While volumes on the region’s exchanges were volatile and erratic in 2011, agency broker Instinet’s Asian alternative liquidity pools saw enormous growth.
The global broker’s BLX Hong Kong – a non-displayed block trading system – grew 591%, while its continuous dark trading systems – CBX Hong Kong and CBX Japan – grew more than 350% and 220% respectively.
“Given the current market environment, it’s clear that the overarching concern of most institutions trading the Asian markets is finding block liquidity without sacrificing benchmark performance,” said Glenn Lesko, CEO, Asia, Instinet. “The rapid growth of our off-exchange platforms in Asia-Pacific speaks in large part to the breadth of our offering, as our crossing platforms can help enhance performance relative to nearly all customer benchmarks.”
Such strong client demand has led to the creation and success of additional Instinet venues in Asia-Pacific, said Joel Hurewitz, head of product strategy for Asia at Instinet.
“Institutions use venues like ours for many reasons, but with markets like we’ve had, anonymous crossing platforms with quality liquidity become increasingly attractive,” Hurewitz said. “In addition, the growth of our pools throughout the region underscores the embrace of off-exchange trading that we’ve seen by Asian institutions generally.”
Lesko added the growth numbers reflect Instinet’s continuing market leadership in providing liquidity.