Meet Our Domestic Leadership Team

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.

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.

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.

Robert Gagnon

Managing Director and Head of Futures and Commodities

Robert Gagnon oversees BTIG’s OTC and Electronic Sales-Trading desk for Futures and Commodities.

Prior to BTIG, Rob was at RBC Capital Markets where he was Director of Sales for Futures. Over a 20 year career working in Canada, Asia and NY, Rob has managed businesses in FX, e-FX and Futures at the Bank of Montreal, State Street Bank and Morgan Stanley. Rob began his career as an FX trader for JP Morgan in 1987.

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.

Daniel Greenhaus

Managing Director and Chief Global Strategist

Dan Greenhaus provides clients with frequent commentary on a host of market and economic related developments.

Prior to joining BTIG, Dan spent the last few years as Miller Tabak’s Chief Economic Strategist where he was responsible for crafting the firm’s macro views on the global economy and marketplace. Dan is a frequent commentator on Fox Business, Bloomberg TV, and CNBC and is often quoted in major national publications including the New York Times, LA Times, Investor's Business Daily, and Wall Street Journal. Prior to joining Miller Tabak, Dan was employed by Credit Suisse First Boston in the High Yield research department and before that, Bear Stearns. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Buffalo, a Masters Degree in Finance and Investments from Baruch College, and is a member of both the National Association for Business Economics and the New York Society of Security Analysts.

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.

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 to 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.

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.

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.

Carrie Taylor

Managing Director and Head of Operations

Carrie Taylor oversees BTIG's operational activities, including trade clearance and settlement.

Carrie joined BTIG in 2002 via Baypoint Trading, a predecessor of BTIG. Carrie began her career in 1994, working in the Brokerage Operations group at Charles Schwab. In 1996, she joined Hambrecht and Quist, serving as the Assistant to the Head of Institutional Equities. Later promoted to the role of Compliance Sales Supervisor in Institutional Sales and Trading, Carrie was responsible for hiring and supervising all Institutional Sales Assistants. Carrie remained with the firm following its acquisition by JPMorgan in 2000, and rose to the position of Vice President and Manager of the West Coast Middle Office.

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.

Oliver Wiener

Managing Director and Head of Global Resources

Oliver Wiener covers some of the firm’s largest accounts and manages Global Resources, coordinating BTIG’s global strategy, research, analytics and corporate access groups to match our client’s needs.

Oliver began his career at CIBC World Markets in 2001 as a sales trader. He left to join Steve Starker in founding Bass Trading, a predecessor of BTIG, in 2003.