BondDesk Group, a leading odd-lot fixed-income electronic trading
platform and provider of software solutions to the securities industry,
recently announced it will begin trading Auction Rate Securities (ARS)
through their Alternative Trading System (ATS). E*TRADE Securities LLC
will be the first financial services firm to offer electronically
traded ARS to retail investors via the BondDesk marketplace.
Auction Rate
Securities have attracted the attention of investors because they are
short-term instruments that generally produce higher rates of return
than traditional money market investments. With BondDesk's
straight-through processing, ARS market participants can buy and sell
at auction or in the secondary markets. Auction orders are processed
quickly and efficiently; thereby saving time and reducing paperwork.
E*TRADE customers
will easily be able to access Auction Rate Securities through E*TRADE
Financial Advisors. According to Thomson Financial, Auction Rate
Securities is a $260 billion market, which includes Auction Rate
Preferred Securities (ARPS) and Municipal Auction Rate Securities
(MARS).
According to Rob
Slaymaker, chief executive officer of BondDesk Group, "The ARS market
continues to experience tremendous growth, and our electronic trading
platform will further fulfill accelerated supply and demand for this
currently under-serviced asset class."
For further information about BondDesk, visit: www.bonddeskgroup.com.