Appital, the equity markets technology solution vendor, has reported a significant increase in both its user base and liquidity, with liquidity on its platform surging to $800 million notional in November alone, compared to the $200 million recorded between August 2022 and August 2023, prior to the company launching Appital Insights, its liquidity access tool, in September 2023. The expansion of Appital’s client base is partly attributed to integrations with major EMS providers such as Flextrade, Portware from Factset, TS Imagine, Virtu Financial’s Triton EMS, and Bloomberg. These integrations seamlessly incorporate Appital’s liquidity opportunities and bookbuilding functions into clients’ existing trading systems, enabling effective participation in large size market opportunities.
Matt Jefford, Appital’s Head of Liquidity Solutions, commented: “We see a significant liquidity disconnect in the industry at the moment, as a result of three distinct trends. Firstly, we have witnessed a decline in block liquidity on traditional LIS venues, as the average fill size is down to a very small amount of approximately EUR 20,000. This is, in part, due to the sellside being involved in those venues. Secondly, we see large volumes pushed into closing auctions; and thirdly, it has also become clear that the banks’ appetite to make prices in small and mid-cap stocks has gone down significantly. These factors have led to a reluctance from buyside traders to enter full orders into traditional matching venues. If they need to sell 20 million, but their first fill is 20,000, everyone knows they want to do more. And this is why they are increasingly using Appital; we are a buyside only venue and firms can be confident in finding the other side of a deal without slippage or information leakage.”
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