ACA Group (ACA), a leading governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) advisor in financial services, announced it has acquired Global Trading Analytics (GTA), an independent provider of transaction cost analysis (TCA) services. This deal reinforces ACA’s commitment to enhancing its regulatory technology capabilities and addressing the evolving compliance needs of its global client base.
Based in Rutherford, New Jersey, GTA is a leader in TCA and advanced execution solutions across multiple asset classes, including foreign exchange, global equities, fixed income, and derivatives. The team’s customized, high-touch approach aligns with ACA’s focus on combining GRC expertise and technology-enabled solutions.
TCA is a major tool for financial services firms seeking to enhance execution efficiency, optimize trading strategies, and meet regulatory requirements. And by evaluating both explicit costs (such as commissions and fees) and implicit costs (such as market impact and slippage), TCA offers institutional investors, asset managers, and traders with actionable insights across equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, futures, and options.
This approach enables firms to refine their entire trading process, including algorithmic trading strategies, order routing improvements, and execution quality assessments through equity pre-trade modeling and post-trade analysis.
With regulators emphasizing best execution practices, TCA plays a major role in helping firms demonstrate compliance by providing robust reporting and broker performance assessments. And as financial markets grow more complex and competitive, TCA solutions are designed to help firms reduce costs, improve decision-making, and drive better investment outcomes.
GTA’s reputation and existing client base include registered investment advisers, asset managers, wealth managers, and broker-dealers, and it will complement ACA’s client portfolio. About half of GTA’s clients already utilize ACA for technology and GRC solutions, providing significant opportunities to deliver holistic end-to-end support across each client base.
KEY QUOTES:
“The acquisition of GTA underscores our ongoing commitment to expanding our offerings and equipping our clients with the tools and expertise they need to meet evolving compliance requirements. By offering clients a best-in-class TCA solution, we are addressing a key need for our clients while strengthening our position as a leader in the regulatory technology space.”
- Patrick Olson, CEO of ACA
“Joining ACA represents a significant step for GTA. Along with my fellow co-founders, Joe Arleo and Clem Cheng, we’re pleased that this partnership ensures our clients will continue to receive the high-touch service they rely on, now strengthened by ACA’s complementary capabilities and broad resources. Together, we’re positioned to provide a fully integrated solution that meets firms’ compliance and trading needs.”
- John Halligan, Co-Founder and President of GTA
