

 

 

 

427,747

 

 

 

 

20,369

 

 

 

(16.4

)

 

 

(12.3

)

Total trading

 

 

$

594,481

 

 

$

29,625

 

 

$

685,017

 

 

 

$

32,618

 

 

 

(13.2

)

 

 

(9.2

)

Number of U.S. Trading Days3

 

 

 

 

 

 

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of U.K. Trading Days4

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter Ended September 30,

 

In millions (unaudited)

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

Volume

 

 

ADV

 

 

Volume

 

 

 

ADV

 

 

Volume

 

 

ADV

 

Credit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High-grade

 

 

$

326,304

 

 

$

5,179

 

 

$

327,916

 

 

 

$

5,124

 

 

 

(0.5

)%

 

1.1

%

High-yield

 

 

 

81,511

 

 

 

1,294

 

 

 

104,066

 

 

 

 

1,626

 

 

 

(21.7

)

 

 

(20.4

)

Emerging markets

 

 

 

176,334

 

 

 

2,799

 

 

 

165,910

 

 

 

 

2,592

 

 

 

6.3

 

 

 

8.0

 

Eurobonds

 

 

 

94,980

 

 

 

1,484

 

 

 

80,305

 

 

 

 

1,255

 

 

 

18.3

 

 

 

18.2

 

Other credit

 

 

 

25,185

 

 

 

400

 

 

 

24,159

 

 

 

 

377

 

 

 

4.2

 

 

 

6.1

 

Total credit trading1

 

 

 

704,314

 

 

 

11,156

 

 

 

702,356

 

 

 

 

10,974

 

 

 

0.3

 

 

 

1.7

 

Rates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. government bonds2

 

 

 

1,115,889

 

 

 

17,713

 

 

 

1,288,543

 

 

 

 

20,133

 

 

 

(13.4

)

 

 

(12.0

)

Agency and other government bonds1

 

 

 

26,467

 

 

 

416

 

 

 

21,281

 

 

 

 

333

 

 

 

24.4

 

 

 

24.9

 

Total rates trading

 

 

 

1,142,356

 

 

 

18,129

 

 

 

1,309,824

 

 

 

 

20,466

 

 

 

(12.8

)

 

 

(11.4

)

Total trading

 

 

$

1,846,670

 

 

$

29,285

 

 

$

2,012,180

 

 

 

$

31,440

 

 

 

(8.2

)

 

 

(6.9

)

Number of U.S. Trading Days3

 

 

 

 

 

 

63

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of U.K. Trading Days4

 

 

 

 

 

 

64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2: Trading Volume Detail (continued)

 

 

 

 

Year-to-Date Ended September 30,

 

In millions (unaudited)

 

 

2023

 

 

2022

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

Volume

 

 

ADV

 

 

Volume

 

 

 

ADV

 

 

Volume

 

 

ADV

 

Credit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High-grade

 

 

$

1,072,258

 

 

$

5,734

 

 

$

1,029,794

 

 

 

$

5,478

 

 

 

4.1

%

 

4.7

%

High-yield

 

 

 

295,774

 

 

 

1,582

 

 

 

314,721

 

 

 

 

1,674

 

 

 

(6.0

)

 

 

(5.5

)

Emerging markets

 

 

 

536,432

 

 

 

2,869

 

 

 

530,964

 

 

 

 

2,824

 

 

 

1.0

 

 

 

1.6

 

Eurobonds

 

 

 

329,841

 

 

 

1,754

 

 

 

263,862

 

 

 

 

1,411

 

 

 

25.0

 

 

 

24.3

 

Other credit

 

 

 

78,597

 

 

 

420

 

 

 

67,820

 

 

 

 

361

 

 

 

15.9

 

 

 

16.3

 

Total credit trading1

 

 

 

2,312,902

 

 

 

12,359

 

 

 

2,207,161

 

 

 

 

11,748

 

 

 

4.8

 

 

 

5.2

 

Rates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. government bonds2

 

 

 

3,547,308

 

 

 

18,970

 

 

 

4,248,009

 

 

 

 

22,596

 

 

 

(16.5

)

 

 

(16.0

)

Agency and other government bonds1

 

 

 

80,249

 

 

 

428

 

 

 

74,644

 

 

 

 

397

 

 

 

7.5

 

 

 

7.8

 

Total rates trading

 

 

 

3,627,557

 

 

 

19,398

 

 

 

4,322,653

 

 

 

 

22,993

 

 

 

(16.1

)

 

 

(15.6

)

Total trading

 

 

$

5,940,459

 

 

$

31,757

 

 

$

6,529,814

 

 

 

$

34,741

 

 

 

(9.0

)

 

 

(8.6

)

Number of U.S. Trading Days3

 

 

 

 

 

 

187

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

188

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of U.K. Trading Days4

 

 

 

 

 

 

188

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

187

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Consistent with FINRA TRACE reporting standards, both sides of trades are included in the Company's reported volumes when the Company executes trades on a matched principal basis between two counterparties.

2 Consistent with industry standards, U.S. government bond trades are single-counted.

3 The number of U.S. trading days is based on the SIFMA holiday recommendation calendar.

4 The number of U.K. trading days is based primarily on the U.K. Bank holiday schedule.

 

Contacts

INVESTOR RELATIONS

Stephen Davidson

MarketAxess Holdings Inc.

+1 212 813 6313

sdavidson2@marketaxess.com

MEDIA RELATIONS

Marisha Mistry

MarketAxess Holdings Inc.

+1 917 267 1232

mmistry@marketaxess.com

William McBride

RF | Binder

+1 917 239 6726

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