Welcome to the latest episode of At the Forefront: Fintech Conversations!
To learn more and listen to our previous episodes, click here.
In this episode, Jonathan Cross (JC) and Shawn Samuel of LiquidityBook, a leading provider of cloud-native buy- and sell-side trading solutions, sit down with Michael Kingsley, Forefront SVP and Head of Media Relations to discuss their recent acquisition of Messer Financial Software, the important difference between platform configuration and customization, and where LiquidityBook is expanding next.
To begin the conversation, Shawn discusses the diverse use cases for LiquidityBook’s full-stack technology offering, which leverages a single code base and platform to create precise solutions for a wide variety of market participants. Through configuration, not customization, LiquidityBook caters to everyone from multi-strategy hedge funds, asset managers and RIAs on the buy side to outsourced trading desks, agency desks and clearing firms on the sell side, delivering differentiated products in either a modular or all-in-one fashion.
The discussion then turns to LiquidityBook’s recent acquisition of Messer Financial Software, a boutique capital markets fintech provider, and how this deal will impact its tech stack and services for existing clients. Shawn and JC discuss how the acquisition enabled LiquidityBook to build out and debut its newly enhanced portfolio management system, LBX PMS 2.0. They explain that while LiquidityBook has long had PMS capabilities, integrating Messer via API has unlocked the back-end transactional ledger components needed to build a full-scale, state-of-the-art accounting interface. LiquidityBook can now deliver multi-asset lifecycle automation capabilities to its clients via one out-of-the-box solution.
When asked about how the acquisition went from an internal perspective, Shawn and JC describe the process as being a seamless implementation with a quick uptake. Shawn details that LiquidityBook’s work with Messer is “very much an additive integration” that capitalizes on “obvious synergies” between the two firms.
Looking ahead, Shawn and JC discuss LiquidityBook’s plans for expansion in two major areas. First, it plans to integrate its back-office and trading systems with adjacent partners to create a combined solution offering enhanced operational efficiency to the market. Additionally, as the firm scales up, it plans to work with more service providers (outsourced trading desks, RegTech vendors, etc.) who require up-to-date, scalable technology to handle their clients’ books and records. While LiquidityBook has long been thought of as catering mostly to the buy side, it is actively working to deliver its capabilities to places where they have historically been less visible.
See below for a breakdown of what was discussed. Happy listening!
Timestamps:
0:40 – Tell us about LiquidityBook and explain how you’re providing innovative trading technology solutions to your clients.
2:15 – Can you give us a sense of who your clients are?
4:15 – JC, you worked for Messer before joining LiquidityBook last year. Tell us how you came to work at LiquidityBook and what was behind the eventual acquisition.
6:40 – What does LiquidityBook and Messer coming together mean for the industry at large?
12:50 – How is the integration with Messer proceeding in terms of technology? What responses have you been getting from clients?
17:15 – What’s next on the roadmap for LiquidityBook?
