High Frequency Trader Hudson River To Run Retail Stock Trading

Hudson River Trading LLC, one of the largest high-frequency trading companies, plans to conduct stock trades for individual investors.

The company, which handles about 8% of the daily trading volume in the US, has built a so-called retail wholesale business. It is slated to launch later this year or early 2022, a company executive told The Wall Street Journal.

Wholesalers execute orders to buy and sell stocks submitted by people using online brokers such as Robinhood Markets Inc. and TD Ameritrade.

By entering the company, New York-based Hudson River has its sights set on two massive rivals: Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial Inc. Together, the two companies process more than 70% of individual investors’ stock orders, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence.

We have great respect for Citadel Securities and Virtu and their ability to deliver good execution to retail investors, said Adam Nunes, head of business development at Hudson Rivers, in an interview. We do see demand from retail brokers for an additional wholesaler. We are confident that we can compete with Citadel Securities and Virtu in providing liquidity to retail investors, in the same way as on exchanges.