Tradeweb hires senior technologist from Citadel focusing on trade data

Tradeweb, which runs electronic markets in bonds, derivatives and ETFs, created a new role focused on building technology to help it better manage its trade data.

Caius Howcroft, who most recently served as Citadel's head of platform technology, was named head of data and platform architecture at Tradeweb last week.

Howcroft's responsibilities will include helping the markets operator improve its use of cloud computing.

Electronic marketplace Tradeweb just created a new technology role focusing on improving its data business in yet another sign of the increasing importance of market data in fixed income.

Tradeweb, which operates trading venues in bonds, derivatives and exchange-traded funds, named Caius Howcroft head of data and platform architecture technologies last week, according to a source familiar with the matter. Howcroft's main responsibilities will be around building technology that will help Tradeweb more efficiently tap into and use the trade data that runs through the various markets it operates, according to the source.

Tradeweb declined to comment. Citadel did not return a request to comment in time for publication.

Read more: Tradeweb just went public at a $7.5 billion valuation. The company's president told us about the IPO process, electronic markets going mainstream, and what it means to be a public company.

Howcroft comes to Tradeweb from Citadel where he most recently served as head of platform technology, according to his LinkedIn. At the Chicago-based hedge fund Howcroft worked on application and data platforms for Citadel Asset Manager, according to his profile, covering a variety of business lines. A key part of his role included working with various public cloud providers, which will also be part of his new role at Tradeweb, the source said.

As fixed income markets continue to electronify, venues like Tradeweb have the potential to tap into a deep pool of data that's valuable to both them and their customers. In April, average daily volume across Tradeweb reached $665.6 billion, a 34.2% year-over-year increase.

See more: Wall Street banks have seen electronic trading chip away at their control of the corporate bond market. Now they're fighting back.

While Tradeweb already has tech in place to tap into the trade data on its markets, Howcroft's experience will allow it to further improve its architecture, including its usage of cloud computing, according to the source. Banks have shown an increasing willingness to use the public cloud, and as a result others in the space have followed suit to keep pace.

In Tradeweb's first quarter report, CEO Lee Olesky spoke to the importance the markets operator put on information. In addition to rates, credit, equities and money markets, Tradeweb views data as a growth area.

“The global fixed income market is digitizing and, along with it, creating greater demand for electronic trading and market data,” Olesky said.