Vela’s Nayer Departs Following Exegy Purchase

Following its merger with Vela Trading Systems in May, Exegy has made a number of changes to its leadership team. Former Vela CEO Jen Nayer, who has served as Chief Integration Officer since the merger, is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Exegy Chief Financial Officer Krista Steward takes over as CIO; Dave Foster joins as CFO from Refinitiv subsidiary Giact Systems.

VoxSmart Expands APAC Operations with Office in New Zealand

Communications surveillance specialist VoxSmart has opened a new office in Queenstown, New Zealand, expanding its presence in the APAC region where it already maintains offices in Singapore and Melbourne. The new office will be headed by VoxSmart COO, Adrienne Muir, a native New Zealander. The expansion marks a period of rapid growth for VoxSmart, following a $25 million growth equity investment from Toscafund and senior hires in North America earlier in the year, as well as the recent acquisition of GreenKey Technologies.

LedgerEdge Hires Dom Holland to Drive US Business Development

Emerging corporate bond trading platform LedgerEdge has appointed Dom Holland to the role of Business Development for the US, reporting to Michelle Neal, US CEO. Holland’s appointment will support the US expansion of the company, which is rolling out a global corporate bond trading platform built on distributed ledger technology (DLT). Holland was previously Head of Fixed Income Electronic Markets at BNY Mellon, and prior to that held senior roles at Deutsche Bank and RBC Capital Markets.

Iress Creates API Data and Trading Solutions Team

Trading technology provider Iress has launched a dedicated API Data and Trading Solutions team to support demand for the company’s market data and infrastructure solutions. The company says the development marks the completion of the full integration of the QuantHouse business, which it acquired in May 2019. The new team will support clients using Iress’s market data feed API solutions, such as the QuantFEED low-latency data platform, and APIs for the company’s historical data on-demand, reference data and analytics products.

PRI Names Former Board Member Atkin as Next CEO

The Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), the United Nations’ body that’s drawing up guidelines for sustainable finance, has appointed former AMP Capital executive David Atkin as its new Chief Executive. Atkin will take over the reins from Fiona Reynolds on December 10. In a career that has spanned major Australian asset managers Cbus, ESS Super and JUST SUPER, Atkin also spent six years on the PRI board of directors. PRI Chair Martin Skancke said: “David brings a strong understanding of the needs of PRI’s signatories to the organisation, with a sophisticated knowledge of the priorities and management of asset owners gained from his time in the investment industry.” Reynolds will remain at the PRI in an advisory capacity.

LiquidNet Hires Nicholas Stephan to Head Fixed Income Product, Services and Dealer Relations

Liquidnet, the global institutional investment network, has hired Nicholas Stephan as Global Head of Fixed Income Product, Services and Dealer Relations, based in New York. The appointment is the latest in a series of hires in EMEA and the Americas that has significantly increased the size and expertise of the fixed income team since Liquidnet’s acquisition by TP ICAP earlier this year. Reporting to Mark Russell, Global Head of Fixed Income, Stephan will be responsible for growing the firm’s fixed income offering across primary and secondary markets, with a specific focus on developing new trading protocols, governance, and access to liquidity. Stephan joins Liquidnet from Fenics DeltaX, where he was Managing Director. Earlier in his career, he co-founded and headed Phoenix Partners Group, a hybrid voice and electronic boutique broking business.

Adaptive Appoints Fergus Keenan as Chief Strategy Officer

Specialist global electronic trading consultancy Adaptive Financial Consulting, has appointed Fergus Keenan as its Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for implementing the firm’s overarching business vision and strategy. Based in New York, Keenan will be help to drive Adaptive’s global growth as the business expands its client base, delivering proprietary trading solutions across asset classes for leading buy and sell-side firms – from delivering trading platforms, to exchanges and compliance systems. Keenan joined Adaptive as a senior consultant in London in 2014 before becoming Head of Project Execution and then moving to New York in 2017 to set up Adaptive’s US operations. Prior to joining Adaptive, he held roles in electronic trading and execution technology at Barclays and BNP Paribas.

USAM Announces New Clients, New Staff and New Website

USAM, the New York-based provider of integrated sales, marketing, and advisory services to growth-stage financial technology companies, has added five new clients to its roster: Urvin.ai, TransFICC, MAP Digital, eLoomina and Bodo.ai. The company has also recruited five new members of staff, across operations, sales and marketing and data science/programming, and has launched a new website to service both fintech providers and technology buyers.

Macrobond Appoints Larry Nieman as North America Business Development Director

Macrobond Financial, a provider of economic and financial data and analytics, has appointed Larry Neiman as Director of Business Development, effective 1 November.

Neiman, who joins Macrobond after 21 years at Haver Analytics, a provider of financial and economic data and analytic tools, where he most recently served as regional account manager, will be responsible for growing Macrobond’s business in the US and managing strategic customer relationships in the region.

Nieman holds an MBA in Economics and Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a BS in Economics & Political Science from James Madison University in Virginia, US.

Sentieo Doubles Staff in London and Expands Across EMEA

Research platform provider Sentieo has doubled the size of its team in London as it expands to service 50 clients in the EMEA region, with the addition of a director of UX design, a director of product, and three sales and client success executives. The company expects to double the sales team again over the next 12 months. Sentieo, whose cloud-based, AI-driven platform is designed to provide a central hub for the entire research workflow, recently closed a $20 million funding round from Centana and Ten Coves Capital, bringing their total capital raised to date to $62 million.