For further information please contact Christie Lindstrom at media@allegrodev.com or +1.214.237.8117.

DALLAS, TX and JERSEY CITY, NJ, December 12 – Allegro Development Corporation, a leading provider of energy trading and risk management (ETRM) software, and Pivot Inc., a leading provider of instant messaging and liquidity management software to the financial and commodity markets, announced today the release of Trade Connect 8.1, which provides efficiency around OTC trading processes and improves visibility into company positions with intraday pricing and real-time position valuation.

Instant messaging (IM) is one of the most common forms of communication between traders in OTC energy markets. A component of the Allegro 8 platform, Trade Connect 8.1 automatically imports intraday pricing data from instant messages and other sources to provide visibility into all real-time streaming bids and offers for energy markets. Trade Connect transforms unstructured instant message trading chats into structured trade data which can be used to drive real-time portfolio valuation, rapidly create trades, and better manage risk.

“Automating the import of intraday pricing gives an entire organization real-time visibility into critical market and trading information which can then be used to gain advantage in the market,” said Allegro Chief Customer Officer, Michael Hinton. “Traders can also use this streaming data to quickly create trades with simplified trade entry and limited data input. This allows traders to save time, improve accuracy, and spend more of their time seizing profitable trading opportunities.”

The Allegro Trade Connect component provides an interface to Pivot 360™, which streamlines OTC liquidity management and trading communications via instant messaging. Through this integration, instant messages processed via Pivot 360 are streamed directly into the Allegro platform, transforming these one-to-one communications into higher value enterprise data.

“Today, many trading organizations have limited visibility into intraday prices, which need not be the case,” said John H. Eley, CEO of Pivot Inc. “Trade Connect was developed to address this deficiency and improve the accuracy of portfolio valuations as well as the robustness of trading and risk management across entire enterprises.”

Alegro Product information is available on the Allegro web site at: http://allegrodev.com/connectivity/trade-connect-81

Here’s the link for folks wanting to read the whole article (it’s a paid subscription, but free trials are available):

http://www.waterstechnology.com/inside-market-data/news/2131634/allegro-adds-pivot-im-trading-improved-information-quality-workflow

Pivot, Inc., the leading provider of instant messaging and liquidity management software to the trading community, today unveiled an extensively updated version of its Pivot Connect™ application programming interface (API), which supports automated communications with internal systems as well as connectivity to external trading, clearing and data entities mandated by proposed Dodd-Frank regulations.

The new version of Pivot Connect™ supports seamless connections of consolidated data feeds of instant message data into pricing, trade execution and risk management systems, enabling instant, robust market making and trade communication with market counterparties and clients.

“Connecting instant messages to pricing engines, order management systems and middle office applications improves trading room workflow which increases profitability,” said John H. Eley, CEO, Pivot Inc. “Pivot Connect™ expands the enterprise functionality of instant message systems to drive new business opportunities for financial and as well efficient compliance with new regulation.”

In addition, Pivot Connect™ supports end-to-end connectivity with new market structures created in Dodd-Frank regulation, including Swaps Execution Facilities (SEF) and Swaps Data Repositories (SDR) as well as centralized clearinghouses, through which many types of swaps transactions will be required to be cleared.

Firstly, Dodd-Frank mandates many conversational dealing activities to be moved to electronic means. Pivot’s instant message-based conversational technology fulfills this mandate and, in fact, is already very widely used in OTC markets, where an estimated 80 per cent of conversational dealing is now done via instant message versus 20 per cent via voice.

Secondly, Dodd-Frank mandates that eligible OTC swaps transactions be cleared through designated centralized clearinghouses in a fundamental shift from bilateral clearing protocols used currently. This change will affect most actively traded swaps contracts, with industry estimates ranging upwards from 60 per cent depending on the underlying market. Pivot Connect™ is currently in use to deliver OTC derivatives transactions to centralized clearinghouses. This post-trade functionality is significantly enhanced in the new release to meet the extensive proposed regulatory requirements.

Pivot Connect™ is offered as a system module or bundled into the company’s Instant Markets™ product. Instant Markets™ includes proprietary text parsers that convert text-based chat into machine-readable product and price data. This data is fed into a firm’s price and risk engines via the API in real-time as well as displayed on a blotter enabling traders to see all relevant deal, pricing and risk information in a one centralized location. Traders can respond to incoming trade queries directly from the blotter with a single mouse click.