Ms. Crosthwait will lead the firm's effort in publishing global market microstructure research and other value added content.

"More than ever, our clients are asking us to provide insight into the impact technological advancements and regulatory changes have on equity markets around the globe," said John Comerford, Global Head of Trading Research at Instinet. "We think Alison will provide an excellent complement to our existing market structure research offering, utilized in the Instinet Execution ExpertsTM algorithmic suite and our Insight analytics suite."

Ms. Crosthwait joins from ITG Canada, where she served as its Head of Research. Prior to that, Ms. Crosthwait was a program trader at ITG, primarily covering quantitative investment firms. She also held various roles in Goldman Sachs' high frequency trading group and on Credit Suisse's program trading desk. She is a CFA charter holder and holds a Masters degree in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University.

Ms. Crosthwait added: "I am thrilled to join Instinet's Global Trading Research group. Clients today seek a thorough understanding of market microstructure, since its impact on trading results is crucial to the buyside's competition for assets. I am looking forward to helping Instinet's clients deepen their understanding of both the markets and Instinet's product offering."

Ms. Crosthwait will report functionally to Mr. Comerford.