James Aniello

Managing Director and Head of Trading

James Aniello oversees BTIG's Institutional Trading desk and manages the firm's risk exposure.

Prior to joining BTIG, from 2000 to 2003, James served as Head of Small Cap and Technology Sector Trading at Goldman Sachs. James began his career in 1991 in the NASD Market Making Division at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg (SLK), which was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2000. During his nine years with SLK, James was promoted to the position of Team Captain and subsequently named a Special Limited Partner.

Jon Bass

Managing Director, Co-Head of Fixed Income

Jonathan Bass manages the day-to-day operations and business development efforts of BTIG's Fixed Income division.

Prior to joining BTIG, Jonathan spent nine years with UBS Investment Bank, most recently as Head of Fixed Income Client Management and earlier as Head of US Fixed Income Distribution. He also served as a member of the UBS Investment Bank Board. Jonathan began his career at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company in 1984. From 1986 to 2000 Jonathan was a Managing Director in the Corporate Sales Group at Citigroup.

Richard Blank

Managing Director and Head of Global Equities

Richard Blank oversees BTIG's team of Global Sales Traders.

Richard began his investment career in 1991 as a Sales Trader with Troster Singer, which was later acquired by Spear Leeds & Kellogg (SLK). In 1993, Richard joined Sherwood Securities, where he spent four years as Head of Sales Trading. In 1997, Richard returned to SLK to serve as Head of Sales Trading. He remained with the firm following its 2000 acquisition by Goldman Sachs, until leaving to join Bass Trading, a predecessor of BTIG, in 2003.

Mark Blazer

Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets

Marc Blazer oversees the firm’s Equity Capital Markets group.

Prior to joining BTIG, Marc was the President of Overture Acquisition Corp, an NYSE/AMEX listed investment company. Prior to this role, Marc was Global Head of Investment Banking at Cantor Fitzgerald from 2000-2007. He previously was a director of ChaseMellon Capital Strategies Group, the advisory arm of ChaseMellon Financial, a joint venture between the Chase Manhattan Corporation and Mellon Financial Corporation. Before that, Marc had a career in politics, advising US Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, and a Member of Congress on banking, securities, and international trade legislation.

Kevin Chessen

Managing Director, Co-Head of Outsource Trading and Head of International

Kevin Chessen oversees the day-to-day operations of both BTIG's Outsource and International divisions.

Kevin began his career in 1987 as an Assistant Market Maker on the International Trading Desk with S.G. Warburg. During his time at S.G. Warburg he worked in the New York, London, and Tokyo offices, ultimately rising to the position of Senior International Trader. In 1993, Kevin joined Merrill Lynch as Head of Asian Equity Trading. Kevin joined Banc of America Securities in 1997 and eventually became Head of Listed Trading. He remained with the firm until 2002, when he set out to start Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG.

Steve Druskin

Managing Director and General Counsel

Steve Druskin oversees all legal and related matters for the firm.

Prior to joining BTIG in September 2009, Steve was the General Counsel, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Scion Capital, LLC. Prior to his time at Scion Capital, Steve was an attorney at Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin. Steve has been a member of the California Bar since 1997.

Brian Endres

Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer

Brian Endres manages day-to-day finance, accounting and regulatory reporting at BTIG.

Brian joined BTIG in 2008. From 2004 to 2008, he was a Managing Director of ThinkEquity Partners LLC in San Francisco. There, he served as Controller and ultimately rose to the position of CFO. Prior to joining ThinkEquity, from 2002 to 2004, Brian was the Controller of Wells Fargo Securities. From 1998 to 2002, he was with Hambrecht & Quist/JP Morgan Securities where he held the positions of Vice President of Finance and Director of West Coast Finance. From 1992 to 1998 he was with Everen Securities in Chicago, now known as Wachovia Securities, holding various positions in the finance team.

John Fawls

Managing Director and International Chief Operating Officer

John oversees BTIG’s International Business Operations.

John Joined BTIG in 2007. He has 30 years in the financial services industry, primarily with Merrill Lynch and Deloitte & Touche. At ML, John was a Financial Controller for both Fixed Income and Equity products, the COO of the Americas Equity Division, the Latin/Canadian Institutional business and the Prime Brokerage Division.

Wes Gradone

Managing Director and Co-Head of Equity Derivatives

Wes, together with Evan Seidenstein and Randy McCallum, works closely with BTIG Sales Traders to find creative solutions to help their clients achieve their investment goals.

Prior to joining BTIG, from 2003 to 2006, Wes was an Options Broker in the Institutional Option Strategies Group at Pali Capital, Inc. He began his investment career in 2000 on the New York Buy-Side team at Bloomberg LP and was later promoted to the role of Sales Manager.

Austin Hamilton

Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer

Austin oversees BTIG's Compliance program and has a team of 9 compliance professionals in San Francisco and New York.

