Liquidnet, the buy-side only block trading venue, has added Indonesian equities to its platform, taking the total number of markets it offers to 39.
Indonesian equities are an attractive growth prospect for institutional investors, Liquidnet believes, noting that the value of the Jakarta Composite index increased 45% during 2010. Indonesia's central bank has predicted that Indonesia's economy will grow by 6.4% this year, compared to 6% the previous year, based on a growth in domestic consumption and strong exports.
“Indonesia offers investors a sizeable equity market, backed by a stable economy and strong growth prospects,” said John Barker, head of international, Liquidnet. “The addition of Indonesian trading onto our platform is another step Liquidnet is taking to ensure our members can source large-order liquidity in their investment destination of choice.”
Indonesia is the second south-east Asian market added by Liquidnet in recent months following the launch of Malaysian equities on the platform in November 2010. Liquidnet has reported an average trade size of US$1.5 million since that launch, compared to US$5,800 recorded during October and November on domestic exchange Bursa Malaysia, according to figures from the industry body World Federation of Exchanges. The average daily liquidity available for Malaysian equities in Liquidnet during December 2010 was US$361 million.
Across the Asia-Pacific region, Liquidnet reported a 37% increase in trading volumes during 2010, with over US$14 billion in principal traded.
“Money managers across the globe are increasingly looking to access high growth emerging markets, such as Indonesia, and Liquidnet is providing opportunities to capture alpha in these markets by bringing Indonesian equities onto our platform,” said Lee Porter, head of Asia-Pacific, Liquidnet.