Shift to Electronic Credit Trading Looks Permanent (Correct)

Covid-19 forced corporate-bond traders to take electronic platforms more seriously after years of relatively slow adoption. It looks like a permanent shift even as investors head back into the office.

In May, 37% of investment-grade and 26% of high-yield trading volume was on electronic platforms, according to a Greenwich Associates report. Both figures are up 8 percentage points from May 2020, when electronic volumes were already surging.

As markets stabilized around the middle of last year, firms embraced electronic platforms to help execute the heavy volume of trades. Platforms including Tradeweb Markets Inc. and MarketAxess Holdings Inc., became more ...