Brokerage house MF Global has announced a realignment of its equity business in the US, which includes an expansion of its portfolio and electronic trading services teams.
The firm also plans to extend its US equity derivatives business and sell its US equity interdealer broker operation, which it estimates has annual revenues of $20 to $30 million.
“The strategic shift in our equity business better aligns with the company’s focus on high-growth, high-margin businesses,” said Bernard W. Dan, CEO, MF Global. “We are positioning the company to grow and scale our equity product offering by better aligning our people, products and services to meet the needs of our current clients and those we seek to attract.”
MF Global has made a number of hires in conjunction with the restructuring of its US equities division.
Matthew Shatz, previously head of institutional sales for the North American division of multi-asset broker Newedge, will now head up MF Global’s sales and trading team for electronic trading of US equities. Shatz has also held positions at retail brokers Charles Schwab and E*TRADE Professional Trading.
Portfolio trading at MF Global will be overseen by Bryan Street, formerly managing director and head of global portfolio and electronic trading at Pali Capital and Oppenheimer & Co respectively. Street was responsible for building the portfolio and electronic trading businesses at both firms.
In addition, Kumaran Vijayakumar has been hired to lead the firm’s new US equity derivatives business, which will trade exchange-traded funds (ETF), single stock options and other derivative products. Vijayakumar’s previous role was as managing director and head of volatility trading at Bank of America Securities, where he was responsible for equity derivatives and convertibles products. He has also held roles at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
“This strategic realignment leverages MF Global’s core strengths in derivatives and electronic trading, enabling us to better serve institutional clients on a global basis,” said Peter Forlenza, global head of equities, MF Global. “In addition, we are working to expand our institutional equity platform to include all aspects of equity trading, as well as expand our global footprint.”