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Bachmann joins Verition

Tania Bachmann, equity fund macro team, Verition Fund Management
Tania Bachmann, equity fund macro team, Verition Fund Management

Tania Bachmann has joined the equity macro team at Verition Fund Management. She is based in London.

The multi-strategy hedge fund is based in Connecticut and owned by Nicholas Maounis. Maounis founded the fund after his previous venture, Amaranth Advisors, went bankrupt in 2006.

As of April, Verition held US$12.6 billion in assets under management.

Bachmann has more than eight years of industry experience and joins Verition from PIMCO, where she was vice president of equity macro.

Woodford saga concludes with £45.8 million FCA fine

Neil Woodford
Neil Woodford

Woodford Investment Management (WIM) has been fined £40 million for management failures of the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF).

Manager Neil Woodford has been fined a further £5,888,800, and banned from holding senior manager roles and managing retail investors’ funds.

Joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA Steve Smart commented, “Being a leader in financial services comes with responsibilities as well as profile. Mr Woodford simply doesn’t accept he had any role in managing the liquidity of the fund. The very minimum investors should expect is those managing their money make sensible decisions and take their senior role seriously.

“Neither Neil Woodford nor Woodford Investment Management did so, putting at risk the money people had entrusted them with.”

WEIF was suspended in June 2019. Its value was £3.6 billion at the time, falling from £10.1 billion in May 2017.

The FCA states that Woodford and WIM failed to react appropriately as the fund’s value declined and liquidity worsened, making unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions. More liquid investments were sold and less liquid ones purchased over, resulting in just 8% of investments being able to be sold within seven days when the fund was suspended. At the time, rules stated that investors must be able to access their funds within four days.

As a result of poor management, the FCA says, investors who remained in the fund rather than withdrawing their investments before its suspension were disadvantaged.

Woodford’s lack of oversight of WIM’s relationship with WEIF’s authorised corporate director Link Fund Solutions was also noted by the FCA. Although it raised concerns about the fund’s liquidity, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight Therese Chambers stated in 2024, “Link Fund Solutions’ job was to properly manage the Woodford Equity Income Fund and to protect investors’ interests. Their failings led to losses for those trapped in the fund when it was suspended.”

Niddam promoted at Soc Gen APAC

Jerome Niddam, APAC CEO, Societe Generale
Jerome Niddam, APAC CEO, Societe Generale

Jerome Niddam has been appointed CEO of Societe Generale Asia Pacific, effective 1 September.

SocGen’s global banking business and investor solutions business reported €2.6 billion in revenues for Q2, up 0.7% year-on-year (YoY). On a half-year basis, revenues were up 5.4% YoY to €5.5 billion.

Based in Hong Kong, Nidamm reports to Anne-Christine Champion and Alexandre Fleury, co-head of banking and investor solutions.

The duo stated, “The APAC region plays a key role in Societe Generale group’s growth strategy. Jerome [will] execute our ambitious roadmap and accelerate the development of our franchise.”

Niddam has been with Soc Gen since 2004, serving as head of capital markets for APAC since 2018. He will continue to oversee activities in the region until a replacement is found.

Prior to this, Niddam was head of financial engineering for equity derivatives in Japan and a financial engineer for equity derivatives in New York.

Chavali joins Citi in sponsor push

Vikram Chavali, APAC head of global asset managers, Citi
Vikram Chavali, APAC head of global asset managers, Citi

Citi has appointed Vikram Chavali as head of global asset managers (GAM) for the APAC region as it expands its presence in the financial sponsor and leveraged finance space.

In Q2 2025, Citi reported investment banking revenues of US$981 million, up 15% year-on-year (YoY). Within this, advisory fees were up 52%, which the firm stated was influenced by increased market share with financial sponsors.

Ashu Khullar, global head of GAM, commented, “Financial sponsors globally are driving a significant portion of the overall banking wallet and with Citi’s increased global focus on this important asset class, this underlines our ambitions to grow further with clients in Asia.”

Based in Hong Kong, he will take on the role later this year. He reports to Khullar and Jan Metzger, head of investment banking for the region.

