MarketAxess Announces Trading Volume Statistics for February 2025

MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, today announced trading volume and preliminary variable transaction fees per million (“FPM”) for February 2025.¹

Chris Concannon, CEO of MarketAxess, commented:

“While we are not satisfied with our February performance in U.S. credit, we are seeing the benefit of the enhancements we have made to our portfolio trading solution, and the launch of our High Touch block trading solution in Eurobonds and emerging markets. We are also excited about the expected launch of our High Touch block trading solution in the U.S. and our dealer Mid-X protocol on Pragma technology in the second quarter. We believe these new capabilities should help drive higher levels of market share in U.S. credit in the coming quarters. While it is still early in the final month of the quarter, we are encouraged by the recent increase in volatility in the markets and the increase in our U.S. credit trading volumes and estimated market share relative to February 2025 levels.”

Select February 2025 Highlights

• Total average daily volume (“ADV”) of $43.4 billion increased 27% compared to the prior year, and increased 11% compared to January 2025 levels. Total rates ADV of $27.9 billion increased 46% compared to the prior year, and increased 14% compared to January 2025. Total credit ADV of $15.5 billion increased 2% compared to the prior year, and increased 7% compared to January 2025.

U.S. Credit²

• U.S. high-grade ADV of $7.1 billion decreased 8% compared to the prior year, but increased 2% compared to January 2025. Estimated market ADV increased 5% compared to the prior year, and increased 6% compared to January 2025. Including the impact of single-dealer portfolio trades, estimated market share was 17.8%, down from 19.5% in the prior year, and down slightly from 17.9% in January 2025. Estimated market share, excluding the impact of single-dealer portfolio trades, was 17.0%, down from 19.5% in the prior year, and down from 17.7% in January 2025.
• U.S. high-yield ADV of $1.4 billion was in line with the prior year, but increased 12% compared to January 2025. Estimated market ADV increased 16% compared to the prior year, and increased 21% compared to January 2025. Including the impact of single-dealer portfolio trades, estimated market share was 12.1%, down from 12.9% in the prior year, and down slightly from 12.3% in January 2025. Estimated market share, excluding the impact of single-dealer portfolio trades, was 11.1%, down from 12.9% in the prior year, and down from 12.0% in January 2025.

Other Credit

• Record emerging markets ADV of $4.1 billion increased 13% compared to the prior year, and increased 13% compared to January 2025. The year-over-year increase was driven by an 11% increase in local currency ADV, and record levels of hard currency ADV which increased 13%. These results were driven by strong growth in block trading across both hard currency and local currency markets which increased 52% and 28%, respectively, compared to the prior year.
• Eurobonds ADV of $2.3 billion increased 16% compared to the prior year, and increased 8% compared to January 2025.
• Municipal bond ADV of $614 million increased 41% compared to the prior year, and increased 15% compared to January 2025. Estimated market ADV increased 40% compared to the prior year, but decreased 2% compared to January 2025. Estimated market share was 6.9%, up slightly from 6.8% in the prior year, and up from 5.8% in January 2025.

Strategic Priority Related Protocols & Workflow Tools

Client-Initiated Channel

• Record emerging markets block trading ADV (hard currency blocks defined as trade sizes ≥ $3 million notional, local currency blocks defined as trade sizes ≥ $5 million notional) of $1.7 billion increased 35% from the prior year, and increased 25% from January 2025. Block trading in emerging markets is benefiting from the launch of our targeted block solution in late 2024 which has generated cumulative trading volume of approximately $1 billion since launch.
• Eurobonds block trading ADV (defined as trade sizes ≥ $5 million notional) of $379 million increased 62% from the prior year, and increased 13% from January 2025. Block trading in Eurobonds is benefiting from the launch of our targeted block solution in January 2025 which has generated cumulative trading volume of over $1 billion since launch.

Portfolio Trading Channel

• $1.5 billion in total portfolio trading ADV, the second highest month recorded, increased 131% compared to the prior year, and increased 66% compared to January 2025. A record 85% of portfolio trading volume was executed over X-Pro.
  
  — Estimated U.S. credit TRACE portfolio trading market ADV increased 27% compared to January 2025.
• Our estimated market share of U.S. credit TRACE portfolio trading was 20.7% in February 2025, up from 14.7% in January 2025.
  
  — Portfolio trading represented approximately 11% of U.S. credit TRACE in February 2025, up from 9% in January 2025.

Dealer-Initiated Channel

• Record Dealer RFQ ADV of $1.7 billion across all credit products increased 32% compared to the prior year, and increased 15% compared to January 2025, driven by record Dealer RFQ ADV in U.S. high-grade and emerging markets.

