Sarah Holmes, vice president, business management, global equity trading, JP Morgan Asset Management
Sarah Holmes joined JP Morgan in 2008 following its merger with US based brokerage firm, Bear Stearns. Holmes worked within the corporate and investment bank’s market data division. It was in 2013 that she moved into the Asset Management business and transferred to New York to join the US equities business management team. Holmes considers relocating to New York to undertake this role as a huge achievement in her career. It enabled her to work alongside those who considered being the most talented, professional individuals in the industry.
Nowadays, Holmes supports the global equity trading desk, under JP Morgan’s Asset Management’s head of global equity trading Kristian West, in London. Her goal is to become a chief operating officer – and she says that having mentors and a team that cultivates a supportive and challenging work environment are ‘equipping’ her with the tools to one day do so.
Holmes says JP Morgan is currently working to increase its core components of the supervisory framework amid the ever-evolving regulatory landscape. An increased regulatory environment is one the biggest issues facing the industry, she believes. MiFID II specifically, will strongly impact the way in which Holmes and her peers conduct business.
In 2002, Holmes graduated from University with a French and German language based degree. When not dealing with the challenges supporting a global equity trading desk brings on a day-to-day basis, Holmes says she enjoys being outdoors. In particular, cycling or skiing – and on occasion, the odd triathlon.
Chris Stanger, senior derivatives trader, Standard Life Investments
Chris Stanger is part of Standard Life Investment’s London-based trading team as a senior derivatives trader. With over 12 years of experience in the fund management industry, he has held a variety of roles across portfolio management and trading.
Stanger began his career in 2003 as a portfolio analyst at State Street Global Advisors, after achieving a masters degree in systems engineering from the University of Warwick.
He quickly moved up the ranks to become a senior operations manager, and then in 2005 moved to Tactical Global Management as a senior analyst in trading and risk management. It was at TGM that he got his first experience of managing multi-asset portfolios, including equity, bond and FX.
In 2009, Stanger became a derivatives portfolio manager with the Asset Allocation team at BT Pension Scheme Management, one of the UK’s largest pension fund. He was responsible for generating and managing investment ideas across all asset classes globally, managing short-and medium term trades for the scheme’s hedging strategies.
Finally he made the move to Standard Life Investments in 2015 to become a senior derivatives trader, joining a team of three in London on the derivatives front. Its trading desk is structured as a multi-asset derivatives desk, with Stanger among a team of specialists in interest rate swaps, inflation swaps, credit and equity derivatives.
Sumit Mehta, investment manager, Legal & General
Sumit Mehta is an investments manager and Legal & General (L&G), the UK’s largest asset manager. Working alongside its derivatives execution team Mehta’s role is to lead its derivatives strategy, both in swaps and listed markets.
His career spans over ten years across both the buy-and sell-side, with experience in equities and currencies hedging. Beginning his career in 2005 at Deutsche Bank in India, he moved to London two years later to work in RBS’s rates and inflation structuring team. He then became a senior vice president within the team, working alongside global macro hedge funds on transferring risk.
In 2014 he joined L&G as a portfolio manager leading the implementation of its liquidity framework, which Mehta says did not exist prior to his appointment.
Mehta says he is deeply involved with the execution team, coming up with broad plans for derivatives hedging and taking on relative vale decisions.
As well as leading the asset manager’s derivatives strategy, Mehta is a published author having released a book in June evaluating the trends and opportunities in the post-crisis derivatives market.
Cyril Batkin, senior trader, Candriam Investors Group
Cyril Batkin joined Candriam Investors Group just this year but is already making a major impact at the firm. The Trade covered his appointment back in June, when he joined the buy-side firm after spending nine years as a market maker.
Batkin joined Brussels-based Candriam from Mitsubishi UFJ Securities in London where he was an EMEA convertible bond market maker. Candriam’s head of trading, Fabien Oreve, said Batkin’s appointment would help the firm to make more complex trades than previously.
So far he has contributed to Candriam developing new trading capabilities on asset classes including less-liquid debt, emerging market currencies, ns and credit default swaps.
Before working at Mitsubishi Batkin spent four years at Netixis CIB in Paris in a similar market making role.
Oreve said hiring trading experts from other parts of the finance industry, including the sell-side and market makers, was key to helping the buy-side do more and strengthen their desks, something the firm feels Batkin is helping it to achieve.
For the full list of The TRADE’s Rising Stars, please click here.