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The old days of spreadsheets and manual processes are rapidly giving way to a new era of sophisticated algorithms and so-called application programming interfaces (APIs). The same holds true in the fixed income space.

Nordea is the first Nordic bank to launch a fixed income API, which means that clients no longer need to log on to the Nordea Analytics platform to access bond prices, key figures and yield curves. The Python API provides direct access to Nordea’s raw data feeds and models, allowing companies to integrate the data into their own software and systems. They can then combine this information with data from other vendors and customise it for their own needs.

“I like to visualise it as a set of Lego bricks,” says Anders Skytte Aalund, Head of Trading Strategy at Nordea Markets who helped develop the API. “All the different data vendors are bricks going into the full build.”

Eliminate manual tasks

The Nordea Markets team developed the new API in response to client demand. Large corporates and institutional investors have a growing appetite for streamlining, automating and optimising internal processes, according to Aalund.

In the past, a finance professional would have had to log onto the Nordea Analytics platform, look up the data and copy-paste it back into their own system or spreadsheet. The API eliminates that manual process, allowing the data flow to happen automatically in the background. That automated process not only saves valuable time, it also minimises the risk of human error.

“It may sound counterintuitive that companies are asking us for simpler solutions, for the output in raw data format. But that’s the shift currently under way in the financial sector. We provide the raw functionality, and they build something on top of it,” says Aalund.  

Track positions in real time

The solution provides direct access to live data, allowing users to follow their positions in real time, spot any risks and decide whether to hedge them. In the past, bondholders would have to rely on the end-of-day numbers from the day before.

“When markets are as crazy as they’ve been in the current environment, that’s not good enough. Many clients want to know how their portfolio works intra-day, allowing for a more sophisticated analysis,” says Aalund.

One user at a large Nordic institutional client says he uses the API to “customise an already great source of research with real-time data.”

“Having access to dependable data and models is crucial in a market like Scandi FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) where the global banks are absent. Nordea also offers great support and examples to get you going,” he says.

In addition to the fixed income API, Nordea is also revamping Nordea Analytics into a web-based app with a modernised interface and greater functionality.