Pan-European equities exchange Equiduct has broadened its sights to the US, launching the trading of US equities in Apex, an on-exchange best execution service with zero trading fees for retail investors. The launch offers over five million retail investors access to 21 highly traded US stocks, priced in euros, and is supported by liquidity providers Optiver and Virtu Financial.
“US stocks constitute the bulk of any European retail investor’s portfolio – more than 60% at any given time. That makes accessing the US market the single most important project for European retail brokers.”
“US stocks constitute the bulk of any European retail investor’s portfolio – more than 60% at any given time. That makes accessing the US market, with an optimised cost and setup, the single most important project for European retail brokers,” Wail Azizi, chief strategy officer at Equiduct, told The TRADE.
“Now, there are two ways retail brokers offer trading in US stocks: In USD or in EUR. Today’s launch bring zero-fee best execution on 21 names in EUR, clear and settled in Europe, to more than 30 brokers connected to Equiduct.”
In 2o23 the firm also plans to provide US dollar trading with clearing and settlement in US. It tallies with its European expansion plans – on top of the US stocks, it’s also launching in the Nordic markets (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway) in two months time.
“We’ve just opened an office in Stockholm which should serve as a regional hub for Equiduct and we are super excited about bringing commission-free best execution to Nordic retail investors and expand the existing model we offer today to more than five million retail investors across Europe,” Azizi revealed to The TRADE.
Last year, Equiduct also launched equity ETFs, and plans to announce next month the expansion of more than 350 ETPs including some exciting thematics and new asset classes, according to Azizi.