John Bates Takes on CTO Post for Big Data at Software AG
Software AG has appointed Dr. John Bates to the position of chief technology officer (CTO) for the Intelligent Business Operations and Big Data division, officials confirm. Bates who assumed his new post in July will also serve as a member of the group executive board.Previously, Bates was executive vice president and corporate CTO for the complex event processing (CEP) vendor Apama, a division of Progress Software that was sold to Software AG over the summer.
At Apama, Bates was responsible for the unit’s market strategy and technology vision. He was also co-inventor of the patented CEP technology. In addition, he helps raise $19 million of venture capital and was instrumental in the sale of Apama to Progress in 2005, officials say.
He has also served as general manager for the Apama Division, overseeing divisional P&L including sales, marketing, products and consulting services. In three years, Bates grew revenue by more than 300%, officials say.
Prior to 2000, John was a tenured academic at Cambridge University in the UK where he led research into distributed computing systems.
Please see an exclusive FTF News Q&A with Bates here.
Growth Spurs Gresham to Have In-House General Counsel
Reconciliation vendor Gresham Computing has appointed Jonathan Cathie to the position of general counsel, a step that reflects 
the vendor’s growth, officials say.
Cathie will oversee all contractual agreements involving Gresham, and will also support the business’s compliance and corporate administration functions. He will report to Rob Grubb, chief financial officer, and Chris Errington, CEO at Gresham, officials add.
Cathie joins Gresham from technology law firm Manches LLP where he held the role of senior associate solicitor. Prior to that, he spent five years at Shoosmiths LLP where he specialized in corporate finance, officials say. Before qualifying as a solicitor, he worked in the technology sector as an integrated circuit designer and architect for Philips Semiconductors (now NXP).
Black River Fills New Post for Client Management
Black River Asset Management, an alternative asset management firm, has named Clara Kim to the new position of managing director, marketing and strategic client management for North America, officials say.
Kim will oversee existing investor relationships and will develop new relationships for the firm, officials say. She will join Black River later this month and be based in the firm’s New York office.
Prior to joining Black River, Kim held senior client relationship management and new business development positions at alternative specialists Lucidus Capital Partners, Perella Weinberg Partners, Atticus Capital and Greylock Capital Management, officials say. She has more than 15 years of experience working with institutional investors, including corporate and public pensions, foundations, endowments and sovereign wealth funds.
Reporting to James Gruver, global head of investor relations, Kim will work closely with Black River’s investment teams. She will also partner with prospective clients to match their needs with Black River’s capabilities, officials say.
Black River is an independently managed subsidiary of Cargill, a provider of food, agricultural and industrial products and services. Black River currently has in excess of $6 billion in AUM.
Liquid Holdings Grows Sales Team
Jim P. Lee,
chief administrative officer,
Liquid Holdings Group
Liquid Holdings Group, a vendor of cloud-based platforms for real-time risk, reporting and shadow accounting, has hired Ralph Lafferty, formerly of Eze Software Group, to be its head of West Coast sales, and financial services veteran Jim P. Lee as chief administrative officer, officials say.
Prior to joining Liquid, Lafferty was director of new business sales at Eze Software Group. Previously, he was head of systems research at Carbon Based Consulting. He has held equity trader and risk management positions at SunGard Data Systems, Worldco Financial Services, and Hold Brothers Investment Services.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lafferty will focus on hedge funds on the West Coast that need platform solutions for trading, risk management, reporting, broker reconciliations, corporate actions, and security master maintenance.
Lee was formerly chief information officer with both Endurance Specialty Insurance and Marsh & McLennan Companies. He was also executive director, chief information officer of the Americas and head of Managed Accounts Operations in the Americas for UBS Global Asset Management. He began his career in management consulting with IBM Business Consulting Services division.
As CAO for Liquid, Lee will oversee Liquid’s roster of clients via an activation and on-boarding process as each client goes live on the Liquid platform. He will also drive the vendor’s corporate technology infrastructure and operations. He will also contribute to the technology strategy and execution model in support of the Liquid platform, officials say.
ITRS Hires Two from Fidessa
Performance monitoring and management technology vendor ITRS Group has expanded its global business development team by hiring two former sales employees from Fidessa, say ITRS Group officials.
ITRS has appointed Fidessa’s former enterprise sales director Angie Walker to be its new global head of 
sales, officials say. In addition, Fidessa’s former head of business development Ian Salmon has joined ITRS as global head of business development.
The hiring of Walker and Salmon is essential for the next phase of the company’s global growth, say ITRS officials. ITRS has offices in London, New York, Hong Kong and Manila.
MarketAxess Adds Ex-JP Morgan Banker to its Board
Market data and post-trade services vendor MarketAxess has added a former vice chairman of investment banking at JP Morgan and Co. William Cruger to its board of directors, officials say. Cruger has previously served on the boards of Archipelago, Credittrade and Capital IQ.
At JP Morgan and Co., Cruger was responsible for overseeing key client relationships on a global basis. He has also held several senior positions at JP Morgan, including managing director in the financial institutions group from 1996 to 2011.
During this time, he oversaw the rationalization of the firm’s private equity investments in trading platforms and related ventures at Lab Morgan from 2000-2001. Cruger also ran the firm’s investment banking practices in Japan from 1991 to 1996, Latin America from 1989 to1991 and Emerging Asia from 1984 to 1988.
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