Liquidnet, the institutional equities marketplace, today announced records globally, as well as 2010 performance and monthly and year-to-date trading statistics for U.S. and international equities.
“For nearly a decade, Liquidnet has focused on building a truly global equities market for institutional investors. As markets around the globe become increasingly fragmented and open to high frequency trading, Liquidnet Members really appreciate that the best and safest source of liquidity is from other institutions,” said Seth Merrin, Founder and CEO of Liquidnet. “Expanding our pool to trade in 38 markets in 2010 provides our Members with more opportunities to seek alpha across a much broader list of countries. And as investors have come back into equities, Liquidnet has seen our global volumes and market share increase.”
Trading Highlights
- Liquidnet Europe saw a 42% increase in Q4 trading over Q3. Liquidnet traded $8,656,010 in international equities in December, up 35% on a currency-adjusted basis from December 2009.
- Liquidnet Europe saw 57% growth in its program trading and algorithmic business from the third quarter to the fourth, and the U.S desk saw record volumes in 2010 as well.
- Overall, Liquidnet finished the fourth quarter with an average daily volume of 50 million shares in the U.S., which was a 17% increase from Q3. Average daily liquidity also saw an increase of 11% to 1.75 billion shares in the fourth quarter, indicating inflows into equity markets after the drastic outflows seen in the third quarter. Total volume traded globally for the year was 29.7 billion shares (US$439 billion principal).
- Liquidnet Europe set a new record for largest single execution with a single trade totaling €133,218,758 in principal.
- U.S. stocks traded through Liquidnet’s Negotiated Pool in 2010 on average represented 42% of the market block volume on the day – 60% for Small Cap Stocks and 71% for Micro Cap Stocks.
- 68% of the time Liquidnet Members traded a U.S. stock through the Negotiated Pool in 2010 they executed the 1st or 2nd largest print of the day in that name – 85% for Small Cap Stocks and 90% for Micro Cap. Large prints like these allow our Members to get into and out of positions quickly and efficiently with minimal exposure.
Global Performance
Liquidnet continued its international expansion, launching equities trading in Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Israel and Malaysia in 2010. Liquidnet now offers equities trading in 38 global markets and covers 100% of the MSCI World Index. Each new market that Liquidnet opens brings institutional liquidity from our community of over 630 Members worldwide which creates investment opportunities unique to our Members.
“Liquidnet has grown into a must-have partner for any firm that invests in global equities.” said John Barker, Head of International for Liquidnet. “The liquidity in our global pool creates opportunities for investment managers to get into and out of positions in quantities that they just can’t do elsewhere.”
Among the noteworthy volume and execution statistics from Liquidnet’s newest markets from 2010:
- Poland closed the year with an average execution size of US$2.6 million with the largest principal traded at US$14.87 million.
- Mexico traded US$71.7 million since its launch in June and has an average execution size of US$969,237, which is approximately 14% of the Mexican 10-day ADV.
- New Zealand had an average execution size of US$610,920 since its November launch.
- Israel had an average daily liquidity of US$48.72 million and an average execution size of $US2.6 million since its November launch.
- Malaysia achieved 8.67% of the Malaysian 10-day ADV in its first execution and ended the year with an average execution size of US$1.5 million.
Liquidnet’s global expansion was also punctuated by records in its Asia-Pacific and Canadian operations.
- Liquidnet Asia-Pacific ended the year with over US$14 billion in principal traded (a 37% increase from 2009) and saw an increase in average daily liquidity of US$8.1 billion in the fourth quarter (up 19% from the third quarter).
- Liquidnet Canada traded over 53 million shares in December which surpassed its previous monthly record and finished out a record quarter with over 133 million shares traded.
Awards and Accolades
Liquidnet has been recognized both domestically and abroad for its excellence, innovation and its dedication to providing the most efficient market for institutional investors. Awards from 2010 include:
- “#1 in Operational Performance” as well as 1st place rankings in all three major categories as part of the Z/Yen’s 2010 Survey of Operational Performance Brokers
- “Best Data Management Initiative” at the American Financial Technology Awards
- “Best Buy-Side Execution Venue” as part of the 2010 Buy-Side Technology Awards
- “European Trading Venue of the year” presented at the Funds Europe Awards