Despite the rapid growth in assets under management held in ETFs, average daily exchange-traded volumes now appear to be in decline. As ETFs are increasingly traded off-exchange, sourcing ETF liquidity has become a greater challenge. The Bloomberg Tradebook RFQ platform enables investors to find block liquidity in more than 1,500 ETF products, including specialized or smaller ETF securities, electronically and anonymously, from buy-side firms who are increasingly serving as sources of liquidity in the $2.6 trillion global ETF market place.

“Exchange-traded funds are an important tool for professional investors to create balanced and targeted portfolios,” said Ray Tierney, CEO and President of Bloomberg Tradebook. “Market infrastructure has not evolved with the development of more specialized products and exchange liquidity has even started to fall. Our ETF RFQ platform gives institutional investors a better picture of the ETF market place, as well as optimal execution opportunities.”

David J. Abner, Head of Capital Markets at WisdomTree Asset Management, the industry’s fifth largest ETF provider explained, “At WisdomTree, we are highly-focused about ensuring that our clients are accessing all available liquidity sources when utilizing our funds. The Bloomberg Tradebook Electronic RFQ brings ETF trading into the 21st century with an automated, transparent and efficient mechanism for executing large-size ETF orders electronically. This is another advancement in ensuring investors can access liquidity in the broad range of ETFs available in this rapidly growing industry.”

“Bloomberg Tradebook’s ETF RFQ enhances our ability to achieve competitive execution on low volume ETFs,” said Sean M. Breckenridge, Vice President of Investments, Select Asset Management and Trust, a state chartered Trust Company regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, who has used Tradebook's RFQ service.

Bloomberg Tradebook's ETF RFQ platform is fully integrated with the Bloomberg Professional service, which offers subscribers market data and trade analytics that assist investors in determining the best time to enter the market and optimal trade size. Subscribers can quickly and easily access information about market size, depth and performance before deciding to initiate a trade electronically. The Bloomberg Professional service also offers a fully-disclosed RFQ platform with broad participation from more than 40 ETF liquidity providers in markets where a disclosed trading model is preferred.