Tourmaline Partners, a global institutional trading solutions firm, is expanding its Asia trading team through the opening of a new office in Sydney, Australia.
Tourmaline’s Australia office will be established by James Santo and Neil Hetherington, both hailing from Northern Trust, and joining Managing Director Chris Murphy in providing coverage across the region.
“We are pleased to welcome both James and Neil to the Tourmaline team. Together, they bring a wealth of expertise and industry experience serving the Asia-Pacific market, as we expand our global footprint,” says Aaron Hantman (pictured), Tourmaline’s Chief Executive Officer.
Expanding its reach with a third office that covers trading across Asia is part of Tourmaline’s growth strategy to both continue to improve the trading solutions that it offers clients as well as adding capacity to handle trades in these markets. Murphy noted, “Having boots on the ground helps us better support clients in the region as well as those trading Asia-Pacific markets from Europe and North America.”
“We are excited to join Tourmaline Partners,” said Santo, “Tourmaline’s unique structure and commitment to robust global coverage provide the right platform to help clients manage their trading around the clock and around the world.” Acting as Managing Director of the Sydney office, Santo brings 20 years of trading experience working with investment banks, having run hedge fund sales and trading desks at JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with particular focus on Pan-Asian event-driven opportunities and share-class trading.
“Also importantly, Tourmaline’s service model is well positioned to help our clients navigate a changing sell-side landscape. Unbundling will lead to a new framework for best execution. Having access to leading industry algorithmic tools, dark pools and over 350 global brokers will be paramount in representing our clients,” adds Hetherington, who will serve as Managing Director in Tourmaline’s Australian operations. Hetherington is responsible for trade execution within the Asia-Pacific region and brings over 10 years of equity trading experience, having previously worked for Bennelong Asset Management and Northern Trust covering a range of asset classes across Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the rest of Asia.
“Our new Australia office builds on the fantastic growth we have seen in the United States and Europe and the increasing demand for the kind of trading solutions and expertise that Tourmaline provides,” says Hantman. This new office is another step in our growth and I’m excited to have James and Neil join the other 32 Tourmaline employees, including our 26 senior traders, to serve our 300 institutional clients in a post MiFID II world.”
