Liquidnet has launched its fixed income dark pool, saying it already has 120 buy-side firms on-board.
The dark pool offering, which has been in development since Liquidnet acquired fixed income trading specialist Vega Chi last year, is available to asset managers in the US, Canada and Europe.
More than 120 asset managers have signed up to use the platform, including a significant proportion of the top holders of US corporate bonds.
The platform can trade US and European corporate bonds, emerging market corporate bonds and European convertible bonds.
Seth Merrin, founder and CEO of Liquidnet, said: “The fixed income market has been woefully underserved by technology and, as concerns about a liquidity crunch continue to rise, it needs a transformation.
“With close to 15 years of experience connecting asset managers around the world to solve the unique challenges of institutional equities trading, Liquidnet is uniquely positioned to provide a more efficient trading solution and experience that delivers a critical mass of natural liquidity that minimises information leakage and maximises best execution.”
The platform is being supported through integration with seven major order management system providers to give traders direct connectivity, and a partnership with Interactive Data will provide continuous pricing data to aid in transaction cost analysis.
Liquidnet is one of a number of players vying for attention in fixed income electronic trading, hoping to fill the void left by banks that have been pulling back from the market.
However, intense competition in the market has already claimed one victim, Bondcube, which was wound up in the summer.