On Point Executions Offers STING™ SWEEPING through Bloomberg EMSX

NEW YORK, NY – June 29, 2009

Provide us with your name and UUID#, sign an Electronic Trading Agreement and you can be using our STING™ route the same day. The On Point STING™ routing logic uses empirical data to determine which destination will yield the optimal execution. On Point’s proprietary options routing algorithm interacts with liquidity pools with preferences defined according to best price, and past performance of how the provider interacted with order flow. STING™ then monitors all existing market centers for execution quality and applies this data to determine the most efficient execution venues to route orders. It has the ability to garner more liquidity by analyzing the intricate pricing and decision-making logic of market participants so as to provide superior execution quality and added value to On Point customers.
Unique Sweep Function Increases Execution Results
STING™’s unique electronic “sweep” function can buy all posted offers or sell all posted bids in a virtual instant and ensures that customer’s orders can interact with non-electronic and electronically posted liquidity pools on multiple exchanges simultaneously. STING™ captures all available liquidity while at the same time minimizing market impact. This results in clients achieving better than expected execution quality with STING™ than with any other industry execution offering. STING™ is FIX 4.2 compliant and can be accessed through EMSX.

About On Point Executions

On Point Executions Offers STING SWEEPING through Neovest, Inc.

NEW YORK, NY – December 15, 2008

system-STING, will now be available to Neovest customers. Neovest, Inc. develops and markets intelligent, proactive

electronic execution solutions that maximizes the performance of buy-side, sell-side, and other investment

professionals. Neovest streamlines the work-flow complexities of a comprehensive trading desk and is a single source

of liquidity access.

The On Point STING routing logic uses empirical data to determine which destination will yield the optimal

execution. On Point’s proprietary options routing algorithm interacts with liquidity pools with preferences defined

according to best price, and past performance of how the provider interacted with order flow. STING then monitors

all existing market centers for execution quality and applies this data to determine the most efficient execution

venues to route orders. It has the ability to garner more liquidity by analyzing the intricate pricing and

decision-making logic of market participants so as to provide superior execution quality and added value to On Point

customers.

Unique Sweep Function Increases Execution Results

STING’s unique electronic “sweep” function can buy all posted offers or sell all posted bids in a virtual instant

and ensures that customer’s orders can interact with non-electronic and electronically posted liquidity pools on

multiple exchanges simultaneously. STING captures all available liquidity while at the same time minimizing market

impact. This results in clients achieving better than expected execution quality with STING than with any other

industry execution offering. STING is FIX 4.4 compliant and can be accessed through the Neovest platform.

“STING is the routing solution to achieve optimal quality results. On Point welcomes the opportunity of STING

connectivity with Neovest”, says Paul Carrozzo, co-principal at On Point. “Our offering with Neovest, and their

commitment to electronic liquidity solutions, enables the industry to receive a robust routing experience that can

achieve more than what the exchanges are quoting at any given moment.”

“We are pleased to work with On Point and offer a cutting edge route to our clientele as part of our commitment to

seek quality executions”, said Bryce Byers, President and CEO of Neovest. “STING’s highly desirable routing

capabilities will only enhance what Neovest already offers to the industry.”

About Neovest

Neovest provides a comprehensive suite of broker-neutral financial technology services to the buy- and sell-side

communities. Neovest’s technology encompasses direct market access, advanced order management, real-time market

data, and advanced analytics in a comprehensive and robust application, which includes advanced ECN and exchange

aggregation, broker routing, crossing, and algorithmic order routing aggregation. Information about the company is

available at www.neovest.com.

About On Point Executions

On Point is an agency only Broker Dealer that services institutional as well as retail customers with a hybrid

execution philosophy of electronic anonymity and human capital. STING is our proprietary smart order-routing

facility. It is an algorithmic router that fragments an order according to posted liquidity then sweeps all

exchanges simultaneously. This dynamic route then interacts with off-floor liquidity providers versus their

indications of interest within milliseconds. STING is FIX compliant and can easily be integrated into proprietary

systems. Additional information is available at www.onpointx.com. To learn more about the On Point partnership with

Neovest, contact Chris Steele 702-589-4600 or by email csteele@onpointx.com

OPTIONSXPRESS SELECTS ON POINT EXECUTIONS AS AN EXECUTION DESTINATION FOR ITS RETAIL ORDERFLOW

NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 4, 2007

announced that optionsXpress Holdings, Inc., a leading online broker specializing in equity-options and futures, has

selected On Point as one of its execution destinations.

Complementing optionsXpress’ proprietary smart order routing technology, optionsXpress’ customers can now choose to

route their order flow to STING, On Point’s equity-options smart order routing facility.

STING aims to provide best execution to optionsXpress customers by instantaneously hitting all displayed liquidity

at a given price point at the six regional options exchanges once the order is placed. STING accomplishes this

through direct connections to each exchange rather than a series of linkages.

