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Why Use FIX?
What is FIX?
How do I Turn FIX Connections On and Off?

Why Use FIX?

• Learn to safely and securely send orders from Orion Trading to your custodian(s)
  
  
• Send orders without uploading and downloading spreadsheets
  
  
• Receive real time updates on your orders in Orion Trading

What is FIX?

FIX is a "straight-thru" method of trade execution established for select custodians. Orders process electronically from Orion's trading platforms (TOM or Eclipse) and are sent directly to the custodian(s) where they are executed and allocated. The process takes a matter of seconds, and no trade files are necessary!

Each custodian with a FIX Connection is able to send and accept Equity/ETF Trades. Some of those custodians also have a connection for mutual funds set up. Please review the What is a FIX Connection? article to review a list of all the Custodians that support a FIX Connection!

How do I Turn FIX Connections On and Off?

How to Turn a FIX Connection on

When the FIX Connection with a custodian is properly tested, our FIX Connection Team reaches out to your firm when the FIX connection is ready to go live. Then, whenever you are ready to start sending trades through the FIX connection, it is fully turned on for your database. To turn the FIX Connection on, follow the steps below:

Start by logging into the Orion Trading Platform in your database:
 

• Go to Administrator > Custodians & Brokers > select the custodian. 
  
  
• This opens the Custodian Details page. The information for the Master Account, Bank ID, Routing, FIX Version, and Allocation Method has already been added after the completed test.
  
  
• All you need to establish are the overrides for the FIX Connection. Under Product Types, navigate to Equities and/or Mutual Funds tabs. Change the Execution Type drop-down to FIX Direct.
  
  
• Once you click Save or Save and Close, the FIX connection is fully turned on for that custodian. Below is how the Custodian Details should look when the connection is turned on:

How to Turn a FIX Connection off

To turn off the FIX Connection and process a trade file, all you need to do is update the Trade Execution Type under the Execution Settings to the specific trade file format. Confirm the Default Trade Execution Type dropdown is changed to the proper trade file > Save.

There are trade files for Pershing, Fidelity, and Schwab. Set the default trade execution type to Orion to create the trade file in TOM.
 

How To Edit FIX Blocks

The Blocks grid in Orion Trading (Eclipse) allows you to edit fields for a specific block on the grid or through the edit popup.

To edit the blocks in the line on the grid, locate the Edit column with an edit button, and after selecting edit, editable fields allow you to update. Those fields/columns are:

• Order Type
  
  
• Limit Price
  
  
• Stop Price
  
  
• Algo
  
  
• Duration

To edit the blocks using the popup, right-click the block you want to update and select "Edit Block". The popup appears over the blocks grid and you are able to edit all the settings there. Those editable settings are:

• Order Type
  
  
• Limit Price
  
  
• Stop Price
  
  
• Algo
  
  
• Duration
  
  
• Quantity
  
  
• Value

For more information on these editable fields, continue reading this article.

Trading Best Practices

How to Trade Mutual Funds

First and foremost, you need trades on the orders grid to process through the FIX connection! Before processing any trades, it is always best practice to review all orders. Also, it is always best practice not to send orders after market hours.

One important thing to note for mutual fund FIX connections is that for most custodians, apart from Schwab and LPL, mutual fund orders are grouped in blocks every 15 minutes and sent to the custodian. Starting each morning after the market opens, mutual fund trades start processing. However, these are grouped in batches at FIX Flyer and sent to the custodian starting at 10:00 am EST. Orders are grouped in blocks every 15 minutes and end at 3:45 pm EST. Mutual fund orders that need to be placed between 3:45 pm EST and market close need to turn off the FIX connection and manually process a trade file for this order. Schwab and LPL's FIX connections for mutual funds send orders to the custodian right away, similar to Equities/ETFs.

