The listed derivatives market has a new player as Chicago-headquartered Matrix Executions opened its doors for trading in mid-February.
The new brokerage, which currently has approximately 25 employees, is a partnership between agency brokerage ITG and Option Technology Solutions, which the firms first announced in September 2017.
Anthony Saliba, CEO of Option Technology Solutions, has taken the role of CEO of the newly minted Matrix Holding Group and has hired a number of fellow LiquidPoint veterans to fill senior positions in the firm. Jordan Naylor, formerly LiquidPoint’s CTO, is now president and CTO of Matrix Execution Technologies. Former LiquidPoint COO and Option Technology Solutions COO Michael McNamara is now the COO of the newly minted brokerage.
"It's like the LiquidPoint band getting back together," a Matrix Executions spokesperson told Markets Media.
To fill out its roster, the brokerage has hired Jay Fraser, former head of business development and listings at the Investors Exchange, to be its chief strategy officer. Fraser is based out of the firm's New York office.
“I’m incredibly excited to have Jay on our team,” said Saliba in a prepared statement. “I look forward to working with him and leveraging his expertise in institutional equity and listed derivatives trading, as well as his experience in the exchange and listings space."
From a technology perspective, ITG contributed its ITG Derivatives brokerage business and Derivatives OMS/EMS platform while Option Technology Solutions contributed its proprietary analytics platform. The brokerage has rebranded the platforms Matrix Pro and Matrix Elite respectively.
Matrix Executions also has hired Matthew Otto, the original architect for the back-end trading platform and ITG veteran. Among the change planned for OMS/EMS are the addition of new algorithms, functionalities, and other features that will help clients trade options, according to the firm’s spokesperson.
“We want to instill in our prospect and client base that we have best-in-class customer service and development flexibility,” added Naylor.