Prior to joining BTIG's Compliance Department in 2008, he was the Chief Compliance Officer for Thomas Weisel Partners Group where he worked from 2000 to 2008. Austin began his compliance career in 1988 in New York as a Compliance Officer at Shearson Lehman Hutton. In 1989, he joined Goldman Sachs, where he spent six years and was ultimately promoted to Head of the Control Room. In 1995, Austin moved to San Francisco where he held senior roles in compliance at BA Securities and Montgomery Securities, which was later acquired by NationsBank and later merged with Bank of America.

Richard Jacklin

Managing Director, Head of International Equities

Richard oversees BTIG’s International Equities products.

Richard comes to BTIG from the RP Capital Group where he was a Principal and Portfolio Manager for the firm’s public investments in equity, foreign exchange and credit. He was also a member of RP’s Investment Committee for its Private Equity investments. Prior to joining RP Capital, Richard managed internal equity portfolios at Merrill Lynch’s Equity Strategy Group. Prior to that role, he managed the International Emerging Markets Equity trading efforts for Merrill Lynch in New York, overseeing the firm’s risk and client business. He started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1992.

Scott Kovalik

Co-Founder

Scott Kovalik manages the day-to-day work on strategic initiatives for BTIG.

Scott began his investment career in 1987 as an Institutional Equity Position Trader for Salomon Brothers. He joined Montgomery Securities in 1990 as a Market Maker and Position Trader and, in 1997, was promoted to the position of Head of Equity Trading. Remaining with the firm following its 1998 acquisition by Banc of America Securities, Scott rose to the position of Director of Global Equities before starting Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG, in 2002.

Robert Langer

Managing Director and Head of Convertible Sales and Trading

Rob began his investment career as a Senior Convertible Bond Trader at Salomon Brothers in 1992. In 1995, he joined Bankers Trust/BT Securities where he ran U.S. Convertibles Trading until its acquisition by Deutsche Bank in 1999. From 1999 to 2004, Rob was a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Promethean Investment Group. Prior to joining BTIG, Rob was a Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Stanfield Capital Group, where he established and managed the firm’s Convertible strategies.

Anton LeRoy

Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer

Anton LeRoy oversees BTIG's global business operations.

From 2004 to 2008, Anton was the Senior Vice President of E*Trade's Capital Markets in New York where his responsibilities encompassed a number of areas including E*Trades Global Electronic Trading. Prior to joining the Capital Markets Division, Anton was the CIO for E*Trade's Brokerage Division from 2000 through 2004. Prior to E*Trade, Anton was a Director at Deutsche Bank where he was the Global Head of Prime Brokerage Technology. He also held various roles at SBC O'Connor from 1994 to 1997, including the lead developer for their Emerging Markets trading system.

Randall McCallum

Managing Director and Co-Head of Equity Derivatives

Randy, together with Wes Gradone and Evan Seidenstein, works closely with BTIG Sales Traders to find creative solutions to help their clients achieve their investment goals.

Prior to joining BTIG, from 2004 to 2006, Randy was a Sales Trader in the Institutional Option Strategies Group at Pali Capital, Inc. He began his investment career in 2000 with Chimera Capital LLC, where he conducted proprietary trading.

Jennifer Mermel

Managing Director, Special Situations

Jennifer Mermel is responsible for coordinating the efforts of the BTIG management team in regard to special situations and overseeing projects affecting the business operations of BTIG.

Jennifer joined the firm in 2003 via BTIG predecessor Bass Trading, where she was one of the founding employees. Through September 2008 Jennifer served as the Chief Operating Officer for BTIG. She began her career in 1994 at a hedge fund. From 1995 1997 she worked first as a market making assistant and then as an Institutional Sales Trader focused on program trading executions for Sherwood Securities. In 1998 Jennifer joined the program trading desk at Spear, Leeds and Kellogg Capital Markets, which was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2000.

Michael O'Rourke

Managing Director and Chief Market Strategist

Mike O'Rourke leads BTIG's Market Intelligence efforts. His work, including the daily brief "Bedtime with BTIG," has been cited in several periodicals, most notably Barron's. He appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg Television and the Fox Business Network.

Prior to joining BTIG, Mike traded proprietarily for Spear, Leeds & Kellogg (SLK), which was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2000. Mike began his investment career in 1995 with SLK, serving as a Specialist Clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He gained industry recognition as a NASDAQ Market Maker for SLK, trading technology stocks in the late 1990s.

Brian Petitt

Managing Director and Co-Head of Prime Brokerage

Brian Petitt oversees both the day-to-day operations and business development efforts of BTIG's Prime Brokerage division.

