A new division of the Bond Dealers of America will represent the interests of firms engaged in the pricing and valuation of fixed-income securities, a part of the market that has not previously had its own representation on a national stage.
This Fixed-Income Pricing and Valuation (FIPV) Division, announced Tuesday, will use BDA resources to represent professionals engaged in the work of pricing and valuing securities portfolios for investors, broker-dealers and other market participants.
Unlike equities and other securities that trade frequently and can be easily priced, many fixed-income securities including muni bonds trade less often. Securities pricing companies build systems to estimate daily market prices for these types of securities including those that may not have traded for days or weeks.
"Through direct member engagement and the BDA structure, the FIPV division will provide a forum for securities pricing professionals, including dealers and asset managers, to come together and discuss topics of common interest and will represent the interests of securities pricing companies and clients, to the benefit of investors," said Mike Nicholas, chief executive officer at BDA.
BDA already represented a lot of such firms, but not on the pricing side, Nicholas said. He said there was discussion a few years ago about forming a trade group specifically for these groups, but it never ended up coming together.
“It was attractive to bring the pricing and valuation folks into the tent,” Nicholas said. “It benefits everybody,” he added. “The ultimate beneficiaries are investors.”
FIPV will organize and host webinars and in-person meetings, promoting professional development and education, while representing the interests of securities pricing professionals and companies before regulatory bodies and others, BDA said in a statement.
Founding FIPV members include AxeTrading, Bloomberg, BondCliQ, BondWave, ICE Data Services, MarketAxess, PricingDirect by JP Morgan, Refinitiv, and Tradeweb Markets.
“We’re pleased to be a member of the BDA’s newly launched division and work with this group to advance education and regulatory advocacy for the U.S. bond markets and to improve pricing and valuations for investors,” said Stephanie Sparvero, global head of Bloomberg’s Evaluated Pricing Service (BVAL). “Having access to accurate, independent and transparent pricing is essential for defensible decision making and to keep pace with market changes.”
