Legg Mason - History

Important Milestones

1899: Forerunner to Legg & Co., George Mackubin & Co. is founded in Baltimore.
1962: Raymond A. Mason, a Virginia broker-dealer, incorporates Mason & Company, Inc. in Newport News.
1970: Mason & Company and Legg & Company merge to form Legg Mason & Company.
1973: Legg Mason acquires Wood & Walker Co., a New York broker-dealer, forming Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.
1979: Company introduces the Legg Mason Cash Reserve Trust, its first mutual, money-market fund.
1981: Legg Mason, Inc. is incorporated in Maryland as a holding company for its subsidiaries, including Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.
1982: Legg Mason Fund Adviser, Inc. is created to manage Legg Mason Funds and the Legg Mason Value Trust is introduced as the company's first equity mutual fund.
1983: Legg Mason, Inc. goes public and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1990: Legg Mason enters the commercial mortgage banking field by buying Latimer & Buck, Inc.
1995: The company establishes an overseas office in London.
1996: Legg Mason acquires Bartlett & Co. and Lehman Brothers Global Asset Management Limited.
1998: Company moves headquarters to Light Street in downtown Baltimore.


Legg Mason traces its beginnings back to 1899, when George Mackubin founded an eponymous brokerage firm in Baltimore. Mackubin soon hired 19-year-old John Legg Jr. for a low-level position. Legg became a partner by 1904 and gained sole control of the firm 45 years later. In 1970 Legg & Co. (the firm was renamed when Legg and Mackubin split and again after Legg's death in 1963) merged with Mason & Co., a brokerage founded by Raymond "Chip" Mason.


Chip Mason and some associates had formed Mason & Company in 1962, in Newport News. Mason wsa was only 25 at that time. He had entered the world of securities in 1959 in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia, where his great uncle and uncle ran Mason & Lee, a small brokerage firm. Mason was able to open his own company wtih $200,000 borrowed money. Among his friends was James Brinkley, who later ran Legg Mason's retail brokerage operation.

Mason guided his young business through a successful beginning and healthy early growth. By 1970, Mason & Co., with 60 brokers, was operating six offices, including four branch offices in Virginia and Washington, D.C. It also had drawn the attention of Legg & Co., which was looking to expand into the South, and the two firms negotiated a merger to establish Legg Mason Co.


2008

January 28 2008:


Financial-services provider Legg Mason on Monday said co-founder Raymond A. Mason stepped down as chief executive and president, handing over the positions to Mark R. Fetting.

Raymond A. "Chip" Mason will continue as nonexecutive chairman.

Fetting, 53, joined Baltimore-based Legg Mason in 2000. He was previously senior executive vice president, with responsibility for the company's worldwide mutual fund and managed account businesses.






Sources
http://jobs.nytimes.com/texis/company?compid=43133b7b57ce40

http://www.mutual-funds.biz/2008/01/28/news/companies/legg_mason_ceo/index.htm

Subprime lending - Articles

1. Speech of Chairman Ben S. Bernanke
At the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s 43rd Annual Conference on Bank Structure and Competition, Chicago, Illinois
May 17, 2007
The Subprime Mortgage Market

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20070517a.htm


2.JEC Senate report
http://jec.senate.gov/Documents/Reports/10.25.07OctoberSubprimeReport.pdf


3. http://www.huduser.org/datasets/manu.html

4. March 16, 1998
FTC Testifies On Enforcement And Education Initiatives To Combat Abusive Lending Practices
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/03/subprime.shtm

5. Austin Focus Study
October 2002
Consumers Union Southwest Regional Office

http://www.consumersunion.org/finance/austin-rpt1002.htm

6.Subprime Lending and Alternative Financial Service Providers: A Literature Review and Empirical Analysis(March 2006, 186p)
http://www.huduser.org/publications/hsgfin/sublending.html
http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/sublending.pdf


7.Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Office of Thrift Supervision

Expanded Guidance for Subprime Lending Programs

Septermber 2001

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2001/pr0901a.html

8. The Evolution of the Subprime Mortgage Market
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, January/February 2006, 88(1), pp. 31-56.
http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/06/01/ChomPennCross.pdf

9.Risk and Return in Subprime Mortgages
By John H. Makin
Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007

http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.25678/pub_detail.asp

10.Testimony of Sandra F. Braunstein
Director, Division of Consumer and Community Affairs
Subprime mortgages
Before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives
March 27, 2007
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/braunstein20070327a.htm






Special Issue: “Subprime Lending: Empirical Studies” Introduction to the Special Issue
Journal The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics
Publisher Springer Netherlands
Issue Volume 29, Number 4 / December, 2004

Bear Stearns Mortgage Strategy

Bear Stearns was vertically integrated in the mortgage business -- they did origination, securitization, structured products, and sale of products to funds they operate.



