We would like to welcome Privatbank IHAG Zürich AG to the MACD Community. The bank successfully went live with our Order Management System MAX in October, with direct connectivity to the SIX Swiss Exchange as well as various broker partners.
George Macdonald, CEO MACD: 'We are extremely pleased to have the renowned and traditional IHAG Privatbank join our network. The migration from the previous system to MAX went smoothly thanks to the close cooperation. We are excited about future joint projects and look forward to continuing to work together."
We have gained another fund broker as a partner: In future, being part of the global FNZ Group, ifsam as the FNZ Fund Hub and B2B fund platform offers institutional investors a comprehensive range of services for third-party funds.
The spectrum ranges from order routing for fund units to the safekeeping of units and the collection of trailer fees. The fund universe comprises over 135,000 ISINs in investment funds of all kinds including hedge-funds, private equity funds and ELTIFs.
Gianmarco Lo Nigro, Sales & Account Management MACD: 'With ifsam, we can expand our fund trading offering even further and offer our customers a broader range of options. We are particularly pleased that ifsam is participating in the MACD Broker Program, which offers our customers real added value.'
Jean-Luc Lanners, Managing Director ifsam: 'By joining forces with MACD, we can expand our reach and offer potential new clients access to our fund platform and services. With this partnership, market participants will benefit from the technology of a leading trading solutions provider combined with the experience and expertise of one of the leading B2B fund platforms.'
In addition to ifsam, MACD welcomes another renowned fund broker as a partner. In October, we successfully connected Lienhardt & Partner Privatbank Zürich AG from the client portfolio of ESPRIT Netzwerk AG with the global fund broker.
The bank now forwards its fund orders to the broker, whereby a leading asset manager from Zurich is one of its main customers. This integration complements the bank's existing connection to Clearstream.
We have also developed an innovative interface to the broker API (Application Programming Interface), which enables data exchange via XML files. This service represents a new extension (MIS) within the MACD network and facilitates the connection to non-FIX-based interfaces.
Gianmarco Lo Nigro, Sales & Account Management: "The demand from our customers in the area of fund trading has increased significantly in recent years. We are therefore particularly pleased to have another strong partner on board with this global broker."
We cordially invite all our customers and partners to save the date for our annual community event in Zurich:
MACD Conference 2024
Thursday, 6th June 2024
13.00 - 17.00, Apéro Riche from 17.15 onwards
Zurich, University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration (HWZ)
As usual, we will invite experts from our network to present and discuss current topics. Of course, there will be ample opportunity for networking and discussions. Here is the summary of this year's event:
We would be happy to receive your suggestions for topics. What topics are you particularly interested in? Which questions should be addressed on the discussion panel?
The official invitation will be sent out in early 2024. If you don't want to wait that long, you are welcome to register already now.
Since this summer, we have been cooperating with Sygnum for trading digital assets on an institutional level. We are pleased to announce that Zuger Kantonalbank was the first MACD customer to successfully go live with the connection to Sygnum in October.
Sygnum is our second digital asset trading partner, alongside B2B service specialist InCore Bank. The solution enables MACD customer banks to automate the trading and custody of cryptocurrencies via existing interfaces to their core banking systems.
For more information, read our media release: Crypto Trading: MACD and Sygnum Bank announce cooperation
On Friday, 3 November 2023, a MACD customer workshop was held at the University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich (HWZ). Representatives from eight of our customer banks with SIX membership as well as from SIX itself took part and discussed SIX Quote on Demand, Algo Trading, FX Order Routing and Bond Reporting. It was very valuable for MACD to learn about the individual needs, requirements and wishes in direct dialogue with the customers. Anyone who was unable to attend but is interested in the above topics is welcome to contact us at salesmacd.com.
In September, we met up with customers and partners to play golf at the Otelfingen golf course in the canton of Zurich. Beginners and advanced players from a total of eleven institutions from our community took part in the scramble tournament or the golf taster course. After a successful day on the course, we rounded off the evening with a cosy aperitif and interesting conversations.
Once again we have compensated for the CO₂ that we produce. In 2022, our CO₂ footprint was 67 tonnes. The biggest item was purchases (including software and services) at 49 tonnes.
It is important to us that the projects in which we invest have the following characteristics, among others:
This is a topic that has always been important to MACD, and we have embedded it in our philosophy: 'We are committed to sustainable environmental projects.'
Stephanie Wagner moved from the Sales & Account Management (SAM) team to the Technical Account Management (TAM) team as a Business Project Manager with effect from 1 October 2023.
Markus Huber joined the TAM team in Urdorf, Switzerland, on 1st of October 2023 as Technical Account Manager and Business Project Manager.
Also in Urdorf, Claudio Schaad joined our team on the 1st of November 2023 as a Senior Software Engineer. A warm welcome!
'Each of us is different and has our own skills - that's what makes us strong as a team.' That's what our mission statement says.
And that's exactly what we want to convey to the outside world. That's why we decided years ago not to use stock photos but photos of real employees for our website, flyers, etc. Because that's exactly who we are! Photo shoots recently took place at our locations in Aachen (Germany) and Urdorf (Switzerland) and today we are presenting the latest photos of our teams.
At the end of the year, we met in Aachen and Zurich for a joint team evening. In Aachen, we were able to enjoy an excellent menu made from regional, seasonal and sustainable products, such as salmon trout and mushrooms from the Eifel, in a small restaurant with a cosy warehouse atmosphere. The Swiss team dined surrounded by a winter wonderland on the Fondu Chinoise boat on Lake Zurich. Many thanks to the whole team for their great commitment in 2023!
