Chicago, Sept 14 — Advantage Futures, a prominent Chicago-based futures commission merchant (FCM), has completed its migration to ION’s XTP cleared derivatives trade processing platform. This move aims to provide extensive automation and efficiency across clearing and settlement workflows.
Advantage Futures, which had relied on the same post-trade technology for decades, sought a modern, flexible solution to enhance its operations. The XTP platform is expected to offer real-time visibility into positions, commissions, fees, margins, cash flows, and risk, thereby streamlining processes and allowing the firm to scale its business further.
Joe Guinan, Chairman and CEO of Advantage Futures, highlighted the firm’s growth from a small boutique to one of the industry’s highest-volume clearing firms. “With the successful migration to ION’s XTP, we are now equipped to deliver real-time data and automation capabilities, addressing our clients’ needs for rapid and efficient processing of increasing trade volumes,” said Guinan.
Francesco Margini, Chief Product Officer for Cleared Derivatives at ION Markets, commended the swift transition. “The move from their legacy back-office solution to XTP was completed in record time, thanks to ION’s robust methodology and tools designed for managing large and complex migration projects,” Margini stated.
Since its inception in 2003, Advantage Futures has processed over 5.3 billion contracts, including more than 325 million contracts in 2023 alone. The firm provides connectivity to exchanges and execution services for a diverse clientele, including professional traders, institutional clients, exchange-traded funds, non-clearing futures brokers, hedge funds, and individual traders.
ION Markets, known for its trading, analytics, treasury, and risk management solutions, serves clients across capital markets, commodities, and treasury management. The company also offers strategic consulting to financial institutions, central banks, governments, and corporate organizations, catering to sectors including asset management, cleared derivatives, equities, fixed income, FX, and secured funding.
