It’s a different type of March Madness this year for a group of Wall Street traders.
Replacing basketballs and sneakers are towels, swimsuits and flip flops. Wall Street traders and executives are willing to jump into a frigid Atlantic Ocean to raise money and awareness for charity.
It’s time for the 7th Annual Valentine Plunge, organized by the Joan Dancy and Pals Foundation. The event supports people afflicted with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
The plunge will take place Saturday, March 9 at the Main Beach Manasquan located at the end of Main Street, Manasquan, N.J. at noon. The event was delayed from its February date due to Hurricane Sandy.
ALS is a neurological illness that causes muscle weakness, disability and, eventually, death. The proceeds from the plunge will go to the Joan Dancy and Pals Foundation and other charities which help those suffering from ALS in Monmouth, Ocean & Middlesex counties in N.J. and elsewhere.
Brian Schaeffer, a 15-year veteran of the trading industry and former NYSE specialist who traded the likes of Disney and Pfizer, is leading this year’s swim. Schaeffer is president of World Xecution Strategies, a registered broker-dealer in New York, and part of the World Trade Financial Group.
“I represent the Wall Street group of volunteers,” Schaeffer said. “We do the plunge in a different fashion to distinguish ourselves – we wear full suits and then jump in the water.”
Cufflinks and all.
Schaeffer’s cadre of traders consists of 15 to 20 trading professionals who have signed up this year to dip their toes into the water. Some in the group are: Peter Kizenko, former head of equity trading at Goldman Sachs in London and Moscow, Derek Wallis, senior equity trader at Soros Fund Management, John Fahys, vice president in institutional equity sales at Raymond James, Rino Ciampi, principal, founder and head trader at Quad Capital and Simon Librati, co-chairman and chief executive at World Trade Financial Group.
Schaeffer’s involvement in the plunge stems from his family’s commitment to fighting the disease. It started eight years ago, when his mother was a hospice nurse working with ALS patients. She became very close to one woman, who was ravaged by the disease and died. In memoriam to the deceased woman, Joan Dancy, Schaeffer’s mom started the Joan Dancy and Pals Foundation. Now Brian is engaged in the foundation, joining as a participant in 2012 and organizer this year.
Schaeffer has already raised $150,000 for this year’s event, closing in on its goal of $200,000. The event raised $250,000 last year. Five hundred people attended last year’s plunge and Schaeffer said he expects about 400 to attend this year.
This year’s event could be a tougher swim, Schaeffer said as last year’s event, held during February, was marked by warmer weather in the Northeast. Temperatures during last year’s plunge were in the 60 degree area and the water was much warmer, not to mention that the beach was in better physical shape. Hurricane Sandy last October devastated much of the area and destroyed beaches up and down the New Jersey coastline.
“This Saturday will not be as warm as last year,” Schaeffer said, noting the current weather reports that predict a high temperature of 48 degrees. But on the plus-side, Manasquan Beach has been a focus of repair from Sandy and that the event has prompted speedy replenishment of sand and dunes in order to prepare for the event.
“This event signals a return to the Jersey shore,” Schaeffer added.
