The liquidity provider and technology firm has elevated President Brian Conroy to the position of Chief Executive Officer immediately. Seth Merrin, will step aside for Conroy but remain Chairman of the firm.
As President, Conroy will work in partnership with former CEO and Founder, Seth Merrin, and share the responsibility of providing strategic leadership for the company with a focus on building out new businesses both organically and through acquisition.
In his continuing role as Executive Chairman of the Board, Founder Merrin said he will focus on Liquidnet’s mid to long-term strategic planning, while Conroy will continue to lead the execution of all three Liquidnet business verticals: Equities, Fixed Income, and the newly created Investment Analytics.
“Brian came on board a year ago as part of our plan to deliver the capabilities that clients will need to compete in a market that’s undergoing yet another technology-driven transformation. He’s played an important role in the core investments we’ve made—and will continue to make—in technology that helps our clients identify and access market opportunities rapidly and efficiently in this new market environment. In 2020, we will focus on launching new technology solutions across Equities, Fixed income and our new Investment Analytics businesses that address our customer’s largest challenges,” Merrin said.
Conroy brings to Liquidnet a breadth of experience gained from over 30 years in the financial services industry. He joins Liquidnet from Fidelity International in London where he served as President and was responsible for strategic direction and oversight of the firm’s international asset management and distribution businesses across 25 countries. Prior to his time in London, Conroy was President of Fidelity Capital Markets and Global Head of Equity Trading in Boston for FMR. He has also held senior roles at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, ABN AMRO and SAC LLC.
“As a global fintech that has fostered a network of over 1000 asset managers, Liquidnet has a unique position in the marketplace today,” said Conroy. “I am energized by the company’s commitment to delivering innovative technology that solves for large market inefficiencies. Liquidnet has a long history of partnering with the buy side to build long-lasting solutions together, and I look forward to joining the team.”
Conroy will be based in New York, reporting directly to the CEO.
In related news, the firm reported it is accelerating the launch of several new initiatives including its new data and analytics business.
Earlier this year, Conroy appointed Vicky Sanders to oversee the Investment Analytics business. Built on Liquidnet’s 2019 acquisitions of Prattle and RSRCHXchange and the 2017 acquisition of OTAS Technologies, Investment Analytics combines a range of powerful AI-driven analytics, machine-learning, and natural language processing technologies. The new offering will enable institutional investment teams to analyze, filter, and organize data and pinpoint only the information needed to support information discovery and decision-making. The Investment Analytics app is currently in pilot with portfolio managers and analysts at Member firms in both the US and Europe and will launch later this year.
To bolster the US and Canadian equities team, Conroy has also brought in Matt Johnson to become Liquidnet’s Head of Americas Equities. Johnson brings twenty-five years of experience at top-tier investment banks as a senior trader and manager across multiple equity divisions. Before joining Liquidnet, Johnson was the Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities responsible for Equities. Johnson will join Liquidnet’s Global Management Committee and report to Mark Pumfrey, Global Head of Equities.
In Boston, Conroy has appointed Jerry Garvey as the new head of the region and Steve Berte in sales and business development. Garvey brings over two decades of experience in equities sales and trading operations. He joins Liquidnet from Stifel Nicolaus where he managed the Boston Trading Desk and was an Equity Sales Trader for over ten years. Prior to that, he held similar roles at Merrill Lynch and Wachovia Capital Markets in Boston. Berte joins Liquidnet from Aberdeen Standard Investments. During his 10+ years at Aberdeen, he held several senior roles including Head of Investments Execution across all asset classes in the Americas and Global Head of Equity Trading based out of Scotland.
Conroy will continue to be based in New York at Liquidnet’s global headquarters.
