Virtu Financial And Appital Work Together To Strengthen European Equity Coverage

Appital, a fintech firm that focuses on peer-to-peer price discovery and liquidity for asset managers, recently revealed that it is expanding its European equity coverage by partnering with Virtu Financial.

This partnership introduces Virtu’s POSIT MTF as an execution venue, broadening Appital’s reach to over 21,000 stocks across 24 European countries. Virtu will also act as an executing broker for trades managed on Appital’s BookBuilder platform.

The Alliance Provides More Cash Flow And Improved Pricing For Large Trades

This development comes after Appital’s major growth, now handling $13.5 billion in buy-side liquidity. The firm has brought on board 43 asset managers with more than $20 trillion in assets and 60 more firms with $30 trillion in assets are in the process of joining.

Brian Guckian, Appital’s Chief Business Development Officer, noted that the partnership was driven by client needs. He said the collaboration with Virtu Financial offers asset managers tools for price discovery and execution in large equity positions, all within a smooth workflow.

The collaboration builds on the current connection between the two companies, after Virtu’s Triton Valor EMS was combined with Appital’s BookBuilder platform in April last year.

Rob Boardman, Chief Executive Officer of Virtu Execution Services in EMEA, said the goal is to help institutional clients find high-quality liquidity. He added that this is done while keeping trades anonymous and reducing market impact.

He noted that the firm uses advanced technology to provide global liquidity and innovative, clear trading solutions. Boardman added that the partnership with Appital offers clients more liquidity and better price discovery in the market for large trades.

Appital Connected Its Insights Tool To FactSet’s Portware EMS For Better Efficiency

The expansion comes as asset managers look for better ways to get cash in low-volume stocks and handle large orders with little market effect. Appital’s platform helps buy-side companies find cash for stocks of all sizes, from large-cap to very small and mid-cap stocks, often in amounts that represent several days of average trading volume.

Appital has upgraded its services and expanded its team. The firm has now added its Insight system to FactSet’s Portware Execution Management System (EMS). This update lets asset managers using Portware access Appital Insights liquidity directly through its usual EMS interface, making operations more efficient.

Alongside this incoporation, Appital has introduced a new feature in Appital Insights named “Appital Trending Equities.” This tool allows buy-side deal makers to identify and craft unique liquidity opportunities in the market before starting a trade, which could lead to better execution results.

The firm has recently added John Coules to its business development team. Coules has extensive experience, with nearly 20 years as a pan-European stock trader at a leading global bank, plus 13 years at a well-known investment bank before that.