Symbology - mastering the art of trade symbol interpretation

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines ‘symbology’ as a system - and the interpretation of symbols. It also defines it as ‘the art of expression by symbols’ which if applied to the confusion of symbols used to describe specific derivatives reference data might suggest a more abstract than realist art form. In fact, the Symbolist movement in painting, led by Gustave Moreau in the late 1800s, believed that “true art was experienced via a systematic derangement of the senses”. The Symbolist movement embraced artists including Gustav Klimt and Paul Gauguin, and produced some extraordinary and legendary works of art that went against the more fashionable Realist and Naturalist styles of the period.

While a ‘systematic derangement of the senses’ may have had great outcomes in producing works of art, the complete opposite applies to data and transaction processing in today’s frenetic financial markets. For market participants required to capture, process and report huge volumes of financial transaction data to multiple end user destinations, the perpetual challenge is avoiding ‘systematic derangement of the senses’ caused by having to interpret or translate myriad different ways to describe the same thing. To that end, FOW is focused on the primary definition of ‘symbology’ - providing a systematic solution for interpreting symbols that resolves today’s symbology conundrum.

The application of high quality reference data is a critical driver

Efficient trade data capture and processing in today’s increasingly complex financial markets infrastructure is a perpetual challenge for all financial markets participants. Good trade data is essential for efficient engagement with clients and regulators and to support enterprise reporting systems. Within the derivatives trading environment, the use and application of high quality reference data is a critical driver of change in terms of greater interoperability (between multiple moving parts in the end to end transaction lifecycle) and efficient trade processing and reporting. High-quality, fit-for-purpose data, formatted specifically to ‘fit’ these many and varied trading components and process applications is an imperative for more efficient trading workflows, supporting operational efficiency (and reducing trading risks and costs).

No standardised symbology exists

While the requirement for high quality market and reference data is a ‘known known’, and despite huge advancements in trading technologies and system and application interoperability, no standardised symbology exists to describe tradable instruments. Depending upon the originating exchange, trading platform and/or data vendor, different symbols can be used to identify the same instrument. And it’s not a static environment - instrument identifiers are dynamic, changing frequently.

The advent of new exchanges and instruments - with exponential year on year growth in billions of contracts traded ( c.12 billion contracts traded in 2013 to c.138 billion in 2013) - only adds to the headache of mapping disparate instrument descriptions to a standardised ‘golden source’.

The art of symbology: the right data, in the right format, how and when you want it

Luckily, there IS a way to alleviate the headache of dynamic and accurate symbol mapping. Our Symbology service is an independent and entirely venue-agnostic symbol mapping solution that maps trade identifier data from and to desired clearing, settlement, order and portfolio management and regulatory reporting systems.

A proven service for over 25 years, Symbology opens the door to a master file of trusted, fully symbol-mapped, ‘golden source’ data that includes all requisite industry, front office, middle office, back office, market data, post-trade and regulatory reporting identifiers for exchange traded derivatives and OTC cleared futures and options instruments.

FOW provides an extra layer of consistency for important [data] fields so we don't have to go to multiple providers and endure integration and technical headaches. We don’t need to get a field from hundreds of different places when we can get it all normalised through FOW.”

Global Head of Data Operations, Fintech

Delivered ‘as a Service’ - users pay only for data consumed - Symbology users have absolute flexibility and control in terms of the range of data retrieved, and frequency of access.

Symbology supports all market participants – and the industry as a whole – by reducing exception reporting and improving risk management. Sell-side firms can onboard clients seamlessly for efficient trading, risk management and clearing and settlement services, regardless of clients’ own data, order execution and portfolio management technologies.

Customisable, asset-focused Symbology data feeds allow orders from bank clients’ trading platforms to be streamed instantly to clearing and settlement systems. Equally, clients’ open positions can be tracked dynamically through retrieving real-time prices from market data connections and supporting enhanced, data-rich (root/trade series level symbols) client reporting.

Improve your operational efficiency and enhance your client experience with the industry’s leading symbology service.

Proven symbol mapping

Benefit from a system curated and enhanced over 25+ years of working with tier 1 clients and partners to offer great choice and competitiveness

20+ distinct symbologies

Leverage instrument data enriched with root or trade series level symbols and mapped to key market data and back-office vendor identifiers

Multi-vendor compatibility

Ensure compatibility with instant ordering mapping from client platforms into clearing, settlement, portfolio and regulatory reporting systems

Don’t delay, request a data sample today