“We have been impressed with the quality of execution On Point delivers and the level of customer service it

provides.” said Peter Bottini, Executive Vice President of Trading and Customer Services at optionsXpress. “We are

pleased to complement to our own smart order routing technology with this service.

“optionsXpress’ use of On Point Executions is consistent with its ongoing commitment to offer their clients top

level execution in the options market, said Paul Carrozzo, co-principal at On Point Executions. Relying only on the

current options linkage system to receive price improvement or added liquidity causes latency and missed

opportunities for investors. With quote traffic at an all-time high and only expected to increase, investors and

trading desks are expecting and deserve better execution.

On Point and AFA Connect on Options Order Routing

Combines Smart Capability with Efficient EMS/OMS

New York: January 13, 2009

Townsend Analytics links to On Point smart-routing technology

NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 9, 2008

trading solutions for the global capital markets, has added agency broker On Point Executions’ new Sting

smart-routing solution as a destination for best execution in US equity options markets.

STING is an evolving smart-router for the US option and equity industries. It uses next-generation technology and

algorithms to sweep all six US options exchanges simultaneously while seeking liquidity and price improvement. STING

accomplishes this in part through direct connections to each exchange rather than a series of linkages, thereby

executing against displayed liquidity without latency and quote traffic problems.

By adding STING to the execution destinations available through its RealTick EMS, Townsend answers the growing

demand for capturing equity options liquidity without sacrificing price improvement, speed or anonymity.

“Townsend Analytics prides itself on providing the tools, technology and support our clients need to achieve best

execution and remain competitive in the markets,” explains Thomas Kim, Managing Director, Global Head of Trading

Services for Townsend Analytics. “Superior execution quality helps our sell-side clients to deliver added value to

their customers, so we’re pleased to complement RealTick’s advanced DMA functionality with On Point’s high-quality

execution services,” he adds.

“We are seeing a definite increase in demand by institutions seeking to diversify their investing into options and

the US equity Options markets, so we are excited to offer Townsend Analytics’ global network of clients with the

highest quality of order execution in the equity options markets,” comments John Lapertosa, Managing Partner and

Co-Founder of On Point Executions. “With a substantial user base in 94 countries, Townsend’s RealTick presents us

with an extraordinary opportunity to extend our solution to tens of thousands of traders globally,” he adds.

ON POINT EXECUTIONS LAUNCHES OPTIONS SMART-ORDER ROUTER AND LIQUIDITY MATCHING ENGINE

New York – 16 July 2007

On Point Executions, an execution consulting firm providing premier equity-option smart-order routing solutions,

today announced the launch of STING, its next generation options smart-order router and liquidity matching engine

for options markets.

STING is a smart-order router that provides 100 percent execution quality by blasting all six regional options

exchanges simultaneously to take all displayed liquidity at a given price. By hitting all liquidity at the same time

rather than sweeping the markets, STING achieves higher execution quality because market-maker algorithms respond to

millisecond latencies in most sweeping algorithms. With near-zero latency, STING hits liquidity before other

market-maker algorithms can respond.

In addition to executing against all displayed liquidity, STING performs as a liquidity matching engine by executing

against market makers’ non-displayed, depth-of-book pricing models. Because STING interacts with non-displayed

liquidity, On Point is often able to achieve greater than 100 percent execution quality for its clients.

“STING offers a solution to obsolete options trading technology, which often miss opportunities to execute at the

best price due to latency problems or trading systems that hold options orders hostage to liquidity at a single

venue,” said John Lapertosa, co-principal at On Point Executions. “At a time when liquidity and quote traffic across

all options markets is exploding, STING offers a superior execution solution that both buy-side and sell-side

traders are starting to realize is an industry necessity.”

The STING smart-order router is built on an algorithm that adapts to the market in real-time based on current price

movements, historical pricing data, and the quality of previous executions at any given venue. STING is FIX

compliant and order management system neutral and can be easily integrated into any existing proprietary systems.

On Point Debuts Options Sweep

engine for equities options, dubbed Sting, today, July 16, DWT has learned.

The platform currently supports “vanilla” option trades, which are single-option trades that are neither tied to a

stock nor in a spread, says Paul Carrozzo, a co-principal with On Point Executions. “We expect to add spread

functionality sometime in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2008,” he adds.

The Sting platform does not aggregate the liquidity from the six U.S. equity options exchanges, says John Laperosa,

a co-principal with the firm. Instead, the firm brings in market data from the National Market System’s CTCQ

consolidated feed of trades and quotes, and suppresses it by taking a snapshot of market conditions as an order

comes in. The firm then exports the snapshot to a separate database to run analytics to determine the best way to

route the order. “The algorithm that was developed was the result of a lot of trial and error until we figured out

the best possible routing solution,” says Lapertosa.

Besides routing orders directly to the options exchanges, Sting also interacts with the internal pricing models of

the market makers posting the liquidity on the various markets, explains Laperosa. “We don’t necessarily go into

each market participant on a specific exchange to list their total aggregate size across the six exchanges. Instead,

we can centralize it and go right inside their pricing model and take their complete size,” he adds.

