John Byrne Steps Down as CEO of Information Mosaic
John Byrne, former CEO,
Information Mosaic
The founder of Information Mosaic John Byrne has stepped down from the post of CEO for the post-trade services provider in order to make way for a new CEO, confirms Gerard Bermingham, senior vice president, business strategy for Information Mosaic.John Byrne,former CEO,Information MosaicByrne, who has served as CEO for 14 years, will stay on as non-executive vice chairman for the company’s board. Ulrich F. Kunz will take the reins as interim CEO and chairman until a new CEO is found, Bermingham says.
In addition, Kevin Cullen is no longer communications and marketing director as the vendor shifts its marketing and public relations efforts to Europe, Bermingham says.
“The biggest change is that John Byrne is no longer the CEO. He has stepped down and has taken the role of deputy chairman for Information Mosaic,” Bermingham says. Byrne stepped down the week of August 19 and Cullen left the firm at the end of July.
The now-former CEO had been considering the change for a while, Bermingham says. “He felt it was the right one to make in the life of the organization. He felt the need to step down and allow for a new CEO to come in and help us in that area. It’s been quite a positive move for the organization,” he says.
Byrne, who has been with the company for 16 years, has more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry. He co-founded one of Ireland’s first university campus companies in 1985 directly after graduating as an electronic engineer and successfully building and then selling this business. “It was a tough decision for him but he felt ultimately it was the right one to make,” Bermingham says.
Cullen has been with the company for the past decade and has done “an exceptional job in the US,” and has been “an excellent ambassador in the US,” Bermingham says. “We’ve centralized a lot of the marketing and PR back into Europe, which is the main reason for Kevin going from the company.”
Cullen’s marketing responsibilities will revert to Ken Hartlage, head of product management and marketing, and PR oversight will be handled by Hudson Sandler in the UK, Bermingham says. “We’re continuing to grow as an organization,” he adds. The company will be considering expansion into Asia and supporting its growth in North America by adding staff.
ConvergEx Names a CIO and Expands Clearing Business
Gary Ardell, chief information officer, Convergex
ConvergEx Group has promoted Gary Ardell to chief information officer, say officials at the brokerage and trading-related services vendor. Ardell will continue to serve as head of business strategy development and head of the financial engineering and advanced trading solutions unit. He will also join the executive committee.
As CIO, Ardell is responsible for the technical infrastructure, software development and business processes of ConvergEx Group and for directing company resources in support of accelerating new product development and innovation, officials say. Prior to joining ConvergEx Group in 2006, Ardell served as the head of financial engineering at Fidelity Capital Markets where he led Fidelity’s algorithmic trading products.
ConvergEx Group has also expanded its institutional clearing business with additional capabilities ranging from collateral optimization to extensive securities lending services.
The expansion of the institutional clearing business is being overseen by new hire Carmen Sturm, managing director, sell-side services. Sturm previously worked for SunGard as the chief operating officer for SunGard Brokerage and Securities Services. During her 13 years at SunGard, Sturm ran the institutional clearing business, including operations, sales and stock loans.
Sturm now reports to Barclay Frey, managing director and co-head of sell-side services at ConvergEx Group.
ConvergEx has also added to its equities finance desk via the following hirings:
- John Nacincik as senior vice president and head of the ConvergEx equities finance desk, from Knight Capital. Prior to that, he spent 24 years at UBS and five years at SunGard where he set up their equities finance solution, including a locates business;
- Karen deStefani, vice president, from SunGard where she spend five years running its large conduit book and supported the locates business. She was also with UBS for 20 years running its conduit book and ADR/ETF securities lending businesses.
- And Darryl Cooke, vice president, from SunGard where he spent four years in equities finance sales. His experience includes more than 15 years in securities lending operations at Charles Schwab, UBS and Knight Capital.
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