MarketAxess Announces Monthly Volume Statistics for December 2020

NEW YORK, Jan. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), 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, today announced monthly trading volume for December 2020 of $472.3 billion consisting of $203.5 billion in credit volume and $268.7 billion in rates volume.

The Company also reported preliminary variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 of $187 for U.S. high-grade, $202 for other credit, $195 for total credit and $3.95 for rates. The FPM for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 are preliminary and may be revised in subsequent updates and public filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any fee information in future press releases.

Reported MarketAxess volume in all product categories includes only fully electronic trading volume. MarketAxess trading volumes, TRACE reported volumes and Trax® processed volumes are available on the Company’s website at investor.marketaxess.com/volume.cfm

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the outlook and prospects for Company and industry growth, as well as statements about the Company’s future financial and operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future results and events are based on MarketAxess’ current expectations. The Company’s actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: risks relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the possible effects of the economic conditions worldwide resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; global economic, political and market factors; the volatility of financial services markets generally; the level of trading volume transacted on the MarketAxess platform; the absolute level and direction of interest rates and the corresponding volatility in the corporate fixed-income market; the level and intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading industry and the pricing pressures that may result; the variability of our growth rate; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial services industry; our ability to introduce new fee plans and our clients’ response; our exposure to risks resulting from non-performance by counterparties to transactions executed between our clients in which we act as an intermediary in matched principal trades; risks related to self-clearing; our dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the loss of any of our significant institutional investor clients; our ability to develop new products and offerings and the market’s acceptance of those products; the effect of rapid market or technological changes on us and the users of our technology; our ability to successfully maintain the integrity of our trading platform and our response to system failures, capacity constraints and business interruptions; our vulnerability to cyber security risks; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights or technology and defend against intellectual property infringement or other claims; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our business; our ability to comply with new and existing laws, rules and regulations both domestically and internationally; our ability to maintain effective compliance and risk management methods; the strain of growth initiatives on management and other resources; our future capital needs and our ability to obtain capital when needed; limitations on our operating flexibility contained in our credit agreement; and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about these and other factors affecting MarketAxess’ business and prospects is contained in MarketAxess’ periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be accessed at www.marketaxess.com.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess operates a leading, institutional electronic trading platform delivering expanded liquidity opportunities, improved execution quality and significant cost savings across global fixed-income markets. A global network of over 1,700 firms, including the world’s leading asset managers and institutional broker-dealers, leverages MarketAxess’ patented trading technology to efficiently trade bonds. MarketAxess’ award-winning Open Trading™ marketplace is regarded as the preferred all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets, creating a unique liquidity pool for a broad range of credit market participants. Drawing on its deep data and analytical resources, MarketAxess provides automated trading solutions, market data products and a range of pre- and post-trade services.

MarketAxess is headquartered in New York and has offices in London, Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, São Paulo, Hong Kong and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.marketaxess.com.

Investor Relations Contact:

David Cresci
MarketAxess Holdings Inc.
+1-212-813-6027

Media Relations Contacts:

Kyle White
MarketAxess Holdings Inc.
+1-212-813-6355

William McBride
RF | Binder
+1-917-239-6726

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. Monthly Volume Statistics
	Average Daily Volume								Total Trading Volume
	Dec-20			Dec-19			% Change		Dec-20			Dec-19			% Change
	($ in millions)
U.S High-Grade
Fixed Rate	$	4,636		$	3,578		29.6		$	102,001		$	75,129		35.8
Floating Rate		205			240		-14.6%			4,502			5,036		-10.6%
Total U.S. High-Grade		4,841			3,818		26.8			106,503			80,165		32.9
Other Credit
U.S. High-Yield		1,386			858		61.5			30,488			18,027		69.1
Emerging Markets		1,922			1,634		17.6			42,288			34,310		23.3
Eurobonds		1,074			865		24.2			22,560			17,296		30.4
Other Credit Products		77			44		75.0			1,686			922		82.9
Total Other Credit		4,459			3,401		31.1			97,022			70,555		37.5
Total Credit1		9,300			7,219		28.8			203,525			150,720		35.0
Rates
U.S. Government Bonds 2		12,054			14,884		-19.0%			265,188			312,572		-15.2%
Agencies and Other Government Bonds 1		162			173		-6.4%			3,561			3,616		-1.5%
Total Rates		12,216			15,057		-18.9%			268,749			316,188		-15.0%
Number of U.S. Trading Days 3		22			21
Number of U.K. Trading Days 4		21			20
NOTES:
1 Consistent with FINRA TRACE reporting standards, both sides of trades are included in the Company's reported volumes when the Company executes trades on a matched principal basis between two counterparties.
2 U.S. Government Bonds represent U.S. treasury volume traded through the MarketAxess Rates platform, formerly known as LiquidityEdge, which was acquired by the Company on November 1, 2019. Consistent with industry standards, U.S. Government Bond trades are single-counted.
3 The number of U.S. trading days is based on the SIFMA holiday recommendation calendar.
4 The number of U.K. trading days is based on the U.K. Bank holiday schedule.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. Quarterly Volume Statistics
	Average Daily Volume								Total Trading Volume
	4Q20			4Q19			% Change		4Q20			4Q19			% Change
	($ in millions)
U.S High-Grade
Fixed Rate	$	4,928		$	3,854		27.9%		$	305,537		$	238,959		27.9%
Floating Rate		209			228		-8.4%			12,956			14,150		-8.4%
Total U.S. High-Grade		5,137			4,082		25.8%			318,493			253,109		25.8%
Other Credit
U.S. High-Yield		1,576			904		74.3%			97,691			56,021		74.4%
Emerging Markets		2,255			1,901		18.6%			139,827			117,840		18.7%
Eurobonds		1,225			936		30.9%			78,419			59,913		30.9%
Other Credit Products		84			42		100.0%			5,198			2,629		97.7%
Total Other Credit		5,140			3,783		35.9%			321,135			236,403		35.8%
Total Credit1		10,277			7,865		30.7%			639,628			489,512		30.7%
Rates
U.S. Government Bonds 2		13,128			9,833		n/m			813,921			609,650		n/m
Agencies and Other Government Bonds 1		199			174		14.4%			12,355			10,787		14.5%
Total Rates		13,327			10,007		n/m			826,276			620,437		n/m
Number of U.S. Trading Days 3		62			62
Number of U.K. Trading Days 4		64			64
NOTES:
1 Consistent with FINRA TRACE reporting standards, both sides of trades are included in the Company's reported volumes when the Company executes trades on a matched principal basis between two counterparties.
2 U.S. Government Bonds represent U.S. Treasury volume traded through the MarketAxess Rates platform, formerly known as LiquidityEdge, which was acquired by the Company on November 1, 2019. Consistent with industry standards, U.S. Government Bond trades are single-counted. ADV in 4Q19 was calculated using 62 trading days. Post-acquisition ADV for U.S. Government Bonds using the November and December day count was $15.2 billion.
3 The number of U.S. trading days is based on the SIFMA holiday recommendation calendar.
4 The number of U.K. trading days is based on the U.K. Bank holiday schedule.