October 10 2006
Acquisition Is Next Step in Bear Stearns' Strategy of Vertical Integration in Mortgage Business

NEW YORK -- The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC) has agreed to acquire ECC Capital Corporation's (NYSE: ECR) mortgage banking platform, the two companies announced today.

Under the agreement, Bear Stearns' mortgage bank subsidiary, Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corporation, will purchase the subprime mortgage origination platform of ECC Capital's subsidiary, Encore Credit Corp. Encore Credit, specializing in subprime mortgage origination, will operate as a separate division of Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corporation.

"The acquisition of ECC Capital's origination unit will give Bear Stearns a substantial stake in the subprime lending business," said Jeff Verschleiser, a senior managing director in the mortgage department at Bear Stearns. "We continue to diversify our product mix to give independent mortgage brokers additional options through Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corporation. With our advanced technology, sophisticated risk management systems and capital markets expertise, we are well positioned to continue to broaden our already formidable mortgage franchise."
This acquisition is the latest addition to Bear Stearns' market-leading mortgage franchise. Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corporation began operations in April 2005 to provide mortgage brokers with an easy, streamlined solution for financing home loans. With an innovative technology platform called BearDirect.net, it now lends some $600 million per month in primarily Alt-A loans. Coupled with Encore Credit's mostly subprime mortgage origination, the combined platform will generate over $1 billion in loans per month.

"Bear Stearns has been buying loans from ECC Capital for over three years and the performance of its loans has been favorable compared with other originators in the marketplace," Mr. Verschleiser said. "Encore has a very strong sales organization, and as part of Bear Stearns Residential Mortage Corporation we will be able to expand Encore Credit's product mix and improve its pricing and funding costs."

About ECC Capital Corporation
ECC Capital Corporation, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a mortgage finance real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates and invests in residential mortgage loans. Through its subsidiaries, ECC Capital offers a series of mortgage products to borrowers, with a particular emphasis on "nonconforming" borrowers who generally do not satisfy the credit, collateral, documentation or other standards required by conventional mortgage lenders and loan buyers. ECC Capital is currently structured to qualify as a REIT by managing a portfolio of nonconforming loans it originates or acquires. As a REIT, ECC Capital's principal business objective is to generate net income for distribution to its stockholders from the spread between the interest income on its assets in its portfolio and the costs of capital to finance its acquisition of these assets. For additional information about ECC Capital Corporation, please visit their website at www.ecccapital.com.


July 18 2007

Collapse of Bear Stearns Hedge Funds

Estimates show there is ``effectively no value left'' in the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund and ``very little value left'' in the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund, Bear Stearns said in a two-page letter. The second fund still has ``sufficient assets'' to cover the $1.4 billion it owes Bear Stearns, which as a creditor gets paid back first.

Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm, provided the second fund with $1.6 billion of emergency financing last month in the biggest hedge fund bailout since the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management LP in 1998. The losses its clients now face underscore the severity of the shakeout in the market for collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, investment vehicles that repackage bonds, loans, derivatives and other CDOs into new securities.





http://www.allbusiness.com/personal-finance/real-estate-mortgage-loans/3935237-1.html
http://www.moneyweek.com/file/31699/subprime-mortgage-collapse-why-bear-stearns-is-just-the-start.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&refer=home&sid=aQKWd1Xc2Vt4
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6336082/The-vertical-integration-strategy-as.html

History of Bear Stearns

An equity trading house was founded in 1923 by Joseph Bear, Robert Stearns, and Harold Mayer. It was started with $500,000 in capital. World War I, with its heavy demand for capital, had encouraged the public to enter the securities markets in mass, and the young Bear Stearns prospered in the frenzied optimism of those markets. The company began trading in government securities and soon became a leading trader in this area.

