Liquidnet extends reach of securities trading to Thailand

Liquidnet, a global institutional trading network, continues its expansion in high-growth markets with the announcement that institutional investors can now trade securities listed in Thailand.

The Thailand launch is the 42nd market globally for US-based Liquidnet and the 10th in the Asia-Pacific region, further boosting the number of investment opportunities available for more than 740 of the world's leading asset-management companies.

The launch comes amid growing demand from Liquidnet members to invest in dynamic emerging markets in Southeast Asia and source the liquidity they need on a large scale.

Lee Porter, head of Asia-Pacific for Liquidnet, said the company "is helping upgrade the investing infrastructure in emerging markets, such as Thailand, as our global members are seeking new investment opportunities which offer higher growth potential and diversification. The launch follows Liquidnet successfully opening up trading in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, which have provided investors access to large blocks of natural liquidity."

The launch also comes as Thailand's equity market rose to fresh highs in March and ranked as Asia's best-performing market last year, followed by the Philippines.

The Kingdom's gross domestic product in 2012 grew 6.4 per cent as the government boosted infrastructure spending and amid rising domestic consumption and higher private-sector investment, he said.

"Thailand is another milestone for Liquidnet as we celebrate our fifth anniversary in Asia, highlighting our ongoing growth, particularly in emerging markets," Porter said. "Today we offer access to more than 70 per cent of the world's exchange-listed public companies and we will continue to open up new markets for institutional investors and bring down barriers to trading in high-demand markets."

Richard Coulstock, head of dealing at Eastspring Investments in Singapore, which is a Liquidnet member, said: "Thailand is, in my personal view, a market where spread and liquidity issues can lead to high market-impact costs, so the introduction of Liquidnet is a development I welcome. The ability to cross blocks at mid-market levels with no market impact could benefit our underlying clients, and I have clearly seen the benefits of this in other markets."

Liquidnet announced record volumes in the Asia-Pacific region for the first quarter of this year with principal traded rising 20 per cent to US$5 billion (Bt146.3 billion) for the first time.

Daily liquidity surged from $8.4 billion to $10.4 billion on average during the quarter, highlighting growing confidence in Asia-Pacific equities, the company said.

Average execution size in the first quarter across Asia-Pacific was up 32 per cent to $1.26 million. In comparison, the average trade size on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the period was around $5,000.

Since the company launched in 2001, its ability to anticipate and meet institutional demand has allowed it to extend trading to 42 equity markets across five continents for asset-management firms that collectively manage $12.4 trillion.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/05/02/liquidnet-extends-reach-of-securities-trading-to-thailand/