wrong, mst
"It may take years to generate sufficient usership to make it profitable (that was true of every other system out there, including all of the ECNs, Instinet, POSIT, LiquidNet)"
I don't know about the others but you are wrong about Liquidnet. They opened their doors for business in April and in October passed 500M shares, far better than astn. Liquidnet debuts in April
liquidnet.com
April 11, 2001, New York
Liquidnet a New Institutional ATS Debuts with Unprecedented Liquidity
Liquidnet, the first Internet-enhanced Alternative Trading System (ATS), debuted yesterday with an unprecedented amount of liquidity. Liquidnet set out to bring liquidity to the buy side community and it delivered in record numbers. With first-day executed shares of 3,836,200 and an average execution size of 51,000 shares Liquidnet has established itself as the new venue for true institutional liquidity. Liquidnet's traded volume was 60% listed and 40% over the counter.
"We were pleasantly surprised with the amount of liquidity we saw on day one. We believe Liquidnet has great potential. We will continue to use it and hope that many of our contemporaries do the same", said Kevin Cronin, head trader, AIM Advisors Inc.
John Wheeler, head trader of American Century Investments commented, "It was easy, it was fast and the market didn't know what we were doing. We were able to trade large blocks at the mid.", continued Mr. Wheeler.
"Liquidnet really delivered on its promise--anonymous block trading that's simple to use. I will be making calls to my peers, because it is in my interest that they participate on the system" said Leo Smith, of Putnam Investment Management.
Seth Merrin, CEO of Liquidnet, explained, "Liquidnet was designed exclusively for buy side institutions to trade large blocks of stocks anonymously amongst each other. Our goal is to bring the liquidity directly to our Members-reversing the previous paradigm of searching for liquidity. That search costs the industry over $100 billion annually."
"When we flicked the switch on, there was instant liquidity available-this liquidity will grow geometrically as we add more Members", noted Mr. Merrin.
liquidnet.com
NEW YORK, October 24, 2001 New York
LIQUIDNET TRADES ITS 500 MILLIONTH SHARE,
SAVED MEMBERS $54 MILLION IN 2 QUARTERS
Liquidnet, the alternative trading system (ATS) exclusively for institutional investors, said that it traded its 500 millionth share yesterday. The ATS also said that based on figures from the Plexus Group second quarter 2001 analysis, Liquidnet saved its Members approximately $26 million in trading costs for NYSE and Amex listed stocks and approximately $28 million in trading costs for NASDAQ listed stocks, compared with other means of executing trades.
"Many of our institutional clients have begun to use Liquidnet and realize the benefits of anonymous trading and the reduced market impact costs that result when crosses occur without intermediaries, said David Hall, President of the Plexus Group, a Los Angeles-based transaction process adviser to investment managers, plan sponsors, and brokerage firms.
"Based upon data from the second quarter of 2001, the average trade executed on Liquidnet cost 26 basis points less than our execution benchmark for exchange-listed stocks and 67 basis points less for NASDAQ-listed stocks," Hall said.
Seth Merrin, Liquidnet founder and CEO, said "Every dollar we save our Members on execution costs directly benefits the shareholders and pension fund beneficiaries on whose behalf they manage funds."
Liquidnet's average trade size is more than 71,000 shares compared to an average of 800 shares for all other exchanges and execution venues. More than 90 percent of Liquidnet Members' trades have been completed within the bid/ask spread, indicating their trades are being completed without moving the market.
Merrin added, "With six large institutions signed last week, we crossed the 100 Member threshold in just six months, which is a testament to the value we bring to the marketplace." Liquidnet Members manage more than $3.7 trillion in aggregate equities and their average size exceeds $35 billion.
Glenn Schorr, financial services analyst for Deutsche Bank, said, "Liquidnet's ramp-up to 500 million shares is the fastest of any ATS I've seen."
About Liquidnet:
Liquidnet is an alternative trading system (ATS) for large institutional investors designed to allow the trading of large blocks of stocks anonymously with minimal market impact costs. Liquidnet's unique architecture and model have solved the major problem facing B2B exchanges and ATS's-building a critical mass of liquidity. Through advanced Internet-enhanced technologies, Liquidnet has created a community of large institutions that brings liquidity to the trader, reversing the current paradigm of searching for liquidity.
Liquidnet is a registered broker/dealer, headquartered in New York City, with offices in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Additional company and product information is available online at www.liquidnet.com.
Mary
MMMARYinLA@aol.com
_____________________ |