Trading fell off sharply in the 1929 crash. Though Bear Stearns suffered setbacks, it had accumulated enough capital to survive quite well: during this crisis it not only avoided any employee layoffs but continued to pay bonuses. As the country struggled out of the Depression, Bear Stearns entered into the bond market to promote President Franklin Roosevelt's call for renewed development of the nation's infrastructure through the New Deal.

During the period following Roosevelt's reform measures, the nation's banking system had accumulated a large amount of cash, since demand for loans was very low. At the same time, bonds were very cheap. Bear Stearns made its first substantial profits by selling large volumes of these bonds to cash-rich banks around the country.

By 1933 the firm had grown from its original seven employees to 75, had opened its first regional office in Chicago (after buying out the Chicago-based firm of Stein, Brennan), and had accumulated a capital base of $800,000. That year Salim L. "Cy" Lewis, a former runner for Salomon Brothers, was hired to direct Bear Stearns's new institutional bond trading department. Lewis, who became a partner in 1938, a managing partner in the 1950s, and then chairman, built Bear Stearns into a large, influential firm. An almost legendary character, Lewis's outspokenness and drive were what gave Bear Stearns the style that made it stand out on Wall Street for decades to come.

In 1948 Bear Stearns opened an international department, although it was not until 1955 that the firm opened its first international office, in Amsterdam. As its international business prospered, the company opened other foreign offices, in Geneva, Paris, London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.

Bear Stearns began expanding its retail business operations in the late 1960s, once again ahead of the trend. It opened an office in San Francisco in 1965, and between 1969 and 1973 opened offices in Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, and Boston. The company was very successful at attracting and managing accounts for wealthy individuals. These accounts also laid the foundation for the company's successful margin operations.

In 1975, when New York City was near bankruptcy, Bear Stearns took the risk by investing $10 million in the city's securities. Though it came close to losing millions of dollars, the firm eventually profited greatly from the gamble.

In May 1978, Alan "Ace" Greenberg became chairman of Bear Stearns, following the death of Cy Lewis. Greenberg had joined the firm as a clerk in 1949. He moved up rapidly within the company; by 1953, at age 25, he was running the risk arbitrage desk and by 1957 he was trading for the firm. By the time he became chairman, Greenberg had earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive traders on Wall Street. It soon became apparent that Greenberg's abilities equaled and perhaps surpassed those of his predecessor. From the time he took over as chairman until Bear Stearns went public in 1985, the firm's total capital went from $46 million to $517 million; in 1989, it was $1.4 billion.

Bear Stearns's willingness to take risks allowed it to venture into corporate takeover activity. The firm was described as a "breeding ground" for corporate takeover attempts. In 1986, Bear Stearns developed an option agreement that essentially allowed clients to buy stock under Bear Stearns's name, a tactic that facilitated corporate takeover attempts. The Justice Department and the SEC put an end to such tactics by filing suits against several of Bear Stearns's clients for "parking" stock.

In October 1985, Greenberg and the firm's executive committee announced that Bear Stearns would make a public stock offering in an effort to increase the company's ability to raise capital to finance larger trades. Part of the strategy included the formation of a holding company named Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. Shortly after the initial 20 percent offering, Bear Stearns reorganized from a brokerage house into a full-service investment firm with divisions in investment banking, institutional equities, fixed income securities, individual investor services, and mortgage-related products.

The company was hit hard by the 1987 Wall Street crash and eliminated number of jobs. When the economy fired up once again, revenues from its investment banking division and its brokerage commissions began to increase substantially. By 1991, Bear Stearns had become the top equity underwriter in Latin America.

In 1992, Bear Stearns saw earnings double to over $295 million. During the same year, the company managed more than $13 billion in initial public offerings (IPOs) for a variety of U.S. and foreign corporations. The company also had become a leader in clearing trades for other brokers and brokerages, and boasted one of the best ratios in the industry of analysts to brokers.

In 1993, James E. Cayne succeeded Alan Greenberg as CEO. As president, Cayne had helped to guide the company toward new opportunities for profit in investment banking and foreign markets. By contrast to Greenberg, whose executive style was known to be impulsive, Cayne had found success with a more cautious approach: he was known to avoid taking big risks and often to call upon consultants to enlighten his decision-making process. Together, Cayne and Greenberg were thought to make a powerful and well-balanced team. At the time of Cayne's succession to CEO, Greenberg still retained the title of chairman as well as the final word at Bear Stearns.

