ETF Watch: New Marketplace Sees Volume Skyrocket

Tradeweb Markets, which operates security trading marketplaces and seeks to leverage technology to improve trade efficiency, has seen the electronic request-for-quote, or RFQ, platform it launched earlier this year surpass a notional volume in ETFs of $12 billion by the end of the third quarter.

Tradeweb’s electronic ETF marketplace tends to see larger institutional-level block trades, according to the press release, with an average trade size of 135,000 shares in the last quarter. 

There appears to be a snowball effect taking place. The firm’s press release noted that the U.S. ETF platform’s trading volume in the third quarter was more than twice what it was in the second quarter. Part of that is due to Tradeweb’s automated workflows, which have made the trading process more efficient, and has improved both pricing and investors’ ability to access ETF liquidity.

"Tradeweb's introduction of an RFQ-style ETF market offers us transparent and competitive price discovery, with a streamlined workflow for trade processing," said Mark MacQueen, co-founder of Sage Advisory.

Today the platform includes 18 market makers, who work with some 135 clients, the press release said.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].