MarketAxess Holdings Inc. , the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, and the provider of market data and post-trade services for the global fixed-income markets, announced monthly trading volume and preliminary variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) for the month of February 2023.¹

Chris Concannon, President and COO of MarketAxess commented:

“In February we delivered 25% growth in total credit average daily volume to a record $14.4 billion, driven by 30% growth in high-grade to a record $6.7 billion, and 43% growth in high-yield to a record $2.3 billion. These results were generated in part by strong estimated market share gains in high-yield, Eurobonds and municipals, with record Open Trading average daily trading volume of $4.7 billion.

Open Trading estimated price improvement³ was approximately $81 million in February and average estimated price improvement per million was approximately $908. Year-to-date, price improvement is running 27% above prior year levels.

We believe that stronger industry volumes, estimated market share gains and a favorable macro backdrop, combined with stable average fees per million for total credit, are setting the stage for a strong 2023.”

Select February 2023 highlights*

• Record $14.4 billion in total credit average daily volume (“ADV”), up 25% from $11.6 billion in the prior year.
• 30% increase in U.S. high-grade ADV to a record $6.7billion with estimated market share of 20.1%.² Estimated U.S. high-grade TRACE market ADV increased 28% due to an increase in trading velocity. The February new issue calendar was robust with high-grade new issuance up approximately 78% year-over-year and up approximately 5% from January 2023 levels.
• 43% increase in U.S. high-yield ADV to a record $2.3 billion with estimated market share of 19.2% (+400 bps), up from 15.2%.
• 11% increase in emerging markets ADV to $3.2billion; FINRA TRACE-reportable emerging markets ADV was flat year-over-year.
• 14% increase in Eurobonds ADV to $1.8 billion with 15.1%(+260 bps) estimated market share, up from 12.5%.
• 43% increase in municipal bond ADV to $402 million, with estimated market share of 5.7%(+150 bps).
• 90% of credit volume on the platform was executed by institutional clients.
• 36% of total eligible credit trading volume was executed via Open Trading®. Estimated price improvement³ via Open Trading was approximately $81million, and average estimated price improvement per million was $908.
• The preliminary FPM¹ for total credit for February 2023 was approximately $167, compared to $160 in January 2023. The increase in the preliminary total credit FPM in February 2023 compared to January 2023 was driven principally by favorable mix across credit products, with a slight improvement in the duration of U.S. high-grade bonds traded on our platform. The preliminary FPM for total rates was $3.96, compared to $3.79 in February 2022.

*All comparisons versus February 2022 unless otherwise noted.

Source: MarketAxess