Tradewatch for Q4 2021

Broker rankings
Ranked by difference in cost/savings against the Elkins/McSherry Arrival Price universe, based on the top 50 brokers in each category by U.S. dollar volume. Rolling four-quarter data are as of Dec. 31, 2021. Source: Elkins/McSherry, a State Street company.
All trading
Global brokers
RankBrokerDifference
1 Goldman Sachs -79.73
2 Pavilion -37.08
3 Piper Sandler -34.77
4 UBS -26.87
5 Instinet -17.32
6 Morgan Stanley -2.30
7 CLSA -2.24
8 Credit Suisse -2.21
9 Guzman -0.44
10 Pershing 0.55
U.S. brokers
RankBrokerDifference
1 MKM Partners -50.27
2 Wells Fargo -49.62
3 Gar Wood Securities -40.92
4 Bank of America -37.50
5 J.P. Morgan -34.90
6 JMP Securities -34.85
7 UBS -34.16
8 Russell -33.59
9 William Blair -31.12
10 Goldman Sachs -30.53
Trades by order size
Large orders: 50,000+ shares 
RankBrokerDifference
1 Needham & Co. -103.18
2 BTIG -61.35
3 Goldman Sachs -44.00
4 William Blair -43.45
5 Russell -34.69
6 J.P. Morgan -17.35
7 Jeffries & Co. -6.49
8 Key Bank -5.69
9 Guzman -1.92
10 RBC Capital Markets 0.10
Medium orders: 10,000 - 50,000 shares
RankBrokerDifference
1 UBS -39.70
2 Int'l Strategy & Investment -38.21
3 RBC Capital Markets -28.39
4 Gar Wood Securities -17.96
5 Truist -14.28
6 Needham & Co. -13.15
7 Credit Suisse -10.27
8 BTIG -8.38
9 Goldman Sachs -6.99
10 J.P. Morgan -3.16
Small orders: 10,000 shares or less
RankBrokerDifference
1 Bank of America -71.84
2 BTIG -16.49
3 Gar Wood Securities -10.85
4 J.P. Morgan -6.64
5 Credit Suisse -3.08
6 BNY Mellon -3.00
7 Goldman Sachs -2.94
8 Cowen -1.80
9 Barclays Bank -0.56
10 Guzman -0.35"
Trades by liquidity
0% - 20% of daily volume
RankBrokerDifference
1 Bank of America -56.63
2 UBS -34.05
3 Oppenheimer & Co -26.53
4 Int'l Strategy & Investment -25.76
5 Goldman Sachs -22.24
6 Needham & Co. -21.93
7 William Blair -18.63
8 Barclays Bank -17.55
9 BTIG -15.46
10 Gar Wood Securities -14.28
20% - 50% of daily volume
RankBrokerDifference
1 Russell -81.51
2 Truist -43.45
3 BTIG -25.24
4 RBC Capital Markets -24.92
5 Needham & Co. -23.92
6 UBS -20.04
7 Bank of America -14.24
8 Goldman Sachs -10.35
9 Credit Suisse -4.95
10 J.P. Morgan -4.62
50%+ of daily volume
RankBrokerDifference
1 Stifel Nicolaus & Co. -38.80
2 Jeffries & Co. -37.37
3 Jones & Associates -32.07
4 Guzman -28.94
5 RBC Capital Markets -23.27
6 Cowen -20.88
7 Knight Trading -20.07
8 Bids Trading -17.62
9 Int'l Strategy & Investment -16.05
10 Bank of America -15.12
Trades by market cap
Giant cap
RankBrokerDifference
1 BTIG -16.36
2 Bank of America -9.86
3 Gar Wood Securities -7.34
4 J.P. Morgan -5.76
5 Truist -3.93
6 Cowen -1.25
7 Guzman 0.01
8 Goldman Sachs 0.08
9 Russell 0.53
10 Barclays Bank 1.45
Large cap
RankBrokerDifference
1 Goldman Sachs -35.49
2 BTIG -28.61
3 J.P. Morgan -20.38
4 RBC Capital Markets -16.33
5 Bank of America -14.73
6 Gar Wood Securities -9.77
7 Credit Suisse -3.55
8 Russell -2.60
9 Guzman -0.74
10 Morgan Stanley -0.36"
Midcap
RankBrokerDifference
1 Bank of America -57.01
2 Int'l Strategy & Investment -52.13
3 Wells Fargo -38.72
4 Jeffries & Co. -34.30
5 Truist -32.75
6 Goldman Sachs -28.26
7 RBC Capital Markets -26.04
8 Sanford Bernstein -18.74
9 Gar Wood Securities -13.81
10 Jones & Associates -10.64
Small cap
RankBrokerDifference
1 Gar Wood Securities -94.67
2 Wells Fargo -73.79
3 UBS -70.23
4 Jeffries & Co. -57.24
5 Russell -56.64
6 Int'l Strategy & Investment -50.55
7 Guzman -46.89
8 BTIG -41.57
9 Credit Suisse -38.72
10 Jones & Associates -33.98
Microcap
RankBrokerDifference
1 Credit Suisse -461.74
2 Guggenheim Securities -337.34
3 J.P. Morgan -268.52
4 BTIG -254.27
5 UBS -242.93
6 Knight Trading -240.75
7 Bank of America -179.7
8 Ladenburg Thalmann -107.00
9 Russell -97.91
10 Cantor Fitzgerald -91.48
Trading analytics
Commissions and implementation shortfall based on Virtu's Global Peer database. *Volatility annualized is the 60-day historical volatility for the S&P 500 index. Data are as of Dec. 31, 2021. Source: Virtu Financial LLC
U.S. trading costs: Commissions and implementation shortfall
U.S. trading costs
Average spread and annualized volatility of S&P 500 constituents
Average spread and volatility
*Fourth-quarter 2021 peer data are preliminary.