IMTC ties ICE Bonds liquidity into trading platform

IMTC has agreed to integrate ICE Bonds' fixed-income liquidity into its trading platform, giving clients access to ICE Bonds' BondPoint and TMC marketplaces within their existing workflows.

The connection will allow portfolio managers to use click-to-trade functions inside IMTC's portfolio and order management system. It also supports trading workflows tied to portfolio optimisation, linking execution more closely to portfolio decisions.

For IMTC, the move extends a model that combines portfolio construction, optimisation, compliance, and trading into a single process for buy-side fixed-income investors. Instead of moving between separate systems, portfolio managers can access the market in the same environment where they make investment decisions and manage orders.

ICE Bonds operates BondPoint and TMC, two electronic fixed income marketplaces. By connecting those venues directly to IMTC, the integration is intended to make bond liquidity easier for shared clients to access and reduce the manual steps between identifying an investment action and executing a trade.

Workflow link

The agreement reflects continued demand across bond markets for more connected electronic trading tools. Fixed income trading has long involved fragmented liquidity and a mix of manual and electronic processes, particularly for institutional investors managing complex portfolios.

Portfolio managers and traders increasingly want systems that enable them to move from portfolio analysis to execution within the same application. In practice, that can help firms respond faster to market conditions while keeping trading activity aligned with investment constraints and internal compliance requirements.

Peter Borstelmann, President of ICE Bonds, said the tie-up is intended to improve access to market liquidity for clients that use both firms' services.

"Integrating ICE Bonds with IMTC's workflow solution makes fixed income liquidity more accessible for our mutual clients and helps them achieve greater execution certainty when trading through ICE Bonds' BondPoint and TMC marketplaces. ICE has decades of experience bringing innovation and greater electronification to the markets we serve and we're pleased to work with IMTC to provide access to our deep pools of liquidity and help our mutual clients streamline their fixed income trading workflows," Borstelmann said.

Buy-side focus

IMTC positions its platform around the needs of buy-side portfolio managers in fixed income markets. Its software covers portfolio and order management, compliance and reporting, placing it in a competitive segment where firms are trying to integrate more of the investment process into unified systems.

The arrangement suggests that access to external liquidity venues remains a key area of competition among fixed income technology providers. As institutional investors seek faster execution and more efficient workflows, connectivity between investment management tools and trading venues has become a more prominent part of platform strategy.

Russell Feldman, Chief Executive Officer of IMTC, said the company sees the integration as a way to tighten the link between strategy and execution.

"This agreement with ICE Bonds enhances our ability to help clients trade faster, act on liquidity more efficiently, and produce executable output in accordance with portfolio strategies. By embedding electronic trading capabilities directly into IMTC, we are delivering on our promise to make it easier for clients to optimize and execute within one connected workflow," Feldman said.

Intercontinental Exchange, the parent of ICE Bonds, operates markets and technology businesses across asset classes, including futures, equities, options and fixed income. Adding ICE Bonds liquidity to IMTC's system gives the buy-side technology firm a direct connection to a larger market infrastructure group with an established presence in electronic fixed income trading.

The announcement highlights how bond market participants continue to reshape trading processes around integrated technology, seeking closer alignment between liquidity access, portfolio tools and execution decisions. The integration will give IMTC users direct access to BondPoint and TMC from within the platform they already use to manage portfolios and orders.