Liquidnet is set to launch targeted invitations for fixed income in the US and Europe, following the success of the device in its equities dark pool.
The targeted invitations allow members of Liquidnet’s dark pools to send invitations to trade with participants, giving traders the chance to find previously “hidden or dormant” liquidity, Liquidnet claims.
Seth Merrin, founder and chief executive officer at Liquidnet, said targeted invitation for its equities dark pool – which was launched nine months ago - was a “global success”, reaching $1.7 billion traded.
The invitations mean traders can trade directly but anonymously, interacting with buy-side firms in a protected manner, Constantinos Antoniades, global head of fixed income at Liquidnet explained.
He added: “It’s clear that corporate bond traders are often confronted with a trade-off between accessing scarce liquidity and information leakage.”
The company highlighted a TABB Group report, which found 5%-10% of US and European corporate bond volume could be executed using dark trading over the next 3-5 years.
The design of the invitations included input from asset managers who are part of Liquidnet’s ‘community’.
Targeted invitations is available to Liquidnet’s US based fixed income clients, and will be rolled out for European members over the coming weeks.