In the mid-1990s, Bear Stearns continued its concerted drive to establish itself in emerging foreign markets in Asia and Latin America. Toward this end the company opened a representative office in Beijing in 1994--a diplomatic as well as pragmatic move, as the addition of the Beijing office to Bear Stearns's Hong Kong headquarters was touted as an important demonstration of respect for and commitment to China as a formidable world financial power. Bear Stearns Asia Ltd. was significantly rewarded for this commitment in 1995, when it was chosen by Guangzhou Railway Corporation to be the sole lead underwriter for its public offering, a prime assignment in the eyes of Bear Stearns's competitors in Hong Kong.

Bear Stearns came under investigation in 1997 by the SEC for its role as a clearing broker for a smaller brokerage named A.R. Baron, which had gone bankrupt in 1996 and defrauded its customers of $75 million. In this case Bear Stearns was accused of overstepping its bounds as a clearinghouse by continuing to process trades, loan money, and extend credit to Baron in the face of mounting evidence that the firm, then in serious financial jeopardy, was manipulating stock prices and conducting unauthorized trading while raiding the accounts of its customers.

By the summer of 1999, after a two-year probe, Bear Stearns settled civil and criminal charges with the SEC and the Manhattan District Attorney, respectively, agreeing to pay a total of $42 million in fines and restitution. Bear Stearns refused to accept or deny guilt in the settlements, and made public assurances that the settlements were immaterial to the business and financial well-being of the company. Nevertheless, the scandal tainted the records of Greenberg and Cayne and adversely affected the image of the company. Shares of its stock generally traded at discounted prices for the next two years.

Bear Stearns moved aggressively to expand its London office, adding 100 new employees to the existing 600 in early 2000, and moved to grow its European presence.


In June 2001, at the age of 74, Alan C. Greenberg made announcement that he would step down as Bear Stearns's chairman, handing over his title and the reigns of the company to CEO James E. Cayne.

After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, securities markets had problems due to dotcom bubble burst and a recession. Bear Stearns--typically the last in the securities industry to cut jobs--succumbed to the need to reduce expenses by laying off 800 bankers, about 7 percent of its workforce. Ironically, some of the cutbacks included jobs in the London office, the office the company had worked so vigorously to expand a year earlier.

Bear Stearns operated on a different model than the rest of Wall Street, and this worked to the company's advantage in the early 2000s. The company had not been as competitive as some in advising on mergers and acquisitions in the late1990s, and as a result, it was one of the few firms to avoid significant losses from the industry-wide downturn in this arena. It maintained its emphasis on clearing operations. It took a special interest in the housing boom and increased its focus on packaging and selling mortgages, and selling bonds to investors. This strategy worked and Bear Stearns was the only securities firm to report a first-quarter profit increase in 2002, demonstrating its resilience and its competitive edge.

James “Jimmy” Cayne gave up control of the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank amid unprecedented losses from the subprime mortgage crisis in January 2008. He was succeeded by President Alan Schwartz as CEO. Cayne, became a non-executive chairman.



Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22546996/

Risk Management Systems Examination by SEC

Internal Controls/Risk Management Exams
An SEC internal controls examination begins with an overview of a firm's risk management system. We look at organizational structure and the process by which managers identify, assess, monitor and control all risks within the broker-dealer. These exams are conducted in conjunction with a review of the firm's compliance with the SEC financial responsibility rules, including capital rules. If a firm is not vigilant in a particular area and lacks controls, it will very likely have related deficiencies and violations in the area.

During our examinations, we are not looking for one particular set of policies and procedures. There is no single blueprint for risk management - it must be customized, reflecting the particular business operations of each firm. The design and implementation of a firm's risk management system must take into account such factors as - size and geographic dispersion, types of business activities, products offered and customers of the firm, operations and technology, legal and regulatory issues, market conditions, and other relevant factors. Moreover, risk management must be viewed as constantly evolving - as the environment changes, or as better practices come to light - firms should change their risk management systems accordingly to maintain the highest level of appropriate internal controls.

