Following on from our announcement that ION acquires Clarus Financial Technology, I wanted to provide some color on the rationale for the deal and what it means going forward.
The Rationale
After almost a decade as an independent firm why did we decide to become part of ION Group and more specifically ION Markets?
A simple question and one we can answer simply by saying both parties saw a compelling strategic fit.
- At Clarus we have spent a decade building a reputation in the Swaps market.
- Our Blog, Data and SaaS Analytics are widely referenced, used, and relied upon by the market and our customers. While our core focus has always been OTC Derivatives, we want to do more in ETDs (Futures and Options) and Fixed Income.
- ION Markets has spent multi-decades innovating and addressing the technology challenges within Fixed Income, Cleared Derivatives and other asset classes; covering pre-trade execution, post-trade automation and much more.
- The combination of OTC Derivatives with ETD, Swaps with Futures, is what excites us both.
At heart, Clarus is a product company. By integrating our Data and SaaS Analytics into ION Markets, we can offer better solutions and extend our reach to the hundreds of customers who rely each day on ION products for automation, innovation and collaboration.
Going Forward
What does the acquisition mean going forward?
Another simple question and one we can answer simply with, more innovation and more collaboration.
- Clarus Research will continue in the form of the Clarus Blog.
- Clarus Data will accelerate the addition of data for Futures, Options and other markets
- Clarus SaaS Analytics will integrate with ION Market’s XTP and Janus to offer best-in-class solutions.
OTC derivatives automation, workflows and costs efficiencies, lag far behind and need to catch up with ETD and Securities markets. Together with our new colleagues in ION Markets, we will innovate to improve the technology stack for improved decision making, better efficiency, and simplification of complex processes.
More to Come
We are proud of our first decade as an independent firm.
And excited by the next decade as part of ION Group.
There remains a lot to be done.
More regulations yet to implement (RFRs, UMR, SA-CCR, FRTB, …).
More blogs to write.
More data to collect and inform.
More SaaS analytics to create and deploy.
And more customers to engage with.