Clear Street bolsters institutional sales team with string of senior hires

Among the new appointments are experts from Virtu Financial, Cantor Fitzgerald and Lek Securities.

Clear Street has expanded its institutional sales team with the addition of six senior sales traders in New York and Chicago, and two equity finance professionals in New York.

The six new senior sales traders will report to Joseph Ricciardi, head of US sales and trading, who leads Clear Street’s US equities, sales and trading desk.

“These new hires bring an enormous amount of credibility and knowledge to our already diverse sales team.”

Among the six traders joining Clear Street in equity sales and trading roles is David Diaz, who joins from Virtu Financial, where he served as managing director over the last 13 years.

Chris Tierney will also join from Virtu Financial, effective 1 November, after more than two decades at the firm, most recently serving as a managing director.

Erika Thomas, who spent over 10 years as managing director at Barclays and as a senior vice president at Lehman Brothers, also joins the equity sales and trading team. Thomas most recently served as managing director with Cantor Fitzgerald.

Frank Davis also joins the team, bringing over two decades worth of experience in equity sales and trading from Lek Securities.

Effective 19 September, John Spiegelman has been appointed in an equity sales and trading role, bringing over two decades of experience at Virtu Financial where he most recently served as a sales trader.

Finally, Louis Natoli II brings with him 20 years’ worth of experience from institutional sales and trading firms such as Lek Securities and Joseph N Palma Securities.

“These new hires bring an enormous amount of credibility and knowledge to our already diverse sales team,” said Ricciardi.

“This growing footprint, along with our existing office in Dallas, establishes our presence in major regions in the US. We look forward to broadening our reach to clients here in the US and internationally, with the goal of doubling the size of our sales force in the next 12 to 18 months.” 

Alongside the expansion of its institutional sales team, Clear Street has appointed two new experts in its equity finance team, who will report to Pat Travers, head of distribution and Andy Volz, chief operating officer. 

Bjorn Franson joins in an equity finance role from Mirae Asset Securities, where she served as director of prime brokerage sales. Franson previously held senior positions at Morgan Stanley, Citi and BNY Mellon.

Meanwhile, Micheal Batanjanu has been appointed in an equity finance position, effective 26 September, bringing 25 years’ worth of experience in senior equity finance roles from firms including UBS, BNP Paribas and Wells Fargo.

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