“This is more transparent and acts like a request-for-quote,” adds Carrozzo.

This capability provides traders with the ability to access more liquidity than is advertised in the market, On

Point officials say.

“We’re in a unique position of knowing the liquidity providers very well,” says Carrozzo. “We know that they are not

going to hurt us with the information that we provide them, such as size, side or the delta situation of the order.”

“We are also in the business of ‘penalty boxing’ any liquidity provider that may hurt our order originators,” says

Laperosa. “We do this by putting them on the no-contact list for a given amount of time—sometimes for good,” he

adds.

The actual Sting platform is a result of five years of evolutionary planning and 22 months of active development.

The core application is built in the C++ programming environment and runs on Microsoft Windows Server 2003-powered

commodity servers.

Client orders come into the system via a standardized FIX gateway with the ability to receive orders in FIX version

4.2 and operate in version 4.4.

On Point likes to keep the platform as agnostic as possible, says Laperosa. “It’s compatible with any third-party

trading front end,” he says.

The firm provides a proprietary Java-based front end for end users, but is also in talks with other third-party

front-end providers, he adds, declining to name the vendors.

To keep latency to a minimum, On Point relies on New York-based financial technology service provider SDS Financial

Technologies to host the platform in three datacenters located in the New York metro area.

Rob Daly

On Point to Launch New Options Router

On Point Executions Selects SDS Financial Technologies to Deliver Multi-Asset Trade Execution

Platform

– New “On Point Trader” Delivers Enhanced Electronic Brokerage Services to Institutions and Hedge Funds –

NEW YORK, NY – September 6, 2006 – SDS Financial Technologies, a leading provider of powerful, comprehensive trading

and electronic marketplace solutions for institutions, exchanges and hedge funds, today announced that On Point

Executions LLC, an agency-only broker has selected SDS Trader to launch its new On Point Trader electronic execution

platform. This platform handles both options and equities and provides streamlined order flow to the exchanges,

faster turn-around times and a competitive edge for On Point’s clients.

On Point Trader is a hybrid system platform with a smart order router component and compliant execution platform

that will provide On Point with the technology they need to become a full-service provider. Built on SDS Trader

technology, the next generation direct market access trading platform, On Point Trader is a cost-effective way for

large institutions to handle all their order flow, have seamless routing, be completely compliant with the exchanges

and provide a way for them to get their workload off of their desks. On Point Trader offers the enhanced capability

of accepting all order types, no matter what the size, and electronically routes the order flow supported by the

respective markets. In the past, clients would have to break up order flow, but now clients can route all order flow

directly through On Point Trader and receive high quality executions.

Cost, Speed and Compliance

the markets and seek out liquidity that is not available on the exchanges with an average turn around time of less

than one second. In the past, if On Point had to sweep the markets they would use an additional piece of software,

while incurring costs that were passed on to the client. Now, with smart order routing On Point can sweep the

markets and pass the savings on to their clients.

When dealing with options the amount you can grab manually is minimal. Now with On Point Trader, 95% of the

available opportunities can come through the platform that clients had to previously route other ways.

“Whatever system my customers were using, the costs incurred by using those other systems versus using On Point

Trader will be drastically reduced,” says Paul Carrozzo, co-principal at On Point. “On Point Trader will be

competitively priced and offer a complete compliance solution.”

Relevant Metrics – Just What the Trader Ordered

functionality to provide metrics to validate the quality of execution.
At the end of the month, On Point will provide its customers with a metrics report that will detail exactly what On

Point executed for them that specific month.

“Defining the execution metric for a trader is an important piece of information that will demonstrate to their

clients exactly how well they are executing their orders. It’s a great selling feature for our clients and an

excellent value-added service that we can provide to the industry.”

On Point plans to route all orders electronically, but any order that is not handled electronically will be sent

down to the On Point desk to seek liquidity on the floor. In the future, On Point plans to work with SDS Financial

Technologies and actively develop the On Point Trader application so it can be tailored to meet its client’s

specific needs and support their different trading styles to offer a customized trading solution in one system.

“We are excited to be offering our new On Point Trader application and we know that our system is built on the best

backbone technology in the business, SDS Trader,” says Carrozzo. “On Point selected SDS Financial Technologies to

provide us with the technology for our execution platform based on their reputation for integrity and commitment to

their clients. SDS provided us with the best core technology that was innovative and adaptable to serve our client’s

ever-changing needs. We are confident that we selected the best technology provider in the business.”

“SDS is pleased to partner with On Point to develop the On Point Trader application to enable them to have a

high-quality electronic trading solution to help drive their client’s business,” says Peter Maragos, Managing

Director of SDS Financial Technologies.
“On Point’s customer’s will benefit from this powerful and flexible order management system and we are delighted to

play a key role to assist in On Point’s growth in the market place.”