Exchange-traded fund provider Spa ETF, which last month launched six fundamentals-based ETFs on the London Stock Exchange, has opened an office in New York as part of the expansion of the
Exchange-traded fund provider Spa ETF, which last month launched six fundamentals-based ETFs on the London Stock Exchange, has opened an office in New York as part of the expansion of the firm’s operations into the US market.
The New York office will be run by executive director Edward Feliciano alongside Donald Decker. They have joined Spa ETF from Prudential Equity Group and also both worked earlier at Dean Witter Reynolds before its merger with Morgan Stanley; two other staff were also with Prudential Equity Group.
‘We are excited about Spa ETF expanding operations in the US on the heels of listing our ETF products on the London Stock Exchange,’ says co-founder and chief executive Daniel Freedman.
‘We welcome Edward Feliciano who has joined our firm to lead our US operations working in conjunction with Donald Decker, Michael Miranda and Ryan Grosdider to drive our growth.’
Feliciano, 42, was a vice-president in the institutional equity sales department at Prudential Equity Group, where he held various senior management positions in the equity research division and equity sales department. As assistant vice-president for equity marketing at Dean Witter Reynolds, he was responsible for implementing and establishing equity marketing for the financial institution group.
Decker, 35, was a vice-president in the equity advisory services at Prudential Equity, having previously helped drive Prudential Securities’ retail equity sales in the central US and Midwest. He worked in the corporate finance group at Dean Witter Reynolds and in the equity marketing division at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, where he helped to co-ordinate marketing of proprietary equity portfolios within the retail branch system.
Miranda, 34, also joins from Prudential Equity, where he was a sales associate in the institutional equity sales department, developing strong relationships with analysts and traders. He was previously an associate in the investment research department at PEA Capital, where he worked with portfolio managers and research analysts on the Pimco Innovation Fund. Earlier Miranda was an associate in the portfolio management division at Oppenheimer Capital supporting mid-cap portfolio managers.
Grosdidier, 25, was an analyst in their capital markets intelligence department at Thompson Financial Corporate Services Group, where he provided equity investor relations consulting to corporate investor relations directors and senior executives. Previously he was an associate equity research advisor at Prudential Equity Group, where he worked directly with the Wachovia retail sales force regarding investment strategy.
‘Our team is extremely excited to join the firm and see a wonderful opportunity with ETFs in the future,’ Feliciano says. ‘We believe that our team will be instrumental in growing the Spa business.’
Spa ETF is an affiliate of London & Capital, a specialist provider of investment products. Its fundamentals-based ETFs use the MarketGrader computer-driven analysis programme to evaluate the US economy, 10 economic sectors and 130 industries, and review some 5,700 U.S.-listed companies, including virtually all securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq (excluding OTC bulletin board stocks but including 400 American depository receipts).
