SmartPool, the dark multilateral trading facility (MTF) operated by exchange group NYSE Euronext, has added exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to its platform and has reported its sixth quarter of consecutive growth.
From yesterday 32 ETFs were added to the SmartPool platform covering indices in Europe, the US, Asia and selected emerging markets.
“We have launched these instruments in response to client demand. It's part of a long-term initiative to gradually expand the range of asset classes and instruments on our platform,” SmartPool CEO Lee Hodgkinson, told theTRADEnews.com.
The dark pool has also reported a strong quarterly performance on its platform, citing a 28.3% rise in matched trades to €7.345 billion in Q3 2010 compared to Q2, and a 57.9% increase in number of trades to 855,770 in the same period. The figures come following recent growth for SmartPool in French stocks.
According to Thomson Reuters' Equity Market Share Reporter, total dark trading in Q3 was €49 billion, slightly down from the €50 billion traded in Q2. SmartPool has experienced rapid growth on its platform during this year, jumping from 3.2% of total dark MTF market share in April, to 15.51% in September, including 16.1% of the EuroSTOXX 600 and 18.8% of the FTSE 100 index.
However, SmartPool's growth has come against overall declines in trading activity across Europe. During Q3, total equity turnover was €2.17 trillion, down from €2.82 trillion in the previous quarter.
“Since May, volumes have slowed down across the whole of Europe and the level of dark trading seems to have reached a plateau during the summer,” observed Hodgkinson. “As volume begins to return to European markets however, I expect the upward trend of dark trading in Europe to resume.”