Kansas City-based American Century is acquiring a 5 percent indirect economic interest in Archipelago Holdings, LLC, a premier U.S. Electronic Communications Network (ECN), and its alternative trading system.

American Century's 5 percent interest in Archipelago is being purchased through J.P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated (JPM) and is a portion of J.P. Morgan's 20 percent investment in Archipelago, which also was announced today. J.P. Morgan holds a 45 percent stake in American Century. Financial terms of the Archipelago investments weren't disclosed.

Archipelago's ECN provides NASDAQ investors - both individual and institutional - with an alternative, lower-cost market in which they could meet and trade stocks. American Century is a leading user of ECNs, with about 30 percent of its mutual fund trades conducted through ECNs.

American CenturyHarold Bradley "American Century's economic interest in Archipelago signifies our strategic intent to sponsor technology that will ultimately lower trading costs for our investors and generate higher investment returns," said Harold Bradley, senior vice president of American Century. "We believe the open architecture of the Archipelago system makes it a likely winner in the technology revolution sweeping U.S. capital markets."

"The investment in Archipelago by J.P. Morgan and American Century will further strengthen our position as a leader in the electronic trading market," said Gerald Putnam, CEO of Archipelago. "Archipelago's investors are the major players among institutional and retail investment services providers."

Archipelago is one of the four ECNs approved in January 1997 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The consortium of investors in Archipelago also includes E*TRADE Group Inc. (EGRP) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS). Archipelago's average daily volume has more than doubled since December.

Archipelago, American Century and J.P. Morgan are also part of a consortium that plans to acquire a majority interest in Tradepoint Financial Networks PLC (Vancouver: TFN),a U.K.-based electronic Recognized Investment Exchange. Other members of the Tradepoint consortium include Instinet Corp., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Warburg Dillon Read.  

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE