PaineWebber named Stephen Mortati head of over-the-counter trading. Previously head of Nasdaq sales trading at ABN AMRO Incorporated, Mortati will remain based in New York.
Greg Prime also joined the New York OTC desk at PaineWebber as a sales trader. Prime was previously a sales trader at San Francisco-based investment bank Hambrecht & Quist.
And Donnie Daniels and Dave Hylka were named OTC traders at PaineWebber in New York, reporting to Patrick Davis, head of OTC trading. Both Daniels, at Robinson-Humphrey, and Hylka, at Salomon Smith Barney, were previously New York-based OTC traders.
Jim Quinton joined Avalon Research Group, a Boca Raton-based institutional research boutique and brokerage firm, as vice president of institutional research and sales. Quinton was formerly a vice president of institutional sales at Nutmeg Securities in Providence. He will be based in Avalon's Providence office.
The over-the-counter trading department at Josephthal & Co. in New York promoted three assistants to traders. Michael Beaver, Dave Holloway and Shkylar Pavel were named OTC traders, reporting to Lex Pomper, Josephthal's head of OTC trading.
Simon Spenser, an astrophysicist turned software developer, joined Jersey City's Knight Securites as a chief strategy and technology officer. Previously, Spenser ran the third-market division at New York's D.E. Shaw & Co. Spenser's hiring is part of a larger employment boom at Knight as the wholesaler prepares for its intitial public offering.
Dennis Kelly, previously a Nasdaq trader at Vector Securities in Chicago, was named head of listed trading at George K. Baum & Company in Kansas City.
Edwin J. McGuinn joined LIMITrader Securities in Princeton as president and chief executive. LIMITrader owned and operated by Greenwich-based Weeden & Co.'s Automated Trading Systems is an electronic bond-trading system. McGuinn is a former executive and manager at Chicago-based Rodman & Renshaw, and New York-based Lehman Brothers and Mabon Securities. He was most recently head of operations at InterVest Securities, a rival bond-trading network, in Berwyn, Pa.
Derek Bayarri moved cross-town to join the Boca Raton desk at J.W. Genesis Financial Corp as a position trader. Bayarri was formerly a position trader at Barron Chase.
Jersey City's Sherwood Securites promoted Peter Battaglia to vice president of broker-dealer sales trading. Battaglia was previously Sherwood's public-relations manager.Sherwood also hired Louise Thompson as a sales trader on the broker-dealer desk. Thompson, who will report to Battaglia, joined Sherwood from New York's D.H. Blair & Co., where she was an agency trader.
Ralph Davis was named director of sales and marketing at Dallas-based Capital Institutional Services. An employee of the institutional brokerage firm since 1988, Davis most recently served as its regional sales manager for northeastern New England. In his new role at Capital Institutional Services, he will oversee all sales, marketing and client service.
The Chicago Board Options Exhange (CBOE) promoted two employees, Carol E. Kennedy and Amy Zisook. Kennedy, previously director of public relations for the CBOE, was named vice president of corporate communications. Zisook, who will continue in her duties as the CBOE's director of civic and governmental affairs, was also named an exchange vice president.
Helene Pientek, formerly head of the agency desk at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, joined Fidelity Capital Markets across town. In her new position, Pientek is in charge of public relations at the firm.
Minneapolis-based Dain Rauscher Incorporated promoted 31-year Wall Street veteran Michael A. Cope to assistant director of equity trading. Cope, previously a senior sales trader at the firm, will help manage all equity-trading activities. Dain Rauscher has 47 traders in three offices, and makes a market in more than 380 stocks. Cope will remain based in Minneapolis.
John G. Kinnard & Company, the Minneapolis-based brokerage firm, hired Paul Hughes as a managing director and director of mergers and acquisitions. Hughes was previously managing director of mergers and acquisitions at Dain Rauscher in Minneapolis.
Knight Securities recently added four traders from other New York-area firms. Fred Ingles, Mark Toney and Brian W. Barry joined Knight's correspondent desk as broker dealers. Ingles was previously on the correspondent desk cross-town at Herzog, Heine, Geduld. Toney was a sales trader at Nash, Weiss & Co. in Jersey City before joining Knight. And Barry was previously an assistant trader at Whale Securities in New York.
Christopher J. Taylor joined the firm as an equity trader. Taylor was formerly an over-the-counter trader at Sherwood Securities in Jersey City. At Knight, Taylor will trade on the OTC desk.
New York-based Wit Capital Group appointed Ronald Readmond to manage its day-to-day operations. Readmond, previously an executive at San Francisco-based Charles Schwab & Co. and a former director at Wit Capital, was named president and chief operating officer of the online investment bank.
OptiMark Technologies attempting to launch the OptiMark Trading System, an institutional trade-matching system opened a new Toronto office. The office, located at 145 King Street West, has been chartered to develop the company's operations in Canada. OptiMark is based in Jersey City, and has offices in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Durango, Colo.
