Liquidnet
Liquidnet is a global institutional trading network that connects over 700 asset managers with liquidity to execute large trades and realize investment opportunities around the world. Liquidnet trades in 41 equity markets across five continents for asset management firms who collectively manage US$12.5 trillion.[1]
Liquidnet is headquartered in New York City and has offices in Boston, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto.[2]
Contents
History
Liquidnet was founded in April 2001 by Seth Merrin as a wholesale electronic marketplace where institutional investors could trade large blocks of stocks.[3]
Merrin estimated that the network needed at least 100 buy side firms live on Day One to create a critical mass. This number was revised to 75, but the company ultimately launched with only 38 institutions.[3]
Merrin describes his company as “creating marketplaces that enable institutions to trade in size with the efficiency that they sorely need.”[3] In the U.S., Liquidnet’s average execution size of 50,000 shares is 200 times the size of the 250-share average traded in all lit and dark venues. Liquidnet’s average execution in international equities is reportedly 100 times larger than the average.[3]
Liquidnet has an Equity Capital Markets and Issuer Services group which leverages its community of institutional investors to determine institutional demand for a stock.[4]
In October 2011 Liquidnet launched a private shares market.[5] As part of Liquidnet’s equity capital markets division, the Private Shares group works with institutional investors and companies looking to trade private shares.[6]
Partnerships
SIX Swiss Exchange and Liquidnet launched a platform for non-displayed equity block trading in July 2011.[7] The platform allows SIX Swiss Exchange members and Liquidnet’s buy side members to execute large block trades.[8]
In January 2010, Liquidnet announced a strategic investment in OTR Global LLC, a primary research and brokerage firm.[9]
Patents
In December 2011 the Patent and Trademark Office awarded Liquidnet two United States patents relating to its global trading network. Liquidnet currently holds five US patents.[10]
Corporate social engagement
Liquidnet’s signature project is in Rwanda, where the company built the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village for orphans of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.[11] Agahozo means "a place where tears are dried" and Shalom means "peace." [12] The Youth Village includes 32 group homes, a complete high school, science and computer laboratories, land for organic farming, a reforestation program and medical facilities.[13]
Key people
Founder and CEO, Seth Merrin
Chief Financial Officer, William Maw
External links
References
- ↑ Liquidnet Continues to Dominate Block Trading Globally During Third Quarter | Reuters
- ↑ Liquidnet opens fourth office in Singapore | TopNews Singapore
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Seth Merrin: Imagining Wholesale Change - Advanced Trading
- ↑ Liquidnet attracts corporate share buy backs - FT.com
- ↑ Dark pool launches private share market - FT.com
- ↑ Liquidnet Hires Lou Kerner, Enters Secondary Market for Private Shares - NYTimes.com
- ↑ SIX exchange, Liquidnet report progress - FT.com
- ↑ Liquidnet And SIX Swiss Exchange Launch Platform For Non-Displayed Block Trading - Wall Street & Technology
- ↑ Liquidnet Announces Strategic Investment in OTR Global
- ↑ Liquidnet awarded two trading patents
- ↑ Liquidnet-Funded Youth Village Opens Doors to 125 Students in Rwanda – Press Releases on CSRwire.com
- ↑ Liquidnet In Rwanda - Advanced Trading
- ↑ The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village
