Instinet to Push Bookstream On the Buy Side

NEW YORK--Instinet is preparing to market Bookstream, its data feed, to the buy side. It is also planning to introduce packages of filtered market data for firms that want more customized products but don't want to do the work themselves.

Between 30 and 40 clients are currently using Bookstream, says Joel Steinmetz, senior vice president for equities and director of strategy for the Americas at Instinet. Bookstream, which is free, delivers all of Instinet's equity order flow, with or without filters, and allows customers to integrate that data into internal systems. It was piloted at a group of sell-side clients before it launched last year.

Now Instinet is making a push into the buy side, Steinmetz says. "We want to deliver Bookstream to more customers, to get more buy-side penetration," he says. He says Instinet will leverage its existing client base on the buy side to do this. In addition, he says, "We have certain types of data that other people don't have by the sheer amount of orders we trade every day."

And in consideration of the buy-side's traditional reluctance to spend resources on technology, Instinet is looking at ways to pre-slice and dice its data to make it more appealing and valuable to clients.

"We would like to analyze that data and cut it in certain ways so we can deliver a product to customers that is more filtered without them needing to do the work on their part," Steinmetz says.

The details of the initiative are still very much up in the air. Steinmetz suggests that packages might allow users to determine the best time of day to match VWAP, for example. He adds, "We do a good percentage of top hundred stocks. We might be able to determine at what time of day is it more likely for you to be able to trade a block of stock."

The data would be delivered by the same platform that provides the client's Instinet access, which includes via FIX and dedicated lines. Steinmetz declines to say when the packages might become available beyond saying that it's an initiative for this year.

And while Instinet currently provides its data for free to customers, it hasn't ruled out charging for the filtered market data.

Steinmetz oversees the trading innovations department and equity strategy. Michel Finzi, senior vice president in technology development and head of the execution services group, handles the related technology work.