InformationTitleEclipse (Orion Trading) - Large Trade Day Best PracticesDescriptionThis article outlines best practices for managing large trade days, particularly those driven by model rebalancing or volatile market conditions. This article provides actionable guidance for every stage of the trade lifecycle, from pre-trade system checks and order generation to execution workflows and post-trade reconciliation.BodyArticle Quick Links Why Is Large Trade Day Planning Essential? What Needs to Be Done? Pre-Trade Activity Trade Creation Pre-Execution Trade Review Trade Execution Execution Best Practices How to Execute Different Security Types? Equity Execution Mutual Fund Execution Post-Trade Execution Review SLA and Trade File Execution for Mutual Fund Trades FIX Flyer SLA Cut-Off Times for Mutual Fund Trades Trade File Execution Limits Switching from FIX to Trade File Execution Re-establishing FIX Connection for Mutual Funds Additional Tips for Large Trade Day Planning Why is Large Trade Day Planning Essential? Large Trade Days, whether planned due to model rebalancing or triggered by market volatility, require careful coordination to ensure smooth execution. Proper planning reduces operational risk, minimizes trade errors, ensures timely processing, and optimizes communication with custodians and internal systems. To efficiently handle the increased trade volume, firms must prioritize operational alignment across platforms, including Orion Eclipse, the Tax Center, FIX Flyer, and custodians. What Needs to Be Done? Pre-Trade Activity Pre-Trade Activity is crucial to ensures the success of all daily operational processes, the functionality of systems, and the adjustment of models for trade generation. Required Steps: Confirm Recon Status: Use the Tax Center app to verify that recon status is “Confirmed as Complete.”Verify Eclipse Import Completion: Ensure the import into Eclipse has finished without errors.Run Firm Reviews: Perform standard review processes.Notify Stakeholders: Contact Orion and custodians to alert them of increased trading volume and execution expectations. Trade Creation Trade Creation is key to the extensive trade day planning and execution process. It is responsible for generating all trade orders, including large rebalance actions. Actions: Initiate Orders: Generate trade orders throughout the day.Scenario Planning: Incorporate potential workflows for different trading situations if applicable. Pre-Execution Trade Review Trade Review consists of avoiding errors and ensuring accurate trade generation calculation. It is not designed to execture orders or review every account or trade, but focuses on those with warning messages or potential trade issues, like overspending an account. Pre-filtering ensures reviews load quickly for the subset of accounts with issues to be reviewed, deleted, edited, or accepted. Recommended Filters and Columns: Filter/ColumnPurposeCash Value Post Trade < 0Highlight accounts overspending cashGain/Loss ColumnsEvaluate tax and performance impactNotesReference for special instructionsInstance DescriptionContext for trade originationCreated and Edited DateTrace changes or creation timingOrders with Warning MessagesSpot potential issuesCreated ByIsolate trades by specific usersCustodian or Security TypeSegment review process for operational ease Trade Execution Purpose: Efficiently transmit approved orders to the custodian. The most important part of managing execution is processing trades off the Orders grid. Key Principle: Break large volumes into smaller batches by custodian and security type for optimal processing speed. Recommended Orders Grid Columns: ColumnDescriptionEnabledIndicates active tradesOrder IDUnique identifier for the tradeAccount IDInternal system referenceAccount NumberClient’s custodian account numberCustodianDestination for trade executionTickerSecurity identifierActionBuy/Sell/ExchangeSecurity TypeEquity, Mutual Fund, and so on.Order QuantityNumber of shares or unitsEstimated AmountProjected trade value Execution Best Practices Filter by Custodian & Security Type Group by Security Process ~100,000 Trades Per Group: Ensure all trades for a specific ticker stay within the same batch. Use Model Name Filter if needed to reduce grid size. Tip: An additional filter for Model Name helps to reduce the trade order grid if needed. The grid will load up to 500,000 orders at one time as of April 21st, 2025 Back to Top How to Execute Different Security Types? Equity Execution Steps: Process equity orders to generate blocks. Review Average Daily Volume and % ADV columns. Use limits and ALGOs as needed. Highlight and execute blocks after edits. Mutual Fund Execution Execution MethodBehaviorFIX EnabledOrders move to “Pending” after processingMutual Fund Batch OffOrders are sent immediately once processed Trade FileOrders move to the Trade File grid for download Note: Some custodians are limited to the number of mutual fund orders in trade files. Schwab supports 10,000 mutual fund orders or fewer on trade files. Before switching to trade files, confirm the limitations with the custodian. Post-Trade Execution Review Purpose: Confirm that the custodian successfully received all trades. How to Check: Go to the Closed Orders Grid. A number next to “Closed” indicates failed or rejected trades. Investigate and determine whether to resend or contact the custodian. Back To Top SLA and Trade File Execution for Mutual Fund Trades FIX Flyer SLA Cut-Off Times for Mutual Fund Trades To ensure timely processing of mutual fund trades via FIX Flyer, adhere to the following volume cut-off service level agreements (SLAs): Cut-Off Time (ET)Maximum Trade Volume1:00 PM200,000 Orders2:30 PM100,000 Orders3:00 PM50,000 Orders Trade File Execution Limits As of April 21, 2025, the maximum number of orders that can be processed into a single trade file is: Maximum Limit: 125,000 orders Best Practice Limit: 115,000 orders (to allow processing buffer) Pontera Trade File Limitation: 100 accounts per day Important:When splitting orders across multiple trade files, always filter by ticker to ensure all trades for a given security are grouped. This preserves aggregation and prevents splitting a security’s trades between files. Switching from FIX to Trade File Execution If mutual fund trades need to be executed via a trade file instead of FIX, follow these steps: Go to Eclipse > Administration > Custodians & Brokers. Click Edit Custodian. Navigate to Security Type Override. Delete the override for Mutual Fund. When prompted, click Yes to confirm the deletion. Click Save and Close to complete the switch. This action will default mutual fund trades to the trade file method instead of FIX. Back to Top Re-establishing FIX Connection for Mutual Funds To restore FIX execution after switching to the trade file: Within the Custodian Details, select Add Override. Choose Security Type: Mutual Fund. Select Execution Method: FIX DIRECT. Click Add to confirm. Click Save and Close to complete the setup. By following these steps, firms manage mutual fund execution efficiently while staying within SLA and platform limits. Always coordinate with custodians if volume or execution method changes are anticipated. Additional Tips for Large Trade Day Planning Notify stakeholders early – Alert Orion, custodians, and trading teams at least 24 hours before.Pre-filter trades – Use custom filters to isolate warnings, low cash, or flagged accounts.Batch smartly – Break trades into groups by ticker, custodian, and security type.Monitor trade files – Stay within order limits (e.g., 115K trades/file) to avoid rejections.Review post-execution – Check the Closed Orders grid for rejections and resolve immediately. Back To Top Internal Tracking InfoURL NameEclipse-Large-Trade-Best-Practices