John Jayasankar
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JJ-SYS-070→1 · Pre-trade3 min read

Pre-trade simulator that made capital a decision, not a surprise

A simulation engine that showed the next trade’s capital cost across venues before the desk committed. Comparing incremental with standalone cost made portfolio offsets visible.

  • OpenGamma · Trading Technologies
  • 0→1 launch
  • 2022 to 2023
  • Product Analyst
Next: RideLensAll work

Margin simulator · pre-trade simulation

Portfolio margin known · the next trade’s capital impact is not

up to −30%initial margin · potential, not guaranteed

Schematic pre-trade surface · simulate to decide venue, broker or product

Phases1-4 · select to hold

Reading the schematic interfaceA current portfolio with known initial margin, a hypothetical trade outside the book, the same trade simulated across two exchanges’ margin models and OTC, and incremental cost compared with standalone before execution.

Margin SimulatorBroken01/08

What was broken

Front-office teams lacked a simple way to compare the incremental margin impact of a proposed trade across brokers, venues, and products before execution. Capital showed up after the fact.

Product decision

Build a simulation engine in the trading workflow: current portfolio plus a hypothetical trade, simulated against the native clearing methodologies of two major exchanges across OTC and exchange-traded venues.

Flow

  1. 01CurrentPortfolio IM is known

    Teams can see where they stand. They cannot see the next trade.

  2. 02ScenarioPropose, then simulate

    Add the hypothetical position and recompute margin before execution.

  3. 03DecideCompare allocations

    Cheaper venue, broker, or product becomes a pre-trade choice.

In plain terms

  • Before you add a trade, you need its capital cost, not after the fill
  • The same trade can cost different amounts at each exchange or OTC
  • Incremental cost (on top of your book) can be lower than standalone when offsets exist
  • “Up to −30%” is observed potential when offsets apply, not guaranteed savings on every trade

What I owned

  • Originated and shipped the 0→1 simulator from discovery through launch
  • Led discovery across trading, treasury, risk, and operations so the engine answered a real pre-trade question
  • Made incremental vs standalone cost a first-class product concept, not a spreadsheet side path

How it works

  • Starts from the current portfolio, not a blank page
  • Adds, edits, or removes a proposed position as a hypothetical
  • Simulates initial margin across broker, venue, and product before execution
  • Uses native clearing methodologies as validation anchors so the comparison is decision-grade

Role & tags

Product Analyst. Originated and shipped the 0→1 product. Led discovery across trading, treasury, risk, and operations.

  • Scenario before trade
  • Native methodology
  • Decision UX
  • Capital efficiency

Impact

Institutional clients identified allocations with up to 30% lower initial margin for equivalent risk. Discovery and adoption spanned 20+ enterprise clients: banks, asset managers, commodity firms, and hedge funds.

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