Quote from ggoom:
I changed to unbundled pricing this month and overall it is saving me some. However, when I remove liquidity (for NYSE stocks) it is often executed against Timber Hill while either NYSE or ECNs are at NBBO. As you see below (this info is from IB website), Timber Hill charges fee more than normal in this case. I donât think this is right especially because they give preference to Timber Hill in the SMART routing even though cheaper ECNs are available.
NYSE on-book: $0
I-Net NYSE $0.0007
ARCA NYSE $0.0010
Brut NYSE $0.0007
SuperMontage NYSE $0.0007
B-Trade NYSE $0
Track NYSE $0.0025
Timber Hill Auto-ex
.....NYSE at NBBO $0.0010
.....Non-NYSE ECN at NBBO $0.0020
I think they should change the algorithm in the SMART routing so that the order is sent to ECNs first if there are ECNs at NBBO (because this is cheaper than Timber Hill and this is instantaneous execution). If this is not what they want, Timber Hill should charge less; maybe $0.0007 like most other ECNs.
Donât get me wrong. I love IB and I prefer this unbundled system. I just think the current Timber Hillâs charge is unfair to customers who use SMART routing.
First a few facts:
1) The website does not clearly explain the different charges. A more precise version would say:
- TMBR or IDEAL AutoEx ...
- NYSE Direct at NBBO (i.e. electronic NYSE execution) 0.001
- NYSE non Direct at NBBO (i.e. manual execution) 0.002
2) The charges are not in effect yet, at present you don't pay for listed executions on TMBR and IDEAL.
Now to the logic behind the charges:
1) IB collects detailed execution statistics on all the venues on which it executes; from these statistics we compute the probability that when we send a marketable order to the venue we actually get executed; these probabilities range from approx 0.65 (for non Direct NYSE) through 0.9+ for ISLAND and near 1.0 for TMBR and IDEAL
2) the smart router uses these probabilities when deciding where an order should be routed in case of a price tie; the way it works is as follows:
- for each venue that is at the NBBO we compute the expected execution cost to the trader; this cost is a weighted sum of the exchangeFee to be paid in case the trader succeeds in a getting a fill and a execution-slippage in case he does not (because the venue changed its price in the mean time); for slippage we assume a very modest amount - less than 1 penny
- from the available venues at the NBBO we chose the one that yields the lowest expected execution cost; this will be usually be TMBR or IDEAL , provided that they are at the NBBO. (Given the high execution probability of these venues, the trader experiences no slippage when his order is routed to his venues).
To make routing decisions this way is more sensible than simply picking the venues with the lowest exchangeFee. This is because if we were to do that, then all listed marketable orders would go to NYSE - which has a poor execution probability, which means that the trader would often not get his fill and suffer slippage.
3) Similarly to the ECNs, IB charges the exchangeFee on TMBR and IDEAL execution so that it can pay the liquidity providers on TMBR/IDEAL for their non-marketable quotes.
In conclusion:
We believe that executing the customers on TMBR and IDEAL is very beneficial to IB customers. Aside from receiving immediate executions without slippage, the traders get to access additional liquidity at the NBBO (which liquidity is only available to IB customers) and they often receive price improvements.