Professional Background:

I started out on the sell side at Gerard Klauer Mattison, a listed block trading firm, [which has since been acquired by Harris Nesbit ], where I was a listed trader. From there I went to Circle T, a New York City hedge fund, where I worked as a trader and assistant to the general partner, Seth Tobias. I was there for about three and a half years, and in my last year I ran my own, small portfolio of $10 million. I left there to join SAC Capital. There I traded U.S. telecom and media for a year and European equities in real time for another year.

Education:

Bachelor's degree from University of Maryland; I'm working on getting my M.B.A. at night from Fordham University and should be finished this semester [Dec. 2007].

Fun Fact

I do triathlons. The last one I did was a Half Iron Man in Florida. It was a 1.3-mile swim, 55-mile bike and 13-mile run. I'm also an avid reader of global macro economic research. I find it very interesting to try to figure out where the global economy is heading.

BIG PICTURE

Biggest trading opportunities for the firm?

To use information as currency. I might not be able to pay Merrill 500,000 shares a day, but I can talk to their traders and tell them what I think of a stock. I can give them market color. It's not a Streetwide thing, but being very focused on the healthcare space, I might be able to tell the sell side why someone is buying or selling something.

Biggest challenges?

Crossing networks have changed the playing field. A challenge for us is making sure that we're staying relevant on the bigger trading desks and that the right people are getting paid. In addition, a challenge is finding the right people. It's sometimes difficult to find a bright, intelligent person that is willing to work for you. The enthusiasm on the sell-side equity desk is at an all-time low. As a result of electronic trading, there's not a lot of job security. Five years ago, Morgan Stanley, Goldman, etc., were your only options. Now you can do a trade electronically and save money. So the challenge for us is to keep the sell side enthusiastic, as we think they are still adding value to us.

Major Industry Trend

Liquidity in the market right now is so much more fragmented. The regulators have tried to create an environment where the individual is protected, and what's happened is that stocks are certainly trading more volume, but they're trading in smaller blocks. Getting things done becomes a nightmare.

The multitude of crossing networks makes it very difficult. You need different routers, and the crossing networks essentially become just another broker where I need representation. They all need to know I am a buyer of a certain stock or I may miss an opportunity. It used to be, as long as you had representation with the NYSE, you were protected. It's more difficult now as an institutional investor; you need much more protection. I liken it to going to a shopping mall -- you used to be able to go to a Wal-Mart to get the best price and find what you needed. Now there are 15 little stores and I have to touch each one.

The market can't support 40 crossing networks. There will be two or three big players. BIDs, as a consortium of major brokerage firms, will do whatever it can to get market share. I think Liquidnet will grow. Critical mass is probably three crossing networks or, on a global scale, five to seven.