LONDON, UK: Equiduct, the pan-European retail exchange, has launched Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) trading on Apex – Equiduct’s on-exchange Best Execution service with zero trading fees for retail brokers.

This is a major step in enabling access to ETFs for European retail investors, a bourse filing said.

In Europe ETFs have been less accessible to retail than in the US market – 40% US retail investors invest in ETFs, compared to only 15-20% in Europe.

ETFs in Europe are still predominantly traded by institutional investors either via request for quote (RFQ) or over-the-counter (OTC), avoiding the challenges of Best Execution with liquidity fragmented across multiple markets, a key barrier to retail access.

Equiduct, already known for its focus on innovative equity trading solutions for retail investors, now brings 436 ETFs and ETPs under the umbrella of its unique Best Execution service, Apex. These products span multiple asset classes and geographies, as well as thematic ETFs and leveraged ETPs from 13 different issuers, such as Lyxor ETF and VanEck. The project will be delivered in two phases: phase one is now live with over 321 ETFs; phase two completing in early 2022 with an extra 215 ETFs.

This latest launch means that more than four million retail investors across Europe can now access, on-exchange, pre-trade transparent Best Execution in these ETFs via Equiduct’s zero-commission Apex service.

Wail Azizi, Managing Director & Global Head of Growth at Equiduct said: “This is a thrilling launch for Equiduct as we continue to expand while democratising trading for retail investors who will now have access the hottest ETFs on the market. ETFs can provide easy and cost-effective investment opportunities to the millions of retail investors accessing the market through Equiduct. Challenging the status quo by breaking barriers and bringing unparalleled commission-free Best Execution to the retail community across the world is part of our DNA and we will continue to do so.”

This launch is fully supported by Virtu, a leading global market maker and liquidity provider. David Furlong, CEO and Head of Trading at Virtu Financial said: “Virtu is proud to be working with Equiduct to provide reliable liquidity across such a wide range of ETFs. ETFs are a growing trading instrument for the retail industry and we’re excited to be a part of enhancing the whole market ecosystem for retail investors. We are passionate about delivering best-in-class execution with every trade, making this a natural extension of our global liquidity offerings.”

Marcello Chelli, European Head of Distribution and Retail at Lyxor ETF commented, “We are pleased to see that a significant number of Lyxor ETFs on several asset classes have been selected by Equiduct for this initiative aiming at improving the access of retail investors to ETFs across Europe. Lyxor has made the ability to provide cutting-edge, innovative and cost-effective solutions for retail, intermediaries and IFAs a priority in its product strategy. “

Martijn Rozemuller, CEO of VanEck Europe said, “Our groundbreaking thematic ETFs, which are already so popular via primary markets, now have a new access point via Equiduct. This is an important step in the maturing of ETFs for retail investors. Now, key retail brokers in Europe will be able to offer unique ETFs for investing, such as our video gaming and eSports ETF as quickly as they could play a game online.”

Equiduct is an innovative, client driven pan-European trading venue designed to enable retail brokers and institutional clients to achieve Best Execution in the most liquid and fragmented cash equities and ETFs. Focused on providing solutions for our members in the post MiFID environment, Equiduct has developed unique products designed to revolutionise retail trading which facilitate order execution against the pan-European consolidated order book. Its focus is to ensure market participants are able to access the best prices available in Europe by utilising a proprietary price discovery calculation. Equiduct provides pan-European trading across 11 markets covering 16 European headline indices.

In 2019, Equiduct launched Apex: a fully transparent, MiFID-compliant, regulated trading service which allows retail orders to execute against the pan-European order book and is supported by a pool of Liquidity Providers and active brokers. www.equiduct.com