Liquidnet, a leading technology-driven agency execution specialist, today announced record trading volumes through its New Issue Trading (NIT) protocol and a record number of users trading electronically in primary fixed income markets in Q1 2024.
Trading volume on Liquidnet’s online primary market reached $3.5 billion in the first three months of the year, more than double the previous quarter. Following the previously reported record volume in the week of January 8, the momentum continued in February and March, with overall record issuance in the market in both Europe and the US.
In addition to increasing sales volume, more than 250 users were active on the NIT platform in Q1 as an increasingly diverse group of companies sought to market new issues online. Liquidnet reported strong coverage of the new issue market in its main data dashboard, averaging 85% of all estimated EMEA issues.
In March alone, Liquidnet added 165 primary market deals to the platform, consisting of 207 bonds of which 94% received live prices.
David Everson, Head of EMEA Fixed Income Trading, Liquidnet said:
“It was an excellent start to the year. This quarter we have surpassed several previous highs, notably surpassing the 2023 trading volume by mid-March. In addition to record issuance, the combination of greater adoption by institutional buy and sell firms and increased activity in government bonds — a 35% increase in average deal size — contributed to this fantastic milestone.”
Nichola Hunter, Global Head of Fixed Income Sales and Trading, Liquidnet added:
“The traction we’re seeing in favoring electronic ordering libraries after the break is a great foundation for continued development of this protocol. The diversity of participants is an indication that more traders are embracing the transparency and certainty of execution that comes with order book trading. As we continue to scale, we will expand our reach across all regions and later this year, we will begin trading on a liquid secondary market to complement our other secondary market protocols.”
Liquidnet Fixed Income’s primary markets offering launched in late 2021 with the aim of streamlining debt capital markets workflows for both new issue announcements and new issue trading.