The Field of Dreams approach to new execution venues

Lee Hodgkinson makes some interesting points in this video. The plethora of alternative trading venues launching this year will live and die by the liquidity they attract. Everyone knows that Chi-X has done quite well from being in the game early. SWX Europe likewise hopes that being early to market in providing a European dark pool - though just for Swiss bluechips - will serve it well.

It will be interesting to see among the groups variously trying to differentiate - by neutrality, coverage, pricing, speed etc. - who has the right recipe to attract liquidity, and who will be left waiting for the players to come play on their field.

With most of the new venues being open for business by November, the end of this year is going to be a very competitive. And they won't be given much time to establish their market position. Any venue that doesn't attract significant liquidity in its first months of operations will find it hard to recover.