Blog · Coverage and territory · Trading
How a trading desk measures whether its axes reach the clients who trade them, from the axe log, the distribution records and the blotter: axes sent per client per product, axes traded within a stated window, the clients who receive many and trade none, the clients who trade the desk's axes but receive few, the salespeople whose distribution lists have not changed in a year, and the identity that trades against axes sit inside the blotter.
A desk sends its axes to distribution lists that salespeople built years ago. The axe log against the blotter shows that most recipients never trade one, and that some of the clients who do trade the desk's axed instruments are not on any list. This guide sets out axes received against traded per client, the two lists, the stale distribution lists, and the identity.
Per client, per product, per period:
Axes received; axes traded within the window Axe hit rate = traded ÷ received Traded unsent = trades in the desk's axed instruments, right side, in window, with no axe sent
Per salesperson:
Distribution list size; last change date; hit rate of the list
Client and salesperson identifiers only.
trades against axes ⊆ blotter trades
Matched trades are a subset, flagged. They are never added to the blotter's total.
| Client | Product | Axes received | Traded | Hit rate | Traded unsent | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2207 | Credit | 310 | 2 | 0.6% | 0 | On every list; trades nothing |
| 4471 | Credit | 40 | 14 | 35% | 6 | Trades axes; under-distributed |
| 9034 | Credit | 180 | 22 | 12% | 1 | Fine |
| 1187 | Credit | 0 | 0 | 9 | Trades the desk's axed instruments; never sent an axe |
Client 1187 traded nine of the desk's axed instruments on the right side in the window and was never sent an axe. Client 2207 received three hundred and ten and traded two. The distribution list is backwards at both ends.
| Salesperson | List size | Last changed | List hit rate | Clients trading unsent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S-04 | 210 | 14 months ago | 3% | 7 |
| S-11 | 45 | 3 weeks ago | 19% | 1 |
Salesperson S-04's list has not changed in over a year, hits three percent, and seven clients who trade the axes are not on it.
Axes measured by sends. The busiest list is the least effective.
Blotter not joined. Whether anyone traded an axe is unknown.
Traded-unsent ignored. The best recipients are the ones never sent.
Matched trades added to volume. The blotter counts them once already.
Mapped once, the axe log, the distribution records and the blotter produce hit rate per client, the two lists and the per-salesperson list review every week. Covirage builds this from the exports as they are. The trading page describes the setup, and the client tiering guide covers the tiers the distribution lists should be built from.
Same client, same instrument or a stated equivalent, opposite side to the desk's axe, within a stated window after the axe was sent. The match is shown with its confidence; a trade that could match two axes is attributed to the most recent.
Because an axe sent to two hundred clients who ignore it and not to the twelve who would trade it is a position the desk holds longer than it needs to. Distribution is coverage for a specific position, and the data says who to send it to.
They are the strongest signal: a client that traded the desk's axed instrument on the right side, in the window, without being sent the axe, should have been. The list of those, per salesperson, is the distribution list's correction.