Chris Gardener
Liquidnet, the global institutional investment network, today announced the appointment of experienced stockbroker Chris Gardener as Relationship Manager, further expanding the firm’s Australian-based presence.
Mr Gardener brings over 30 years’ experience working in capital markets servicing institutional clients in Australia. He spent the last 20 years at UBS’ institutional trading desk, covering equity sales, trading, execution and client relationship management with a focus on global sales trading for REITs.
At Liquidnet, Mr Gardener will be responsible for client relationship management, ensuring members effectively leverage Liquidnet’s entire Execution Ecosystem, that includes block trading, algo modeling and execution, and market intelligence capabilities.
Commenting on Mr Gardener’s appointment Liquidnet’s Head of Australia, Kate Weidenhofer, said: “Chris’ strong understanding of Australian financial markets, and of the regional compliance and regulatory frameworks, will be highly beneficial as we continue to grow our Australian operations.
“We welcome Chris to the Liquidnet team and look forward to drawing on his proven expertise to further deepen and strengthen our relationships with members,” she said.
Yesterday’s announcement comes at a time of record trading volumes for Liquidnet in Australia. In 2018, local and international investment managers exchanged a total of A$11.8 billion in Australian Equities via Liquidnet, up 20 per cent from the previous year.
The increase was largely triggered by an uptick in the use of algo trading solutions by local asset management firms who are members of Liquidnet’s institutional trading network.
“Our members are increasingly using our suite of different technology solutions to improve the execution quality of their block-trades,” said Ms Weidenhofer.
“Chris’ appointment enhances our ability to help buy-side traders achieve optimal results that can positively impact fund performance,” she added.
