What is "instinet"

Instinet is an institutional, agency-only broker that also serves as the independent equity trading arm of its parent, Nomura Group. It executes trades for asset management firms, hedge funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and pension funds. Headquartered in New York, the company provides sales trading services and trading technologies such as the Newport EMS, algorithms, trade cost analytics, commission management, independent research and dark pools of liquidity.

Instinet is best known as one of the first off-exchange trading alternatives, with its “green screen” terminals prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s, and, more recently, as the founder of Chi-X Europe and Chi-X Global.

According to industry research group Markit, in 2015 Instinet was the 3rd largest Cash Equities broker in Europe.