Today, as part of Nomura Group, Instinet’s global agency model* provides services that span the entire investment life cycle. Our goal is to help our institutional clients create, preserve and capture alpha in a changing world.
Our Approach
The vision to lead. The capabilities to perform.
We operate with a “client-first” approach. It’s built on robust and adaptive technology and decades of experience fine-tuning our capabilities to a constantly-shifting marketplace and for the evolving objectives of our clients.
Instinet offers the institutional investment community a suite of tailorable solutions, including a unique US equity research boutique, market insights and commentary, full service trading desks, advanced algorithmic trading strategies, access to unique and specialized liquidity via our array of crossing pools, and a set of award-winning workflow solutions engineered to help our clients efficiently manage their investment process, their way.
The Investment Life Cycle
High touch trading
- Sales trading
- Portfolio trading
- Insight and analysis
Algorithmic trading
- Benchmarks strategies
- Participation strategies
- Liquidity-driven strategies
Low latency trading
- Market access
- Market data
- Hosting and networking
US Equity Research
- Sector coverage
- Quantitative strategies
Expert commentary
- Market structure
- Trading strategies
- Regulatory updates
Liquidity
A global suite of unique
alternative crossing venues
Analytics
- Pre-trade strategy and analysis
- Real-time trade performance data
- Post-trade measurement and TCA
Newport EMS
Broker-neutral sell-side
execution platform
Newport OMS
End-to-end broker-dealer
order management and
middle/back-office platform
Plazma
- Global CCA/CSA
management platform - Provider-neutral research
payment hub
Technology makes it possible. People make the difference.
Since Instinet’s beginning, technology has been what has set us apart. But relationships have always been the heart of our business. While new advancements and innovations continue to drive our business and industry forward, we believe human connection, interaction, and inspiration will always be the true fuel of the financial markets.
The agency model, by nature, focuses on client performance and transparency above all else. Assisting you in achieving best execution and delivering performance drives everything we do. That’s why we’re continuously investing in our core infrastructure and flexible technology, thoughtfully curating our access to internal and external liquidity, and carefully developing our client-centric team culture. We keep every part focused on relentlessly improving efficiency and performance across our solution set.

Leadership
Ralston Roberts
Chief Executive Officer
In December 2018, Ralston Roberts was named the global CEO of Instinet Incorporated, responsible for managing the agency-model firm's overall operations. Mr. Roberts joined Instinet from Goldman Sachs, where he served since 2015, most recently as co-head of Execution Services and co-head of Electronic Trading for EMEA. He served previously as the Chief Operations Officer of SunGard’s brokerage business, and as Senior Vice President of Product Management. Before SunGard, Mr. Roberts was Chief Technology Officer at Wells Fargo Securities. He holds a B.A. in Business Economics and Geography from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Jacob Asbury
Chief Financial Officer
Jacob Asbury is Chief Financial Officer of Instinet Incorporated with responsibility for global finance. Mr. Asbury joined Instinet in March 2005 in a senior corporate finance role and was instrumental in designing and developing Instinet's global accounting systems before being appointed CFO in 2010. Prior to joining Instinet, Mr. Asbury was the financial controller for Lampe Berger USA, a subsidiary of a global manufacturer of consumer products. He began his career at Gallagher, Flynn and Company, a CPA firm in Burlington, Vermont. Mr. Asbury is a licensed CPA (inactive). He holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Vermont.
Faron Webb
General Counsel
Faron Webb is General Counsel of Instinet Incorporated and the global head of Instinet's legal and compliance functions. Mr. Webb helped lead Nomura's acquisition of Instinet in February 2007 and was appointed General Counsel in April 2008. Prior to joining Nomura, Mr. Webb served as Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer of Société Générale and Cowen & Co., as the head of US Equity Compliance for J.P. Morgan, and as a senior attorney and regulatory advisor for PaineWebber. He also previously worked as senior counsel for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and engaged in the private practice of law. Mr. Webb is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico University and Texas Tech University and is a certified public accountant.
Minor Huffman
Chief Technology Officer
Minor Huffman is the Chief Technology Officer of Instinet, responsible for leading the firm’s global technology strategy and operations. Mr. Huffman joined Instinet in May 2019 from Citco, where he served as Head of Development, Application Support and Engineering for over four years. He served previously as the head of FX Trading at SunGard (now part of FIS), Global Head of Rates IT at Credit Suisse, Chief Technology Officer at FXAll (now part of Thomson Reuters), Head of Technology for Citigroup Derivatives Markets Incorporated and Chief Business Technologist at JPMorgan. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA in Finance and International Business from New York University.
* Instinet brokerage affiliates effect transactions primarily on an agency basis. They may act as principal or riskless principal to correct bona fide errors, to fulfill non-standard settlement requests, to provide ADR services, to effect foreign exchange transactions, and in other situations that do not involve substantial proprietary trading or investment.