History
ITG was founded in 1987 as a division of Jefferies to provide automated equity trading to institutional investors. That year, the company introduced POSIT, an anonymous electronic trade matching system, in conjunction with Barra. POSIT remains among the most widely-used matching systems.
In 1990, ITG launched QuantEX, a high-end trading system for institutional traders integrating analytics, routing, and trade management. ITG began to provide clients with pre- and post-trade tools and analytics in 1992.
ITG became a publicly traded company in 1994, listed on NASDAQ. The ITG Australia office opened in 1997, giving regional investors POSIT equity crossing. The firm expanded into Europe in 1998. In 1999, ITG completed its spin-off from Jefferies, giving it full independence.
In 2000, the company’s Canada office opened. In 2002, ITG moved into the hedge fund market by acquiring Hoenig, a provider of trade execution and research services to alternative investment funds. The firm then opened an office in Hong Kong.
ITG completed its purchase of Radical Corporation, a provider of direct access trading to the institutional brokerage and hedge fund community, in 2004. The firm then opened a Japan office in 2005. The company moved to increase its transaction cost analysis offering when it acquired Plexus Group from JPMorgan Chase in 2006. That same year, ITG acquired Macgregor, a provider of trade order management systems, for $230 million. In 2007, it acquired RedSky Financial, a developer of futures and options trading technology.
In 2007 the company came under pressure from activist hedge fund D. E. Shaw to either sell off some of its assets or initiate a share buyback. Shaw has since reduced its stake, citing satisfaction with ITG's RedSky purchase and an announced $50 million stock repurchase program.
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