Investment Technology Group

Infobox_Company
company_name = Investment Technology Group, Inc.
company_type = Public (Nyse|ITG)
foundation = 1987
location = New York City, USA
key_people = Robert Gasser (President and CEO), Maureen O'Hara (Chairman of the board), Howard Naphtali (CFO)
num_employees = 1,200 (2007)cite web |url=http://www.itg.com/investors/annual_reports/ITGAR2007.pdf |title=Annual Report 2007 |accessdate=2008-08-14 |publisher=Investment Technology Group]
industry = Financial services
products = Brokerage, market technology
revenue = US $731.0 million (2007)
net_income = profit US $111.1 million (2007)
homepage = [http://www.itg.com/ www.itg.com]

Investment Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE|ITG) is a United States-based multinational agency brokerage and financial markets technology firm aimed at a hedge fund and asset management clientele. One of the first suppliers of electronic trading services, ITG launched the industry’s first anonymous electronic trade matching system, POSIT, in 1987. ITG has since expanded its business to include tools for portfolio management, pre-trade analysis, order management, trade execution, and post-trade evaluation.

ITG is headquartered in New York City and has offices across the globe in locations including Boston, Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago, London, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

History

ITG was founded in 1987 as a division of Jefferies to provide automated equity trading to institutional investors.cite encyclopedia |last = Feldman |first = Heidi |title = Jefferies Group, Inc. |encyclopedia = International Directory of Company Histories |publisher = The Gale Group |date = 2006 |url = http://www.answers.com/topic/jefferies-group-inc |accessdate = 2008-08-14] That year, the company introduced POSIT, the first anonymous electronic trade matching system, in conjunction with Barra. [cite news|url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/tradingandtechnology/content/550831|title=Morgan Stanley acquires half of Posit|last=Leighton-Jones|first=Phillipa|date=13 April 2004|work=Financial News|accessdate=2008-08-14] POSIT remains among the most widely-used matching systems.

In 1990, ITG launched QuantEX, a high-end trading system for institutional traders integrating analytics, routing, and trade management. ITG began to provide clients with pre- and post-trade tools and analytics in 1992.

ITG became a publicly traded company in 1994, listed on NASDAQ. The ITG Australia office opened in 1997, giving regional investors POSIT equity crossing. The firm expanded into Europe in 1998. In 1999, ITG completed its spin-off from Jefferies, giving it full independence. [cite news|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/jefferies-sees-itg-spinoff-year/story.aspx?guid={7B0B26C1-1FC5-45AD-B272-EE52D38AF64D}|title=Jefferies sees ITG spinoff this year|last=Church|first=Emily|date=7 January 1999|work=MarketWatch|accessdate=2008-08-14]

In 2000, the company’s Canada office opened. In 2002, ITG moved into the hedge fund market by acquiring Hoenig, a provider of trade execution and research services to alternative investment funds. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DEFDC1231F93BA15751C0A9649C8B63&scp=3&sq=%22Investment%20Technology%20Group%22&st=cse|title=Investment Technology Plans to Buy Rival |date=28 February 2002|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-08-14] The firm then opened an office in Hong Kong.

ITG completed its purchase of Radical Corporation, a provider of direct access trading to the institutional brokerage and hedge fund community, in 2004. [cite news|url=http://www.efinancialnews.com/content/550920|title=ITG enters advanced trading market|last=Leighton-Jones|first=Phillipa|date=6 April 2004|work=Financial News|accessdate=2008-08-14] The firm then opened a Japan office in 2005. The company moved to increase its transaction cost analysis offering when it acquired Plexus Group from JPMorgan Chase in 2006. [cite news|url=http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=14279|title=ITG to buy JPMorgan's Plexus unit for $12m|date=19 September 2005|work=Finextra|accessdate=2008-08-14] That same year, ITG acquired Macgregor, a provider of trade order management systems, for $230 million. [cite news|url=http://www.finextra.com/fullstory.asp?id=13968|title=ITG to buy Macgregor for $230m|date=13 July 2005|work=Finextra|accessdate=2008-08-14] In 2007, it acquired RedSky Financial, a developer of futures and options trading technology. In 2007 the company came under pressure from activist hedge fund D. E. Shaw to either sell off some of its assets or initiate a share buyback. [cite news|url=http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/de-shaw-gets-approval-to-raise-stake-in-itg/?scp=9&sq=%22Investment%20Technology%20Group%22&st=cse|title=D.E. Shaw Gets Approval to Raise Stake in I.T.G.|last=Ross Sorkin|first=Andrew|date=10 September 2007|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-08-14] Shaw has since reduced its stake, citing satisfaction with ITG's RedSky purchase and an announced $50 million stock repurchase program. [cite news|url=http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=AP&Date=20080206&ID=8148873&Symbol=ITG|title=D.E. Shaw cuts ITG stake nearly in half|date=6 February 2008|work=Associated Press|publisher=MSN Money|accessdate=2008-08-14]

Offerings

ITG's offerings span the following capabilities:
* Portfolio Management - tools to assist portfolio managers in optimizing investment performance as well as maintaining compliance with global regulatory, client and firm mandates.
* Pre-Trade - tools to manage trading risk, increase efficiency, and improve performance.
* Trade - electronic trading services which include broker-neutral, multi-asset execution management systems (EMS) and order management systems (OMS), algorithms and routers, POSIT crossing, FIX connectivity, and traditional desk services for the trading of single stocks, lists and programs, international securities, and specialized hedge fund services.
* Post-Trade - post-trade processing tools for trade matching, settlement notification and clearing and analysis tools for trading cost evaluation.

References

External links

* [http://www.itg.com Official website]