FIX Mutual Fund Trade Wizard

When mutual fund sells are necessary to cover the expense of purchases, it is best practice to process the mutual funds first. Then, wait until the custodian receives them, and then send the purchases. This process avoids custodians rejecting orders when the proceeds from the mutual fund sells are not recognized, so the buys are rejected. 

There is an easier way to make sure mutual fund sells are processed before their buys. Orion Trading has the option to send mutual fund orders to the FIX MF Batches Tab in Trades. This is turned on by enabling the firm-level preference "FIX Mutual Funds - Batch When Processed".

To view the FIX MF Batch Tool, navigate to Orion Trading:
 

• Select Administrator
  
  
• Select preferences 
  
  
• At the firm level filter for the preference "FIX Mutual Funds - Batch When Processed"
  
  
• Make sure the preference is checked
  
  
• Click save

Once the preference is enabled, all mutual fund orders process to the FIX MF Batches going forward by:
 

• Navigating to the Trades Tab
  
  
• On the Orders Grid, right-click Mutual Fund Orders, and process selected
  
  
• This moves the Mutual Fund Orders to the FIX MF Batches Tab
  
  
• Navigate to the FIX MF Batches Tab
  
  
• Under the Active Batches tab right-click and execute selected batches
  
  
• This sends the orders to the custodian through the FIX connection

Please Note: The grid refreshes any time an update is made to the order/block. When needed, right-click the orders or click the Actions menu and select refresh grid to refresh manually.

 

The Batched Orders tab shown above displays all the orders currently in the active batches. Right-click on one of the batched orders to execute or reset the whole batch or single order. Resetting the order or batch moves them back to the orders grid to process again later OR permanently delete off the orders grid. 

The Pending Custodian Acceptance tab displays all Mutual Fund Orders executed through Orion Trading but have not received any messages back from the custodian yet. Once Orion receives the messages for acceptance, the orders drop off the grid, and create pendings and closed orders.

How to Trade Equities/ETFs

To process trades to the custodian, highlight all orders that are ready to send > right-click > Process Selected. Then all mutual funds are processed through the FIX Connection. Equities/ETFs get grouped together on the Blocks tab to be executed. To do this, navigate to:
 

• Blocks tab
  
  
• Highlight one or more Blocks
  
  
• Right-click and Execute 1 Block, or if multiple are selected, Execute 4 Blocks
  
  

Split Orion Trading blocks for a cleaner execution. Right-click on any block that has not been sent to split it into multiple blocks. This shuts auto allocate off for the whole block, and executed blocks send one allocation to get the same average price. To do this, right-click on the block and select Split Blocks. 

Allocating FIX Equity Orders

Once a custodian receives an order, they send an execution message back saying either filled or rejected. Once the order is filled, an allocation is sent. This defaults to automatically send after receiving the filled execution message. Once that allocation is sent, the blocks drop down and create Pendings for the individual orders. 

Allocations for partially filled orders split the filled orders from the orders waiting for acceptance. The orders waiting for acceptance are put into a new block to continue execution, while the rest of the filled orders are allocated.

• Right-click the partially filled block and select Allocate Orders.
  
  
• Confirm that you want to create New Block With Leaves.
  
  
• In Allocations, select the block that needs allocations assigned.
  
  
• Use the arrow radio on the right to open the menu that holds the Target tab.
  
  
• Choose how to allocate the remaining quantity (pro-rata or random) and send the allocation to the custodian.
   

Deleted an Account with an Open Block?

If an account is deleted out of Orion Trading or trade blocked at the account or portfolio level, any open trades are also deleted out an open block. To remove trades from a deleted or trade blocked account, navigate to the open blocks:
 

• Highlight and right-click the open block
  
  
• Select edit block
  
  
• Scroll down to view validation
  
  
• Check any deleted accounts or do not trade the portfolio or account level.

Trading Fractional Share Orders

Participating custodians allow block orders to allocate fractional shares to your client's accounts. Review What is a FIX Connection? for more information on which custodians provide this. The steps below explain the process a fractional share order takes. See the above section for full instructions. 
 

