At the beginning of this month, MarketAxess Holdings (MKTX) launched its first portfolio trading tool for tax-exempt municipal bonds. The tool completed its inaugural trade between a major bank and a well-known asset management company, allowing clients to trade diversified portfolios of tax-exempt municipal bonds.

According to reports, the new tool allows clients to send lists to multiple counterparties or a single dealer and negotiate price improvements in a single transaction. The tool supports manual loading of portfolio trades and achieves end-to-end straight-through processing via order management systems.

Once loaded, clients can instantly see changes in portfolio metrics and overall market value, reportedly enabling them to make quick and informed decisions about portfolio composition and pricing. Additionally, during negotiations, clients can counter or remove individual items to achieve optimal execution.

MarketAxess has rapidly developed as an electronic marketplace platform for municipal bonds. Last month, the electronic trading platform captured an estimated 8.1% market share in municipal bonds, a significant increase from 5.6% the previous year, with an average daily trading volume of $577 million.

In March, MarketAxess reported record trading volumes for February, with the platform’s total credit average daily volume (ADV) reaching $15.2 billion, up 5.1% year-on-year, driven by strong performance in several key areas.

The average daily trading volume of U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds on the electronic market reached a record $7.7 billion, a 14.6% year-on-year increase. Emerging markets' average daily trading volume increased by 12.5% to $3.6 billion. The average daily trading volume of European bonds rose by 9.1% to $2 billion, while the average daily trading volume of municipal bonds grew by 8% year-on-year to $434 million.

Despite the overall positive results, the average daily trading volume of U.S. high-yield corporate bonds fell by 37.1% to $1.4 billion. This decline was attributed to lower credit spread volatility and long-term clients focusing more on the new issuance calendar.

Additionally, in February, MarketAxess appointed Ilene Fiszel Bieler as Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Christopher Gerosa. Bieler brings extensive experience from companies like State Street Global Markets and Barclays.