Direct-Market-Access Trading

摘要

The buy side is taking more control of its trading decisions while looking for faster, lower-cost and anonymous executions. Direct market access (DMA) tools permit buy-side traders to access liquidity pools and multiple execution venues directly, without intervention from a broker's trading desk. Why It's Important: DMA has been rapidly adopted by institutional traders as a method to aggregate liquidity that is fragmented across U.S. execution venues. Buy-side customers, under regulatory pressure, are also seeking best execution and greater control over their trading strategies. With DMA, they are renting a broker's infrastructure and clearing via the broker, but they are controlling the order. The real motivation for aggressive DMA trading on the buy side is cheaper commissions — DMA commissions are about one cent a share, while program trades cost roughly two cents a share and block trades cost four cents to five cents per share.