Other

• Open Trading ADV of $4.6 billion increased 5% compared to the prior year, and increased 9% compared to January 2025. Open Trading share³ of total credit trading volume was 36%, up from 34% in the prior year, and up from 34% in January 2025.
• AxessIQ, the order and execution workflow solution designed for wealth management and private banking clients, achieved ADV of $158 million, up 13% compared to the prior year, and up 9% compared to January 2025.

Rates

• Total rates ADV of $27.9 billion increased 46% compared to the prior year, and increased 14% compared to January 2025. Estimated U.S. government bonds market ADV increased 8% compared to the prior year, and increased 10% compared to January 2025. Estimated U.S. government bonds market share was 2.7%, up from 2.0% in the prior year, and up slightly from 2.6% in January 2025.

Variable Transaction Fees Per Million (FPM)¹

• The preliminary FPM for total credit for February 2025 was approximately $143, down from $152 in the prior year, but up slightly from $141 in January 2025. The decline in total credit FPM year-over-year was due to product and protocol mix. The increase in total credit FPM month-over-month was principally due to the higher duration of bonds traded in U.S. high-grade, driven by an increase in the weighted average years to maturity.
• The preliminary FPM for total rates for February 2025 was approximately $4.29, up from $4.23 in the prior year, and up from $4.25 in January 2025. The increase in total rates FPM both year-over-year and month-over-month was driven by the impact of product mix within our rates business.

Table 1: February 2025 ADV

Table 1A: February 2025 estimated market share

General Notes Regarding the Data Presented

Reported MarketAxess volume in all product categories includes only fully electronic trading volume. MarketAxess trading volumes and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (“TRACE”) reported volumes are available on the Company’s website at investor.marketaxess.com/volume.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements about the outlook and prospects for the Company, market conditions and industry growth, as well as statements about the Company’s future financial and operating performance. These and other statements that relate to future results and events are based on MarketAxess’ current expectations. The Company’s actual results in future periods may differ materially from those currently expected or desired because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: global economic, political and market factors; the level of trading volume transacted on the MarketAxess platform; the rapidly evolving nature of the electronic financial services industry; the level and intensity of competition in the fixed-income electronic trading industry and the pricing pressures that may result; the variability of our growth rate; our ability to introduce new fee plans and our clients’ response; our ability to attract clients or adapt our technology and marketing strategy to new markets; risks related to our growing international operations; our dependence on our broker-dealer clients; the loss of any of our significant institutional investor clients; our exposure to risks resulting from non-performance by counterparties to transactions executed between our clients in which we act as an intermediary in matched principal trades; risks related to self-clearing; risks related to sanctions levied against states or individuals that could expose us to operational or regulatory risks; the effect of rapid market or technological changes on us and the users of our technology; issues related to the development and use of artificial intelligence; our dependence on third-party suppliers for key products and services; our ability to successfully maintain the integrity of our trading platform and our response to system failures, capacity constraints and business interruptions; the occurrence of design defects, errors, failures or delays with our platforms, products or services; our vulnerability to malicious cyber-attacks and attempted cybersecurity breaches; our actual or perceived failure to comply with privacy and data protection laws; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights or technology and defend against intellectual property infringement or other claims; our use of open-source software; our ability to enter into strategic alliances and to acquire other businesses and successfully integrate them with our business; our dependence on our management team and our ability to attract and retain talent; limitations on our flexibility because we operate in a highly regulated industry; the increasing government regulation of us and our clients; risks related to the divergence of U.K. and European Union legal and regulatory requirements following the U.K.’s exit from the European Union; our exposure to costs and penalties related to our extensive regulation; our risks of litigation and securities laws liability; our tax filing positions; the effects of climate change or other sustainability risks that could affect our operations or reputation; our future capital needs and our ability to obtain capital when needed; limitations on our operating flexibility contained in our credit agreement; our exposure to financial institutions by holding cash in excess of federally insured limits; and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. More information about these and other factors affecting MarketAxess’ business and prospects is contained in MarketAxess’ periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and can be accessed at www.marketaxess.com.

About MarketAxess

MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX) operates a leading electronic trading platform that delivers greater trading efficiency, a diversified pool of liquidity and significant cost savings to institutional investors and broker-dealers across the global fixed-income markets. Approximately 2,100 firms leverage MarketAxess’ patented technology to efficiently trade fixed-income securities. Our automated and algorithmic trading solutions, combined with our integrated and actionable data offerings, help our clients make faster, better-informed decisions on when and how to trade on our platform. MarketAxess’ award-winning Open Trading® marketplace is widely regarded as the preferred all-to-all trading solution in the global credit markets. Founded in 2000, MarketAxess connects a robust network of market participants through an advanced full trading lifecycle solution that includes automated trading solutions, intelligent data and index products and a range of post-trade services. Learn more at www.marketaxess.com and on X @MarketAxess.

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