European buyside traders are going to get help trading blocks.
Just like in the U.S., Citi is launching Total Touch, its block equities offering designed to make it more efficient for institutional investors to execute block trades in the European market.
Total Touch products already support over 3,000 securities worth $20 billion in the Americas, linking the value-added services associated with high-touch, or voice, trading with the convenience of electronic execution.
Initially, Total Touch will support approximately 560 symbols across European equity markets.
Total Touch re-aggregates liquidity at the block level, making it easier for institutional investors to execute large orders at better prices.
“The evolution in the European equity markets creates an opportunity to add more sophisticated trading practices to the region,” said Steve Garrard, head of execution services for Citi in EMEA “Leveraging Citi’s execution capabilities and local footprint, we are able to respond to client demands for electronic execution with price protection and ultimately help prevent slippage in fast moving situations.”
According to Citi, investor interest in Total Touch is being driven by the increase in client demand for block trading. With the electrification of markets, there has been a decrease in the average order execution size in equity markets around the world.