Brian joined BTIG in 2004 via BTIG predecessor firm Baypoint Trading. Brian began his investment career in 1995 in the Prime Brokerage division at Montgomery Securities, which was later acquired by Banc of America Securities. During his eight years with these firms, Brian held a series of senior positions in sales and client services and was ultimately promoted to Head of West Coast Sales.

Justin Press

Managing Director and Co-Head of Prime Brokerage

Justin Press oversees the business development efforts of BTIG's Prime Brokerage division.

Justin joined BTIG in 2004 via BTIG predecessor firm Baypoint Trading. Justin began his career in 1996 at Furman Selz Prime Brokerage, which was later acquired by ING Barings, ABN AMRO and finally UBS Prime Brokerage. During his four years with UBS, Justin rose to the position of Head of Midwest Prime Brokerage Sales.

Evan Seidenstein

Managing Director and Co-Head of Equity Derivatives

Evan, together with Wes Gradone and Randy McCallum, works closely with BTIG Sales Traders to find creative solutions to help their clients achieve their investment goals.

Prior to joining BTIG, from 2003 to 2007, Evan was part of the Option Strategies Group at Pali Capital, Inc., and was promoted to the position of Vice President. He began his career in 2000 as a Proprietary Equities Trader for Chimera Capital.

Brian Sklar

Managing Director and Sales Trader

Brian Sklar covers some of BTIG's largest accounts and takes an active role mentoring the firm's rising talent.

Brian began his career in 1993 as an Equity Market Maker with Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. In 2002, he joined JLF, where he traded equities and shared portfolio management responsibilities. In 2003, Brian founded Baseline Trading, which merged with BTIG predecessor firm Bass Trading in 2004.

Cordy Snyder

Managing Director and Co-Head of Outsource Trading

Cordy Snyder helps manage the North American broker relationships for BTIG's Outsource Trading division.

Cordy began his career in 1989 as a Market Maker and Position Trader with Montgomery Securities, which was acquired by Banc of America Securities in 1998. During his tenure with Banc of America, Cordy was named a Managing Director and promoted to Head of Sales Trading and Director of NASDAQ Trading. He remained with the firm until setting out to start Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG, in 2002.

Steven Starker

Co-Founder

Steven Starker covers BTIG's top trading clients and drives the business development efforts for the firm's Institutional division.

Steven began his career with Spear, Leeds & Kellogg (SLK) in 1987 as an Institutional Sales Trader and Market Maker. Later appointed to the firm's Executive Committee, in 1996, he was named partner and assumed the role of Co-CEO of the Capital Markets division. Following the 2000 acquisition of SLK by Goldman Sachs, Steven spent three years as a partner in the Equity Trading division before setting out to found Bass Trading, a predecessor of BTIG, in 2003.

Paul Stubbs

Managing Director and Co-Head of TradeSave

Paul Stubbs is responsible for the strategic design, development and implementation of systems and trading technologies related to BTIG's Direct Market Access platform, TradeSave.

Paul joined BTIG in 2004 via Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG. Baypoint Trading acquired his company, SFO Trading LLC, an electronic trading service where he served as Chief Technology Officer for four years. Paul began his career in 1989 as a Senior Product Support Specialist with Microsoft Australia. He joined the Australian firm PMC & T Pty Ltd in 1995, and served for five years as a Project Management Consultant.

Peter Tarrant

Managing Director and Head of Business Development

Peter Tarrant leads BTIG's business development efforts. Responsible for marketing and sales across the firm's various divisions, he works to identify potential clients and cultivate new business opportunities.

Peter joined the firm in 2002 via BTIG predecessor firm Baypoint Trading. Peter began his career in 1994 as an Associate in the Private Client Services/Corporate Services group at Montgomery Securities, which was later acquired by Banc of America Securities. During his seven years with the firm, Peter held a series of senior positions in the Equity Trading division.

Tom Tyson

Managing Director and Co-Head of TradeSave

Tom Tyson is responsible for the marketing, sales and strategic direction of BTIG's Direct Market Access platform, TradeSave.

Tom joined BTIG in 2004 via Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG. Baypoint Trading acquired his company, SFO Trading LLC, an electronic trading service he founded and ran from 2000 to 2004. Tom began his investment career in 1983 as a Trader with BJ Young & Co. Tom went on to help found Pacific Growth Equities, a San Francisco-based broker-dealer, in 1990. In 1991, he joined the Coverage Trading group at Hambrecht & Quist. From 1994 to 2000, he managed two small hedge funds.

Michael Van Allen

Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer

Mike Van Allen is responsible for BTIG's strategic technology initiatives.

Mike joined BTIG in 2002, via Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG. From 1999 to 2002, he served as VP of Trading Technology for Banc of America Securities, where he was responsible for the firm's equity trading technology. Mike began his career in 1993 with Montgomery Securities. There, he developed his expertise in both NASDAQ trading and trade support technologies, ultimately advancing to the position of Vice President of Equity Trading Technology in 1999.