With 20 years of industry experience, Chavali joins from Goldman Sachs where he was head of Asia ex-Japan sponsors mergers and acquisitions. He has been with the company since 2005.

Citi has made a slew of APAC appointments in recent months, with Akira Kiyota and Taiji Nagasaka named co-heads of investment banking for Japan last month.

READ MORE: Citi rejigs Japan IB team as deal flow rises

In May and June, the Australia and New Zealand markets teams got a boost.

READ MORE: Citi continues APAC personnel refit

This Week from Trader TV: Bill Mann, Motley Fool Asset Management

AI capex lifts tech, but risks loom over infrastructure bottlenecks and tariff volatility.

A wave of AI-driven capital spending by major tech firms boosted US equities last week, following second-quarter earnings, but Bill Mann of Motley Fool Asset Management warns that infrastructure bottlenecks and shifting tariffs could pose significant headwinds. The chief investment officer shares his views on what supply chain issues and the shifting global tariff regimes could mean for tech valuations long term and urges investors to prioritise fundamentals, manage risk, and look beyond short-term market noise.

 [This post was first published on Trader TV]

Cboe to exit Trading Technologies investment

Jill Griebenow, chief financial officer, Cboe
Jill Griebenow, chief financial officer, Cboe

Cboe will no longer be an investor in Trading Technologies (TT) following parent company 7RIDGE’s partnership with Thoma Bravo. 

In 2021, Cboe provided 40% of capital for the 7RIDGE fund owning TT. 

READ MORE: TT sees continued support from SGX, CBOE after M&A option triggered 

SGX, also an investor in the 7RIDGE fund, noted that the fund would be wound up following the transaction. 

READ MORE: SGX sells stake in Trading Technologies 

In its results call, Jill Griebenow, chief financial officer at Cboe, commented, “This week, TT announced an investment transaction that is expected to result in Cboe fully exiting its investment in the 7RIDGE fund that currently owns TT.” 

“Cboe expects the transaction to result in the gain recorded against the 30 June, 2025 carrying value of its investment in the 7RIDGE fund. While I cannot provide any incremental details around the potential gain until the transaction is complete, I will note that consistent with our historical treatment of minority investment gains and losses, we anticipate adjusting out any future impact incurred with the exit of this investment from our non GAAP metrics.” 

Spitz to lead Flow Traders

Thomas Spitz, incoming CEO, Flow Traders
Thomas Spitz, incoming CEO, Flow Traders

Flow Traders has named Thomas Spitz as CEO, effective 1 September, subject to shareholder approval.

He replaces Mike Kuehnel, who has been CEO for the past four years.

In 2024, Flow Traders reported €467.8 million in net trading income, up 56% year-on-year.

Also becoming executive director of the board, Spitz will be responsible for the firm’s overall growth and diversification strategy and trading capital expansion plan.

Spitz has more than 25 years of industry experience and joins Flow Traders from alternative data and analytics firm QuantCube Technology, where he has been CEO of the Middle East business since February. Prior to this, he was head of global markets and a senior managing director at First Abu Dhabi Bank.

More than 15 years of his career was spent at Credit Agricole CIB, where he held senior roles including global head of markets trading for FICC and equity derivatives and head of global market fixed income sales.

StoneX becomes largest US FCM

Philip Smith, CEO, StoneX
Philip Smith, CEO, StoneX

StoneX has completed its acquisition of futures brokerage and clearing firm R J O’Brien, making it the largest non-bank futures commission merchant (FCM) in the US.

RJO reported US$766 million in revenue for full-year 2024.

StoneX states that this acquisition, first announced in April, will allow it to cross-sell in OTC derivatives, physical commodity trading and fixed income products.

READ MORE: StoneX builds out FCM presence with RJO acquisition

The company expects to see US$50 million in increased revenues from the acquisition, increasing its client float by close to US$6 billion.

Philip Smith, StoneX CEO, commented, “This transaction significantly expands our scale and increases our capabilities in several critical areas, including through a materially expanded client network and the addition of the leading introducing broker business.

