Seasoned Financial Markets Executives Simon Bradley, James Kirk, and James Williams Named Managing Directors
STAMFORD, Conn.– September 7, 2023 – Tourmaline Partners, LLC (“Tourmaline”), one of the world’s leading outsourced trading solutions firms, today announced it has strengthened its global trading capabilities by adding three seasoned professionals, former Partner at Mariana Capital, Simon Bradley, former Liquidnet Co-Head of Trading (EMEA) and Head of USI, James Kirk, and former BTIG institutional sales trader, James Williams. Each join Tourmaline as Managing Directors in the London office.
Aaron Hantman, Chief Executive Officer and Partner at Tourmaline, said, “We are thrilled to welcome executives of James Kirk, Simon Bradley, and James Williams’ caliber to Tourmaline’s growing global trading team. They are proven investment professionals who all have demonstrated a track record of success and leadership across global equities trading. Simon’s expertise in value-added idea generation, price discovery and trade execution, and James William’s knowledge of institutional equity sales trading will be critical to growing Tourmaline’s global trading capabilities, while James Kirk’s experience running both program and electronic/high-touch hybrid trading desks will add tremendous value for Tourmaline as we continue to enhance our services and meet the growing demand for supplemental trading services from global asset managers.”
Mr. Bradley brings nearly three decades of derivatives experience in financial markets and in value-added idea generation, price discovery, and trade execution to Tourmaline, where he will be responsible for building out Tourmaline’s equity derivatives franchise in Europe. Most recently, Mr. Bradley served as a Partner at Mariana Capital. Prior to joining Mariana Capital, he was the Head of CSC Equity Options at GFI Group. Mr. Bradley has significant experience in equity derivatives and equities, first as a salesperson at Citigroup covering global asset managers and hedge funds before moving to Fimat (then part of Societe Generale) as a senior broker and later MF Global as Head of Equity Derivatives in Europe.
Mr. Kirk brings nearly 20 years of experience in global equities trading to Tourmaline, having worked at both investment banks and agency brokerage firms throughout his career. As Managing Director at Tourmaline, Mr. Kirk will be responsible for enhancing Tourmaline’s services in support of asset managers globally. Before joining Tourmaline, Mr. Kirk served as Co-Head of Trading (EMEA) and Head of USI (US and Canada export business into EMEA) at Liquidnet where he expanded their execution desk, building out a suite of execution tools focusing on liquidity capture. Mr. Kirk also held various execution specialist roles at ConvergEx Group and BTIG. He started his career in European Portfolio Trading at RBS.
Mr. Williamsbrings more than 20 years of experience to Tourmaline where he will be responsible for covering clients on global cash equities execution. Prior to Tourmaline, Mr. Williams spent more than fourteen years as an Institutional European Equity Sales Trader at BTIG. Mr. Williams has been an Institutional Equity Sales Trader since 1998, covering EMEA/US markets for a variety of hedge funds and institutions across the UK and Europe. He started his career at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg (SLK) as an Institutional Sales Trader before moving to Goldman Sachs in 2000 as part of the acquisition of SLK.
The new additions come on the heels of Tourmaline announcing that John New joined the firm as part of the business development team in June, further demonstrating the firm’s positive momentum and growing bench of talent.
Tourmaline provides tailor-made outsourced and supplemental trading solutions and best-execution expertise to more than 350 institutional investment clients ranging from emerging hedge funds to trillion-dollar asset managers.
About Tourmaline Partners
Tourmaline Partners is the world’s leading outsourced trading solutions firms, providing tailor-made services to hedge funds and asset managers of all sizes, pairing clients’ trading needs with experience and expertise. Founded in 2011, Tourmaline services more than 350 institutional clients trading in more than fifty global markets. Through continuous investment in state-of-the-art technology and human capital, a singular focus on trading, and non-competitive relationships with 400+ global brokers, Tourmaline provides clients with access to unparalleled liquidity, market intelligence and customized workflows for defining, measuring and achieving best execution. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in London and Sydney, Tourmaline employs more than 35 highly experienced traders and provides full trade support in clearing, settlement, and TCA reporting, as well as comprehensive research funding via CCAs, CSAs, attribution and aggregation.
