Axe hit rate

The share of axes a client received that the client then traded, matched from the axe log to the blotter by client, instrument, side and window.

DefinitionThe share of axes a client received that the client then traded, matched from the axe log to the blotter by client, instrument, side and window.

Axe hit rate is, per client, the axes traded divided by the axes received. An axe is traded when the blotter shows the client on the opposite side of the axed instrument within a stated window of the send. It is computed by joining the axe log and the distribution records to the blotter, and it is the number that tells a desk whether its distribution lists reach the clients who trade the axes.

The two lists it produces are the client who receives everything and trades nothing, and the client who trades the axed instruments without being sent the axe. See the worked example on ten axes.

How it is computed

Axes a client traded divided by axes it received, where a trade matches an axe when the client took the other side of the axed instrument within a stated window of the send.

Example

Client Y received five axes in a week and traded three: 60 percent. Client X received ten and traded none. Client Z received none and traded two of the axed instruments in the window.

Where it goes wrong

Distribution measured by axes sent. The client receiving the most looks like the best covered.

Articles that use this term

Coverage and territory · Trading

Axe distribution: which clients receive the desk's axes, and which ones trade them

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.

16 Sept 20262 min read Coverage and territory · Trading

Ten questions a head of sales trading asks, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a head of sales trading puts to the salespeople and the traders, which clients have gone quiet in a product where the desk has not, what is the size-weighted hit ratio by client, which clients are tiered where by flow and hit ratio, which axes reached the clients who trade them, who is covered by one salesperson only, what does the coverage map look like by client and product, does the blotter reconcile to the benchmark submission, which clients receive many prices and trade none, which salespeople's distribution lists are stale, and what changed, each with the table from the RFQ log, the blotter and the coverage file, and the answer to send back.

16 Sept 20262 min read Alternatives and comparisons · Trading

How to choose analytics software for trading: questions, data and traps

How desks should choose analytics software: start from the questions, check the data you hold, ask vendors ten questions, avoid the traps.

24 Sept 20264 min read Coverage and territory · Trading

Axe hit rate on ten axes: the whole arithmetic on one page

The complete axe distribution calculation on ten axes sent by one desk, small enough to check by hand: each axe's instrument, side and the clients it was sent to, the blotter's trades in those instruments within the window, the match rule, axes received and traded per client, the axe hit rate, the client on every list who traded none, the client who traded the desk's axed instrument without being sent the axe, the salesperson's list age, and the assertion that matched trades are a subset of the blotter, so a reader can reproduce every figure and then run it on their own axe log.

17 Sept 20263 min read Board and management reporting · Trading

Client KPIs for sales and trading desks: ten measures that matter, each with its formula and the export it comes from

The ten client KPIs a sales and trading desk should run on, each with its formula, the export it comes from and what it tells you: hit ratio by client and product, size-weighted hit ratio, inquiry share, the quiet client list, client tiering by flow and profitability, axe hit rate, traded unsent, coverage recency by client value, revenue concentration, and response time on inquiries. Also the three measures most desks miss, the figures to drop, the identities, and who owns what.

17 Sept 20264 min read How-to guides

The worked examples: every measure on ten rows you can check by hand

A hub for the worked-example pages on this site: each core measure computed in full on a book small enough to check by hand, ten accounts, ten deals, ten invoice lines, five clients, four territories, with every intermediate figure shown and the identity at the end. This page lists them by measure with what each example demonstrates, so a reader can reproduce the arithmetic before running it on their own export.

17 Sept 20268 min read