Our free FinTech roundup includes items about: RJO’s MD for the U.K.; SGX & Options Technology; and a new senior sales manager for MTS Markets International.
Calpers Board to Review the Matter on August 17
Ben Meng
Yu (Ben) Meng abruptly resigned from his post as chief investment officer for the approximately $409 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) pension fund.
Meng, whose resignation became effective August 5, became the chief investment officer in January 2019.
Calpers has appointed Dan Bienvenue, deputy chief investment officer, to serve as Meng’s interim replacement, officials say. Calpers has begun a search for a permanent successor.
Meng’s resignation followed an anonymous complaint to the California Fair Political Practices Committee, a state government ethics agency. The complaint alleges that Meng “had approved a $1 billion deal with a firm in which he’s a shareholder,” according to multiple media reports, including those of The Sacramento Bee.
Henry Jones
“CalPERS has known about questions regarding Ben’s Fair Political Practices disclosure filings. These are private personnel matters and already have been addressed according to our internal compliance protocols,” says Calpers Board President Henry Jones in a prepared statement.
“A board meeting has been scheduled for August 17 to discuss personnel matters. In the meantime, our organization remains focused on providing retirement security to members and supporting our employer partners,” Jones says.
“I deeply believe in the Calpers mission of serving those who serve California,” Meng says in his prepared statement. “I’m proud of the work we did to change the portfolio, build a skilled Investment Office, and set CalPERS on a strong path to achieve our return target. But at this time, it’s important for me to focus on my health and on my family and move on to the next chapter in my life.”
During Meng’s tenure, Calpers “announced a fiscal year 2019-20 return of 4.7 percent, beating its benchmark of 4.3 percent during a time of extreme financial market volatility sparked by the coronavirus pandemic,” according to Calpers officials.
RJO Names Managing Director for U.K. Affiliate
R.J. O’Brien & Associates (RJO), the Chicago-based futures brokerage and clearing firm, reports the appointment of Emre Degirmenci as managing director, EMEA, for R.J. O’Brien Limited, its London-based affiliate. The appointment is effective September 1, 2020.
According to an RJO statement, Degirmenci has 25 years of experience in treasury, risk management and finance roles at major banks and commodities firms globally, including 15 years at Citigroup in New York, Singapore and Istanbul; several years at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in London and most recently, more than six years at global commodities specialist Marex Spectron in London.
RJO Limited provides “anonymous electronic and voice access to markets across multiple asset classes, including futures and options on all major global exchanges, equity contracts for difference … and over-the-counter cleared commodities,” according to the statement, as well as “real-time risk management across asset classes; tailored post-trade services; proximity and colocation services; and state-of-the-art front-, middle- and back-office solutions for sell-side clients wanting to outsource technology and facilities management.”
Singapore Exchange Using Options Technology’s Services
The Singapore Exchange is using the services of Options Technology, a provider of managed colocation and private cloud services for capital markets, officials say.
The deployment marks the vendor’s expansion into the Singapore market. “The expansion into SGX is part of an ongoing, global initiative to bring Options sales, operations, account management and support teams closer to key customers,” according to a company statement.
“We have worked closely with MAS (The Monetary Authority of Singapore) to ensure clients and partners in the region meet all relevant regulatory requirements and are pleased to have successfully onboarded several of the leading asset managers, systematic quant funds, and banks in the region already,” says Jun Ashida, managing director for APAC at Options, in a prepared statement.
The portfolio of services from Options targets “financial institutions trading across all asset classes including FX, Equities and Derivatives as well as application cloud adoption,” according to a vendor statement.
The Options managed colocation services are available at “40+ key trading venues across Europe, North America, South America, South Africa, Russia and Asia,” the statement also points out.
Its platform “provides ultra-low latency market data, connectivity and application hosting services at the source of liquidity,” the Options statement continues. Options was founded in 1993 as a hedge-fund technology services provider, per the statement.
MTS Markets Adds Senior Sales Manager
MTS Markets International, part of the London Stock Exchange Group, reports the addition of Daniel Pellegriti, a fintech industry veteran, as senior sales manager.
His mandate includes driving “further growth in the United States for its electronic fixed income all-to-all trading and connectivity platforms,” according to an MMI statement.
Pellegriti has “20 years of market experience across fixed income cash, derivatives and structured products,” according to the statement, which also notes that he has held “fixed income sales and trading positions at Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Santander and, most recently, Algomi Corp. His experience includes client relationship management, business development, product management and trading operations in fixed income and financial technology.”
MMI is the U.S. unit of MTS Group.
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