Buy-Side Technology Awards 2015: Best Buy-Side Execution Venue—Liquidnet

In the category’s eight years, Liquidnet has won every time, making the familiar stroll to the podium to accept the award something of a formality. The only entrants that can hold a candle to Liquidnet are BI-SAM (click here), RIMES Technologies (click here) and Markit (click here). 

The New York-based institutional trading network has proven year after year to be in a class of its own when it comes to the buy side’s preference for working large block orders anonymously. What has impressed the judges is not only the strength of the product, but its ability to continually evolve to meet its clients’ growing demands. This year was no exception, as there were plenty of noteworthy upgrades.

In December 2014, Liquidnet launched Execution and Quantitative Services (EQS) with the goal of offering users more efficient ways to optimally source diverse liquidity and satisfy best-execution objectives.

August marked the launch of the Next Gen Algo suite, which enhances trading performance with precision tools aimed at helping firms seeking large-scale liquidity, while outperforming benchmarks and trading portfolios.

In September, Liquidnet introduced algo-ranking technology that delivers real-time, data-driven insights to assist in the execution decision-making process.

What has impressed the judges is not only the strength of the product, but its ability to continually evolve to meet its clients’ growing demands. This year was no exception, as there were plenty of noteworthy upgrades.

There was also the launch of Liquidnet 5 in January. The platform helps users manage their trading blotter more effectively and improve access to sources of actionable liquidity.

Further proof that Liquidnet has its finger on the pulse of the industry came with the launch of its fixed-income dark pool in late September this year. According to Mark Pumfrey, Liquidnet EMEA, 120 asset managers are already enrolled, with more expected to join before the end of the year.

The continuous stream of upgrades has led to record performances from Liquidnet. October was Liquidnet’s best month in EMEA in principal traded, as it bested the previous top month by a whopping 26 percent. The Asia-Pacific region has also grown by leaps and bounds. As of Oct. 15, the region had already surpassed the previous year’s total principal traded of $22 billion. Pumfrey expects 2015 revenue for Asia-Pacific to be almost 20 percent higher than 2014.