CUSTOMER STORY
Huatai Securities:
Enhancing High-Frequency Trading and Risk Management
A Global Fortune 1000 technology-driven securities company, Huatai Securities Co. provides wealth management, institutional services, and investment management for international business.
High-frequency quantitative trading and trading risk management demand robust and efficient real-time processing of multiple data streams, such as order streams, ticker streams, and trade-by-trade streams. This case study explores how Huatai Securities revolutionized their trading infrastructure with Timeplus, achieving unprecedented performance and efficiency.
THE CHALLENGE
Huatai Securities faced significant challenges in their high-frequency trading (HFT) operations. Their existing infrastructure, built using custom-developed services in Java and C++, coupled with traditional databases like MySQL, was complex, costly to maintain, and struggled to meet the demands of modern HFT environments.
Complexity and Maintenance
The custom-developed services required constant maintenance and updates, which consumed valuable developer resources and increased operational costs.
Scalability and Availability
Ensuring high availability and scalability for their high-volume data streams was increasingly difficult, leading to potential interruptions in trading activities and risk monitoring.
Latency Issues
Real-time indicator calculations were often delayed, affecting the ability to make timely trading decisions and manage risks effectively.
Recognizing the critical need for a more efficient and reliable solution, Huatai Securities sought to transform their trading infrastructure with an advanced, real-time data processing platform.
In high-frequency trading, every nanosecond counts. Real-time indicator calculations with minimal latency are essential for executing trades and monitoring market conditions effectively. These calculations enable traders to make swift, informed decisions and maintain a competitive edge. Additionally, low-latency calculations are crucial for adhering to regulatory requirements and managing trading risks efficiently.
The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) mandates stringent trading supervision. Real-time indicators are primarily used for risk monitoring, and there is often an expectation for prompt detection of abnormal trading activities. Securities companies are evaluated on their ability to identify market manipulation, such as stock price manipulation, typically within one minute of occurrence during on-site inspections by stock exchanges. Understanding and meeting these regulatory requirements are critical for maintaining market integrity and avoiding penalties.
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To address these challenges, Huatai Securities turned to Timeplus, a cutting-edge platform that offers a simplified data infrastructure architecture with lightning-fast complex streaming computation capabilities. Timeplus provides a low total cost of ownership (TCO) solution tailored for high-frequency trading environments.
Sub-Second Low-Latency Processing
Timeplus delivers lightning-fast data processing, ensuring Huatai Securities stays ahead of market movements and makes informed decisions in real-time. With sub-second low-latency processing, Timeplus is crucial for high-frequency trading operations. This capability allows Huatai to react to market changes almost instantaneously, capitalizing on fleeting opportunities and mitigating risks.
Multi-Stream Correlated Streaming Computation
Timeplus provides multi-stream correlated streaming computation on high-throughput marketing and trading events. This capability offers the most real-time dynamics of the market and trading insights, empowering traders with accurate and timely data. By processing and correlating data from multiple streams simultaneously, Timeplus enables comprehensive analysis and better-informed trading strategies.
300+
real-time quantitative trading monitoring indicators
100,000 EPS
daily throughput, 5 hours per day
Scalability and High Availability
Timeplus ensures uninterrupted real-time metrics and analytics supply for high-frequency trading safety. Built to handle large volumes of both streaming and historical data, Timeplus provides robust analytical capabilities essential for predictive analytics, portfolio optimization, and risk management. High-frequency trading processes rely heavily on real-time indicators, and any interruption in these services can halt trading activities. Timeplus offers a resilient and scalable solution, ensuring data integrity and continuous operation.
Easy Scaling, Easy Management
With SQL the cluster could be easily managed, and computation load could be easily scaled on K8s.
99.99% Uptime
Achieved near-perfect uptime, ensuring uninterrupted access for customers 24/7.
IMPACT ON HUATAI SECURITIES
Reduced Complexity
The single-platform solution simplified the overall system architecture, making it easier to manage and scale. This reduction in complexity also decreased the likelihood of system failures and maintenance issues, enhancing overall reliability.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
By consolidating functionalities, Huatai achieved high-frequency trading capabilities with lower infrastructure and maintenance costs. The streamlined infrastructure reduced the need for expensive hardware and extensive engineering resources, optimizing operational efficiency.
Enhanced Performance
Streamlined systems resulted in better performance and lower latency, critical for high-frequency trading operations. Huatai's traders can now execute trades with greater speed and precision, gaining a competitive edge in the fast-paced financial markets.
Increased Developer Productivity
With SQL-based development, the time required to develop and deploy new indicators was significantly reduced, and the barrier to entry for real-time analytics development was lowered. This boost in productivity allowed Huatai to respond more quickly to market demands and regulatory changes.
"Timeplus fills a major gap in today’s rapidly changing markets, where businesses must go real-time or become obsolete. It makes extracting insights from streaming data even easier, saving us from writing thousands of lines of code and hundreds of hours of development. The ability to monitor and analyze massive amounts of real-time investment data leads to greater risk control and cost analysis."
Wang Ling, Head of IT | Huatai Securities
Huatai Securities' successful integration of Timeplus showcases the transformative impact of advanced real-time data processing solutions in high-frequency trading and risk management. For developers in the financial services industry, this case study underscores the importance of low-latency real-time calculations, streamlined architectures, and efficient development practices. Timeplus not only meets regulatory requirements but also enhances trading performance and reduces operational costs, paving the way for continuous innovation and adaptation in the high-frequency trading landscape.
By leveraging Timeplus, Huatai Securities has set a new standard for efficiency and performance in high-frequency trading, demonstrating the critical role of advanced data processing technologies in maintaining a competitive edge and ensuring regulatory compliance.