Wholesaler Citadel must believe that things are looking up in the trading industry.
Citadel has hired four new market makers on its Over the Counter trading desk and a broker-dealer sales exec, further bulking up the firm’s trading business.
These new hires follow a hiring spree that began last November when the wholesaler hired a slew of new market makers and a new head of strategy and product development.
Why? The hires are part of an effort by the wholesaler to expand its existing OTC client base and add new small-and mid-tier clients, Jamil Nazarali, senior managing director and head of Citadel Execution Service told Traders Magazine.
Jamil Nazarali, senior managing director at Citadel Execution Services, said in a recent interview with Traders Magazine, the hires were part of a continuing effort to grow its existing OTC client base as well as add new small- and mid-tier clients.
Nazarali joined Citadel in September 2011 to lead a new effort in quantitative trading at the $11 billion hedge fund. Previously, he spent 11 years at Knight Capital, where he ran its electronic trading business globally.
Steve Roy joined as head trader of the domestic OTC desk. Roy, a 26 year trading veteran and market maker, now oversees the expansion the domestic OTC trading business at Citadel. He spent the last four years at Raymond James Financial and has spent the majority of his career in a head trader role. He reports to Chris Amato who runs all non-automated market making at Citadel.
Joining Roy in building out the domestic OTC desk are market makers Andy Ehee and Billy Burke. Ehee, a 19 year professional, came from Echotrade, where he spent the last two years. He has 19 years of market making experience as a floor trader and a senior trader in the equity space. At Citadel, Ehee handles special situations for high profile active securities. Billy Burke, with 6 years experience, was hired from Knight Capital where he has spent his entire career. At Citadel, Burke will be market making along with assisting in the continuous improvement/development of Citadel’s technology in the OTC space. Both report to Roy.
Market maker Dan Connolly joined as an international trader and is helping to build out the firm’s global OTC trading effort. Connolly, a 12 year pro with floor trading and prop trading experience, came from Great Point Capital where he spent the last 10 years. He trades Asia Pacific and emerging markets stocks. He reports to Justin Prouty.
The firm’s main OTC desk is located in Chicago but it has traders located in New York as well, Nazarali told Traders Magazine. Roy, Ehee, Burke and Connolly work out of the Chicago office.
Lastly, Allison Gott, came onboard as Director of Broker Dealer Sales at Citadel. Gott, a 7 year veteran, came from RBS where she spent the last 6 years. At Citadel, Gott is leading new client acquisition efforts in the retail market making business as well as covering current accounts. She is based in New York. At RBS, she was on the Equity Delta 1 desk, in both London and New York. There, she covered hedge funds, insurance companies and pension funds. She reports to Nazarali.
Citadel Execution Services trades about 14 percent of U.S. equities volume and 19 percent of options, according to data on its website. The group services retail brokerages and institutional investors. It executes orders for individuals sent by securities firms including TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., a private wealth management group in JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Prudential Investment Management Services LLC and offers algorithms or trading strategies to asset managers and other clients.
The unit also conducts options market making and automated proprietary trading.