• The trade tools create orders with fractional shares
  
  
• Once the orders are ready, they process to the blocks grid
  
  
• All blocks round up to a full share quantity for the custodian to fill
  
  
• The block is executed and filled
  
  
• The allocation sends the orders with the fractional shares in client accounts
  
  
• The remaining amount that was rounded up for the block allocates to your firm's house account at the custodian

For example, one block has three orders. Order 1 has 1.5 shares, order 2 has 1.5 shares, and order 3 has 3.5 shares, for a total of 6.5 shares across the client's accounts. Orion Trading rounds the block up to 7 shares. Once this block is executed and filled for the 7 shares, the allocation sends the three fractional share orders and allocates the final .5 share to your firm's house account. 

The house account becomes a holding tank for the fractional shares until they are sold or moved out of the account. Please note that the house account must be downloaded to Orion through the data feed for Orion to add it to the FIX setup when setting up your FIX Connection for fractional shares.  

FIX Order Statuses

What do the Block Statuses mean?

Review Trade Order/Block Status Definitions for more information on block statuses.

Important Note: Sometimes, the FIX Connection is so quick that you won't see all of these statuses before the blocks move to allocations and pendings. 

What to do with Rejected Orders?

There are a few ways that a firm is notified when the custodian rejects an order. First, the order automatically drops down to the Closed tab and does not create any pendings. It is easy to see how many rejected orders there are in the Closed tab. The number of rejected orders is displayed directly on the tab, similar to seeing the number of orders on the orders grid. 

There is also a notification in the Orion Trading Platform that says which Block ID has been rejected. Lastly, there is an email notification to the email addresses that the firm provided for each order that is rejected. To update, add, or remove an email address for notifications, please reach out to the Trading Team for assistance. 

When a rejected order is received from the custodian, review the brief rejection reason by going to the Closed tab:
 

• Right-click the order and select FIX Messages
  
  
• Select the last Execution Message from the dropdown
  
  
• Scroll down to Tag line 58 and view the message.

This is all of the information that was received from the custodian regarding the reason for the rejection, and Orion is unable to speculate on the full reasoning. Therefore, it is best to reach out to the custodian for more information when the rejection message is unclear. 

Mutual fund rejects reset to the orders grid to be sent again by going to the:

• Closed Orders tab
  
  
• Highlighting the rejected mutual funds
  
  
• Right-click and reset mutual fund orders to the orders grid

For equity/ETF orders that need to be resent, you must create a new FIX Order ID to avoid another rejection. To do this for Equity/ETFs go to the: Closed Blocks tab (must be the Closed Blocks tab for equity/ETF orders). Update the Order Status from Rejected to Not Sent. This moves it back to the Blocks tab. From the Blocks tab, delete the block to bring it back up to the orders grid to be reprocessed as normal.

If you call the custodian after a trade order is rejected through the FIX connection, you have the ability to mark the order as filled after being rejected. When the custodian reruns the order and fills it, go back into the Orion Trading Platform closed grid, click in the Order Status column for that trade order, and update the status to Filled. This marks that trade order as processed and creates a pending order. 

Miscellaneous
How to add Not Held Algorithms

Some custodians provide the option to add Not Held Algorithms to blocked equity/ETF Orders. Please review What is a FIX Connection? for information on which custodians allow this. Also, review How to Set Up FIX Trading Algorithms in the Orion Trading Platform for more information on the setup of algorithms.

As shown below, to add a Not Held Algorithm to a block order, go to Blocks > right-click > edit Block > Algorithm = Not Held > Save. 

 

How to add Limit and Stop Prices

On equity/ETF orders or blocks, Limit and Stop Prices are added before sending to the custodian.

As shown below, add a Limit or Stop Price on the orders or blocks by right-clicking the order/block > Edit Order/Block > update to Order Type desired > Add the Price(s) > Save.