“The combination of the companies’ leading technologies and tools, such as in OTC hedging, risk management, and trading execution and liquidity across multiple asset classes, will deliver clients important benefits.”

SGX sells stake in Trading Technologies

Justin Llewellyn-Jones, incoming CEO, Trading Technologies
Justin Llewellyn-Jones, incoming CEO, Trading Technologies

SGX is cashing in on its Trading Technologies (TT) investment as the company’s owner 7RIDGE partners with software investment firm Thoma Bravo.

Through the new partnership, the companies say they aim to take TT through its next phase of growth. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025 following regulatory approval. Terms of the deal were not shared.

A number of suitable partner investors were reviewed, 7RIDGE stated, adding that the project saw “wide and deep” interest.

TT was acquired by growth equity firm 7RIDGE in December 2021. Earlier this year, the company reached pre-set performance targets negotiated during the acquisition that allowed limited partners in the fund owning TT, Cboe and SGX, to take an exit option and take over the company, a route neither took.

In an update on its investment in the fund entitled ‘7RIDGE Investments 3’, SGX said, “Upon completion of the transaction, SGX will receive distribution proceeds in accordance with the fund’s distribution schedule and the fund is expected to be wound up.”

As outlined in Cboe’s March 2025 10-Q filing, “If Trading Technologies is sold, the general partner of the 7Ridge Fund would be entitled to receive a variable portion of the sales proceeds, and the limited partners would be entitled to receive a portion of the sales proceeds in accordance with the investment agreements.”

Cboe declined to comment.

READ MORE: TT sees continued support from SGX, CBOE after M&A option triggered 

On Thoma Brava’s engagement with the company, TT CEO Justin Llewellyn-Jones commented, “The combination of TT’s business and technology experience, 7RIDGE’s deep sector knowledge, and Thoma Bravo’s strategic and operational expertise will truly make us an extraordinary force. With the backing of these two partners, TT is in its strongest position to date to become the operating system for the capital markets.”

Houlihan Lokey is lead financial advisor, with Barclays acting as financial advisor to TT.

Ultumus and BMLL partner on ETF data services

Bernie Thurston, CEO, Ultumus
Bernie Thurston, CEO, Ultumus

As the global ETF market continues to boom, the race is on for companies to become the data provider of choice. In a bid for the crown, ETF and index data provider Ultumus has joined forces with data and analytics firm BMLL to enhance ETF market participants’ trading efficiency and spread performances.

According to PwC, assets under management (AUM) for global ETFs was up 27% in 2024 to a total US$14.6 trillion at year-end. The majority of participants of the firm’s survey expected to see ETF AUM reach at least US$26 trillion by June 2029, and a quarter anticipate that figure to exceed US$30 trillion.

Through their collaboration, BMLL data will be used to measure the impact of Ultumus’ portfolio composition file (PCF) service on trading efficiency.

Bernie Thurston, Ultumus, CEO, explained, “By providing timely PCFs with a complete and consistent view of the ETF structure, we enable traders to price ETFs more accurately, leading to tighter spreads. BMLL’s advanced analytics brings this to life, clearly showing which ETFs outperform on bid/offer spreads and why, giving both traders and issuers a meaningful edge.”

Traders are now able to layer BMLL’s Level 3 analytics with the PCF data, allowing them to more efficiently model price movement and execution scenarios, the firm said.

The companies add that one European ETF issuer has used the service to analyse its spread performance and identify a 16% reduction in spread threshold breaches and a 12% performance improvement.

BMLL clients can now access Ultumus’ ETF reference data and issuer-published metrics through the BMLL Data Lab and market microstructure visualisation platform BMLL Vantage before market open and across regions on a daily basis.

This gives users the ability to understand the distribution and market share of trading volume by issuer, compare trends and more deeply analyse ETF constituents, BMLL stated.

Paul Humphrey, CEO of BMLL, commented, “[This] is part of BMLL’s ongoing strategy to broaden our content and data coverage globally. Our global customer base is now able to use these combined data sets to deepen their understanding of ETF liquidity dynamics, how these shift over time, and gain insights that will help them differentiate themselves in a competitive landscape.”