ESG

This 2022 ESG report represents a significant new chapter in our company’s drive to deliver results that benefit our shareholders, clients, employees, and communities.
 

The Report, as in prior years, reflects our Board’s and our management’s view of the vital role ESG initiatives can play in driving our growth. We believe our ESG initiatives strengthen our ability to fulfill our purpose of delivering innovation that makes the global markets in fixed-income — the world’s largest asset category — work better for everyone who depends on them, from individual savers and investors to the largest institutions and governments.

These markets are moving quickly to a new stage of technology development that incorporates automation and advanced data analytics, opening them to greater participation, efficiency and transparency. We’re seeing adoption of this next-generation technology across our growing global client base at a time when investor interest in fixed-income markets is on the rise.

As a leader and catalyst for these changes, MarketAxess seeks to recruit and retain talented executives and team members committed to our vision of innovation and open markets, while ensuring we remain well attuned to the values and needs of our global client base. Diversity and inclusion are important factors in achieving both objectives. For that reason, it remains a priority for our Board, leadership team and our entire employee base.

Our culture in also strengthened by a shared commitment to protecting the environment. In 2022, we first responded to the Climate Disclosure Project’s climate change questionnaire and this year marks our first reporting against the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosure framework in order to give our stakeholders better information on our climate change practices and policies. Four core themes stand out in this year’s report.

1. We’re investing more in our people than ever before. In 2022, we increased investment in learning and development for all employees and launched a centralized learning management system. In addition, we initiated programs designed to ensure that our company culture is one in which diverse employees can thrive. When it comes to employee benefits, MarketAxess is well positioned to compete for talent with the largest financial and technology companies
    
2. Our support for communities is growing. In 2022, we continued to expand philanthropic and community partnerships through the MarketAxess Charitable Foundation as well as volunteer opportunities for MarketAxess employees. The Charitable Foundation’s mission is to work with organizations that support underserved communities, with an emphasis on youth education, equality, diversity, and inclusion. Our aim is to use the Charitable Foundation to help shape the future of financial technology by creating opportunities for today’s youth in the fields of software development and finance.
    
3. We’re using our technology to promote diversity and the transition to a greener economy. Based on US reported data, MarketAxess ranks as the largest electronic corporate and municipal green bond marketplace for corporate and municipal green bond trading volume. The MarketAxess “Trading for Trees” initiative, now in its fourth year, resulted in over 316,000 trees being planted across nine countries in 2022. Our Diversity Dealer Initiative, launched in 2021, opened the way for large investment managers to trade more easily with minority-, women-, and veteran-owned broker-dealers, while still achieving best execution.
    
4. Strong governance drives our commitment. Our board has played the leading role in setting the objectives and priorities for our ESG initiatives and will continue to do so. Their industry knowledge and independent viewpoints have helped ensure that our ESG initiatives align with our company’s values and the interests of our shareholders and clients. As a result, our corporate governance policies have consistently been recognized as among the best of our peers.
    

With our strong performance in 2022 as backdrop, earlier this month Chris Concannon, a proven leader deeply experienced in electronic markets, assumed the Chief Executive Officer role, and I have taken on a new role of Executive Chairman. I would like to congratulate Chris on his promotion as CEO. It is well deserved and, given his strengths in automation, e-trading protocols, data product delivery and ETFs, Chris is the right person to lead the Company. Finally, I would like to thank all MarketAxess team members for their hard work in helping our company advance our ESG initiatives in 2022 and for their commitment to continued progress in 2023.

Rick McVey
Founder and Executive Chairman, MarketAxess

In 2021, we conducted our first comprehensive non-financial ESG materiality and prioritization assessment, which identified the most relevant 18 ESG topics and six priority issues for MarketAxess to manage and drive long-term business performance and societal impact. This prioritization remained our focus in 2022.

We believe that the priority analysis reflects the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (“SDGs”), the SASB Standards, and other ESG topics important to our stakeholders. The analysis was also informed by an assessment of peers and clients in our industry who have been highly rated on ESG criteria. The process yielded six Tier 1 non-financial topics that are most impactful to the business. We plan to conduct such an assessment every few years.