Liquidnet has launched Roll Seeker, a tool to improve workflows associated with the execution of futures rolls.
Roll Seeker will enable the bilateral negotiation of blocks at mid prices in fixed income and equity index calendar rolls, Liquidnet explained, helping users to discover contra end-user liquidity interest.
It has been developed in response to client demand, with Darren Smith, head of listed derivatives EQS at Liquidnet, noting that “one of the key pieces of feedback from clients we received when planning and launching the listed derivatives project at Liquidnet was that we should bring a Liquidnet approach to the space. We’ve already introduced a suite of liquidity and volume analytics, but the next step was to bring the experience of Liquidnet’s block crossing business in equities to the listed derivatives space, and the most obvious place for this is in the calendar rolls.”
The tool will be accessible directly, through users’ execution and order management systems, or via the Liquidnet desk, which provides automated contingent functionality with the exchange order book.
Roll Seeker will improve the structure of the bilateral negotiation process and facilitate best execution with minimal information leakage, the company stated.
Initially available for UK and European fixed income and equity index futures, Liquidnet has indicated its intentions to expand the service to a broader range of products. Smith reported: “We’ve already expanded the ways in which members can interact with Liquidnet in this space, allowing them to indicate interests directly, but we’d also look to expand the number of products on offer. We think there is an opportunity in some of the Asian calendar rolls.”
Commenting on the release, Mike du Plessis, global head of listed derivatives at Liquidnet, said: “Roll Seeker is an exciting extension of our execution services, bringing efficiency to an area of the market that has often been overlooked, all while strictly respecting our agency model. This means we are unconflicted, seeking to facilitate maximum informational control and choice for our members as they consider their execution methodology in real-time, trade-by-trade.”
“Roll Seeker follows hot on the heels of our pre-trade analytics release. We are already working on smart ways to integrate Roll Seeker with a variety of order types and algorithms in order to provide even more functionality to our members.”
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