Liquidnet has launched the execution and quantitative services (EQS), a global group headed up by Rob Laible, who joined the company earlier this year.

Liquidnet has added to its cross-functional EQS team with three new hires who will report to Laible and help to further expand its offering. This includes designing, implementing, and customizing Liquidnet's suite of execution algorithms and analytics while also providing quantitative research and market microstructure insight. The new EQS team members, all based in New York, include:

* Scott Kartinen joined Liquidnet as head of Algo Development. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in quantitative equity portfolio construction, trading analytics and algorithmic trade execution to this role. He joins Liquidnet from UBS Securities where he was executive director of algorithmic trading. Prior to that, he worked at ITG as managing director for algorithmic trading product management.

* Roberto Malamut joined Liquidnet as head of quantitative research. He brings 15 years of experience in algorithmic modeling, forecasting and trading to his role. Prior to joining Liquidnet, he was a quantitative analyst and designer of intraday trading strategies at Agoge Capital. He also worked at Tower Research Capital, SAC Capital and JPMorgan Chase in a variety of algorithmic trading roles.

* Amar Vaidya will help build out Liquidnet's suite of algorithms and further enhance SOR strategies for its members. He joins from Shuban Capital where he co-founded a quant fund for equity trading in the US markets. Prior to that, he held product manager roles at Nomura Securities and ITG.