Traders On The Move

Cowen Group hired two longtime partners-Keith Kurzner and Kyle Solomon-to head its options and event-driven strategies group. They will be responsible for growing the firm’s presence in institutional options and launching its event-driven strategies group, which will include both equity and options sales and trading. They will be based in New York and will report to Tom O’Mara, Cowen’s head of institutional derivatives. Kurzner and Solomon have been business partners for 17 years. They recently worked at RBC Capital Markets and, prior to that, at CIBC/Oppenheimer, where they were responsible for establishing and leading similar businesses.

 


 

CastleOak Securities has expanded its equity sales and trading division with Patricia Koetzner and Mitchell Ginsberg. Koetzner joins as managing director and head equity trader. She will focus on new business generation. She was previously a vice president of Barclays Capital and was responsible for expanding revenue in equity trading. She is a former Nasdaq market maker for Neuberger Berman, Gruntal & Co. and Dominick & Dominick. A 20-year veteran, Ginsberg joins as a managing director and equity trader covering institutional accounts. He was previously a vice president of equity research sales and trading at Rodman & Renshaw. Earlier in his career, Ginsberg was a principal market maker and traded distressed stocks. He worked at Citigroup Global Markets, TD Waterhouse Capital Markets and Neuberger Berman.

 


 

Kenneth Heath, publisher of Traders Magazine, was elected honorary national vice president for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Heath, a longtime supporter of the MDA, will continue to aid its research programs and initiatives in the New York tristate area. He started his involvement with the MDA 10 years ago, when he volunteered for its Wings Over Wall Street campaign after meeting Michael Beier of Credit Suisse. Beier passed away due to ALS in 2003. Heath continued his service with the organization since and has served on the MDA’s Wings Over Wall Street committee since 2006. MDA president and chief executive Jerry Weinberg said Heath came to the attention of the board of directors due to his involvement serving the organization in the New York area. “Ken has been extremely helpful to us and is very personable,” Weinberg said. “He is an excellent leader.” Heath’s term started this past July and will end in July 2012.

 


 

Annamarie O’Neill joins RBC Capital Markets as a director, in the firm’s U.S. equities sales and trading group. O’Neill was previously the senior sales trader at Execution Noble. Before that, she spent 10 years as an institutional block trader and sales trader at Goldman Sachs. She reports to Michael Marrale, head of U.S. sales trading and desk sector strategy.

 


 

Scott Wilson joins Themis Trading to cover accounts and to work on market structure issues for the Chatham, N.J.-based agency broker. Wilson, with more than 20 years’ experience, spent his last 11 years in electronic trading, including stints at Piper Jaffray and Vie Technologies, which Piper acquired in 2004. Prior to that, he worked as a Nasdaq market maker at Lehman Brothers, Needham and Morgan Stanley, where he traded technology stocks. He reports to founders Sal Arnuk and Joe Soluzzi.

 


 

Peter Cocuzza joins Stone Toro Asset Management in Princeton, N.J., as a vice president of business development. Cocuzza, a 28-year veteran, was previously an equity trader at Oppenheimer Funds, where he spent nine years. Before that, he traded at Mitchell Hutchins/PaineWebber, where he spent 20 years on both the buyside and sellside. He reports to Jeff Russo, Richard Jenkins and Michael Jarzyna, founders and portfolio managers previously with BlackRock.