Keith Gertsen joined Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund Viking Global as global head of trading in January. Gertsen, who joins the $10 billion firm that invests across asset classes, is responsible for trading and relationship management, as well as other management and strategic duties. He joins from AllianceBernstein, where he headed global trading for three years. He was also featured in Traders Magazine February 2008 issue. Greg Rosenberg is the interim global head of trading at AllianceBernstein. Rosenberg, a 20-year trading veteran previously with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, joined AllianceBernstein this past summer as head of North American trading. Luke Lyons, another 20-year veteran, was hired at the same time as global head of quantitative program trading. Lyons came from Diamondback Capital, where he ran high-frequency trading.
Chris Jackson joins Belzberg Technologies as president of its Canadian operations. Jackson, a 20-year veteran of sales and management in the financial services industry, previously was managing director and executive vice president in sales and marketing at Perimeter Markets, a Canadian technology solutions provider in the trading space that recently closed shop. He reports to CEO Judith Robertson, who also recently joined from Perimeter.
James Weber joined SunGard as executive vice president of the firm’s Assent business unit, an affiliated broker-dealer, to oversee trading and clearing. He will shuttle between SunGard offices in Jersey City and Hoboken, N.J. Previously, Weber held various roles at Citigroup for about four years. These include: head of integrated market solutions, securities and funds services, head of equity risk management for Citi Global Equities and chief operating officer of Citi’s Lava Trading. Weber was also chief executive of Nasdaq Europe.
Lisa Utasi was named president of the Security Traders Association of New York. Utasi, a director and senior equity trader at ClearBridge Advisors, fills the vacant seat that had been held since October by Larry Birch, who ran broker-dealer sales at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities. A STANY memo reports that Birch stepped down because he’s taken on a central role in the sale of the Madoff firm, which is in receivership. Birch also did not want to draw unwarranted scrutiny to STANY by continuing as president, the memo said. “Larry’s decision to step down was a great loss. … [He has been] an exceptional leader who displayed concern for the best interests of the Association and its members.” Utasi returns to a familiar role-she was president of STANY in 2004 and chairman of STA in 2007.
Stuart Gould, CFA, has joined Cowen and Co., the brokerage arm of Cowen Group Inc., as head of electronic trading. Based in New York, Gould will focus on expanding the firm’s electronic trading and program business. He reports to John O’Donoghue, Cowen’s head of equities, with whom he worked at Credit Suisse. Gould joins Cowen after almost two years with Morgan Stanley, where he was a senior member of the portfolio trading desk. Gould started his career on the program trading desk at Salomon Brothers.
Steve Hock was promoted to product specialist at Pink OTC Markets, where he works in the trading services division. Hock, a 10-year veteran previously with financial software provider Ipreo, replaced Daniel Brasier, who moved to issuer sales. Hock reports to Emilia Sherifova, a managing director in product development.
Natan Tiefenbrun joined the London Stock Exchange as commercial director of its Baikal dark pool project. Tiefenbrun previously worked at technology firm XConnect. Before that, he spent several years at Instinet in New York, as co-president, and in the U.K., as president of the international division. At Instinet, he directed development of global algorithmic trading capabilities and formulated the liquidity platform strategy that evolved into Chi-X. Tiefenbrun reports to John Wilson, chief executive of Baikal.
Benjamin Sylvester joins JPMorgan Asset Management as a managing director and head of U.S. Equity Trading in New York. He replaces Fred Lexow, who recently left the firm. Sylvester comes to New York from Boston-based Babson Capital Management, where he headed equity trading. He joined Babson in 2001 and began in the industry in 1994.
Proprietary trading shop Quad Capital launched in New York this year. Operating as a broker-dealer, Quad Capital has roughly 30 traders using multi-asset strategies. The firm clears through Goldman Sachs. Senior Managing Director Joseph Monte –an alum of Spear, Leeds & Kellogg and Goldman Sachs-runs the firm.
Michael Gaffney joined WJB Capital to open a Denver office for the New York-based agency brokerage firm. Gaffney, previously the head trader at Icon Advisers, will cover accounts. He is expected to open WJB Capital’s new office in June and also will manage it. Gaffney, a one-time trader at the Chicago Board of Trade, is currently president of the Denver STA.
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