Atreyu Trading decided to become an IBKR introducing broker in part because its principals were well-acquainted with IBKR’s APIs and believed TWS was a strong solution for both small teams and large institutions.
“Institutional players often start by trading directly on TWS,” explains Kevin Carroll, Atreyu’s Chief Operating Officer, “but as they grow, they move toward programmed trading. Some manage the transition on their own, but many traders and fund managers don’t think of themselves as programmers. The move from point-and-click trading to automated execution can be a big conceptual leap. That’s where we come in.”
Atreyu prides itself on getting clients up and running quickly. In many cases, the process is relatively simple. However, a certain percentage of clients need customization.
“We’re an introducing broker to IBKR, but we also have deep direct trading experience and run our own technology-driven brokerage operation designed for quant managers.”
Indeed, Atreyu’s expertise in algorithmic and quantitative trading led them to build iFLEX, a high-performance proprietary API that now connects seamlessly to IBKR’s ecosystem.
“We analyzed the IBKR platform until we thoroughly understood it. We then created a tailored front-end that seamlessly plugs into IBKR’s infrastructure and added additional monitoring functions. We left the ‘know your customer’ and other supervisory management functions to IBKR, and designed the front-end so it’s easily adaptable to the needs of the trading organizations we work with.”
As an example, Jogi Narain (Chief Technology Officer) cites a hedge fund that started small on IBKR, and after considerable success decided to expand. The client valued the platform and wanted to use it to assemble a network of global traders and quants who would run their own strategies on behalf of the hedge fund, with participation in performance.
They needed two things that were outside of IBKR’s out-of-the-box configuration:
- A standard “sandbox” environment to assess and monitor strategy performance before signing up a trader/quant.
- A real-time “kill switch” if a trader/quant’s strategy did not meet the agreed risk and performance objectives.
Most of their traders used strategy models written mostly in Python, but some wanted to also use TWS for click-based trading. The fund suspected that IBKR’s APIs could make all this possible, but did not have the in-house expertise to implement this integration. Luckily, they were able to achieve the result they needed, using a combination of Atreyu and IBKR technology.
The seamless iFLEX bridge to IBKR meant that the client’s traders could access the TWS / Portal environment while continuing to use their own strategies and analytics. The iFLEX API also simplified access to IBKR’s algos so traders could focus mostly on strategy development.
“Proprietary algo strategies are what made their traders successful, and no one was prepared to re-engineer them. Our solution gave the client connectivity, certification, platform APIs, operational support and trade monitoring, and IBKR supplied infrastructure for the rest: account setups, trading, access to multi-asset global markets, confirmations, algos, order management, analytics and reporting.”
“Now, when the hedge fund green-lights a trader, they can switch them live and monitor their activity in the context of their overall objectives. Atreyu’s internal access to the iFLEX dashboard means they can permission us to handle monitoring duties so they aren’t handcuffed to their computer and can focus their attention where it’s most needed: on strategy and management. If something doesn’t work the way they want, IBKR’s management tools make it easy to iron out the kinks.”
Jogi Narain notes another example: a futures trading firm that was ready to switch to IBKR. The catch: their proprietary strategies were built in a complex language called Matlab and a set of trade files were created then uploaded for trading. The results were downloaded and converted to files that the Matlab process could ingest to see the outcome of the trading.
“Interfacing with Matlab can be challenging, but we were able to work out an effective solution.”
Atreyu created a Windows TradeFileLoader application that runs as a local service and directly sends and receives trading and risk updates from IBKR. The client’s Matlab system was able to copy files into one folder and fetch the resulting trading outputs from another folder.
“The client is happy because they were able to move to IBKR without disrupting their original file-based Matlab trade processing. Our plug-in allowed them to keep using their strategies and analytics in the format they are used to, and just concentrate on building new strategies. This client is a perfect example of why we are so excited about our partnership with IBKR.”
Visit Atreyu Trading for additional insight into their customized API solutions.
Disclosure: Interactive Brokers
The analysis in this material is provided for information only and is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. To the extent that this material discusses general market activity, industry or sector trends or other broad-based economic or political conditions, it should not be construed as research or investment advice. To the extent that it includes references to specific securities, commodities, currencies, or other instruments, those references do not constitute a recommendation by IBKR to buy, sell or hold such investments. This material does not and is not intended to take into account the particular financial conditions, investment objectives or requirements of individual customers. Before acting on this material, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Interactive Brokers, its affiliates, or its employees.
Disclosure: Hedge Funds
Hedge Funds are highly speculative, and investors may lose their entire investment.
Disclosure: API Examples Discussed
Throughout the lesson, please keep in mind that the examples discussed are purely for technical demonstration purposes, and do not constitute trading advice. Also, it is important to remember that placing trades in a paper account is recommended before any live trading.
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