(Bloomberg) — Macquarie Group Ltd., the Australian financial services firm, hired former Knight Capital Group Inc. executive Brandon Krieg as head of electronic execution in the U.S. to help expand its business in the world’s largest market for stock trading.
Macquarie has also hired Fred Fogg and Lance Vegna from Credit Suisse Group AG to head the firm’s New York-based portfolio solutions group, said Damian Hoult, global head of execution services for the firm.
The hires are part of Sydney-based Macquarie’s effort to boost its share of U.S. trading, Hoult said. American equity transactions comprise two-thirds of global stock trading by dollar value, according to data compiled by Credit Suisse. Macquarie currently derives almost all its trading revenue outside of America, according to Hoult.
The moves will also help the firm offer existing clients, who are increasingly asking for global trading services, access to the more than 50 venues that handle trading in U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds.
“The U.S. is in and of itself an incredibly important market,” New York-based Hoult said in a phone interview. “It’s also important for us to offer a global service and global footprint, as this is something more and more clients are focusing on. They want a global partner, not someone who’s just in one country or one region.”
Building Execution
Krieg, 39, had been head of sales at Knight Direct, Knight Capital’s institutional electronic trade execution unit, until he left the firm in January. He will oversee Macquarie’s relationship-building efforts with prospective U.S. and European clients as well as the firm’s capabilities in electronic trading. Knight Capital merged with Getco LLC in July and is now called KCG Holdings Inc.
Fogg, 48, and Vegna, 42, will focus on advising investment managers when they shift significant portions of their portfolios. They were most recently Americas co-heads of Credit Suisse’s transition management group.
