Liquidnet is an electronic marketplace that facilitates institutional equities trading for asset management firms worldwide. By giving buy-side traders a first look at a global natural liquidity pool of more than 8.74 billion shares ($94.7 billion in principal) per day of liquidity on average, Liquidnet consolidates and delivers the institutional equities market directly to the desktops of more than 550 buy-side trading firms (as of 30 September 2008). Institutional investors use the Liquidnet marketplace to enhance the quality and speed of trade execution, gain price improvement for their trades, and, ultimately, lower overall trading costs. Launched in 2001, Liquidnet now trades in 29 equity markets across five continents. Liquidnet is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Toronto, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and Singapore.