Our internal controls examinations include reviews of the following areas:

Senior management, to look for establishment of overall policies and active involvement in the process of risk management and the oversight of risk parameters and controls

Adequacy of resources and systems used for risk management, and compensation incentives that may adversely impact independence

Internal audit, to ensure that comprehensive and independent assessments get to management and that deficiencies are addressed in a timely manner

Market risk in trading activities and firm inventory, including VAR (value at risk), economic models, scenario analyses, stress testing, and back testing; we follow trades from the trading desk through the entire risk management system
Funding, liquidity and credit risks, including counterparty credit risk across all products and businesses, credit limits, pricing models, guarantees, collateral, margin, and settlement and legal risks

Operational risks, including segregation of duties, checks and balances, protection of customer funds and securities, operating systems, management information systems, management reporting, front and back office operations, security, contingency planning and disaster recovery

And finally, we look to see that new products and activities are assimilated into the risk management system in a timely and appropriate manner.
What are some weaknesses we have seen in internal controls system at firms?

Inattention by senior management

Allowing senior trading personnel to oversee risk management - the inherent conflict between profit and risk control

Failure to adhere to the firm's risk limits

Understaffed and inexperienced audit staff What are examples of sound practices?

Having the board of directors involved in risk management policy and oversight

Independent and experienced high-level risk managers

Periodic (daily) reconciliations of information data systems

Having an independent and centralized credit department to establish and monitor credit limits for counterparties across all businesses.
In conducting these reviews, our examiners are looking for areas where the firm's controls are weak or inadequate. We will conduct more thorough reviews in those areas and often find deficiencies and violations of laws and rules. Internal controls and effective risk management are particularly important when firms are more aggressively pursuing innovative ways to increase revenues and enhance profits. Under such conditions, we should all be more vigilant.

Therefore, the objective of this first type of comprehensive examination is to assess and improve where necessary the structure and operation of a firm's risk management processes and systems.

From the speech by Mary Ann Gadziala
Associate Director, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
on February 26, 2003

http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/spch022603mag.htm

The speech has also explanation how compliance is examined

Nasdaq risk management system
http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/content/ProductsServices/Trading/ACTWorkstation/risk_factsheet.pdf

U.S. Banker, produced the annual list of women bankers for its October 2007 magazine. It is also rolling out a ranking of the top women in non-bank finance jobs.


The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking - partial list

1. Heidi Miller
CEO
JPMorgan Chase Treasury and Securities Services
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

2. Carrie Tolstedt
Senior EVP, Community Banking
Wells Fargo & Co.

3. Barbara Desoer
Chief Technology and Operations Officer
Bank of America

4. Cece Sutton
EVP, Head of Retail
and Small Business Banking
Wachovia Corp.

5. Doreen Woo Ho
President, Consumer Credit Group
President, Corporate Trust Services
Wells Fargo Bank

6. Pamela Joseph
Vice chairman
U.S. Bancorp Payment Services
Chairman and CEO, NOVA Information Systems

7. Amy Brinkley
Global risk executive
Bank of America

8. Barbara Stymiest
Chief Operating Officer
Royal Bank of Canada

9. Mary Callahan Erdoes
CEO
JPMorgan Private Bank

10. Diane Thormodsgard
Vice chair and head of wealth management
U.S. Bancorp

The 25 Women to Watch - partial list

1. Sallie Krawcheck
Chairman and CEO
Citi Global Wealth Management

2. Karen Peetz
CEO, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporate Trust
The Bank of New York Mellon

3. Colleen Johnston
Group Head, Finance and CFO
TD Bank Financial Group

4. Avid Modjtabai
EVP and CIO
Wells Fargo

5. Ranjana Clark
Senior EVP and CMO
Wachovia Corp

The Top 20 Nonbank Women in Finance - partial list

1. Zoe Cruz
Co-President
Morgan Stanley

2. Paula Rosput Reynolds
CEO
Safeco

3. Susan Ulick
Senior Managing Director, head of equity investments
TIAA CREF

4. Anne Stausboll
Chief Operating Investment Officer
CalPERS

5. Clara Furse
CEO
London Stock Exchange

6. Anne Dias Griffin
Founder and Managing Partner
Aragon Global

7. Candace Browning
President, Global Research
Merrill Lynch

8. Bodil Arlander
Senior Managing Director and Partner
Bear Stearns Merchant Banking

9. Wei Christianson
China Chief Executive
Morgan Stanley

10. Abigail Johnson
Head of Fidelity Employee Services
Fidelity

Immediate source: http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/heidi-who-surveying-the-top-women-bankers/

Sogo Trade

http://www.sogotrade.com/Home/Factsheet.aspx



Mission
To help our customers build wealth through long term investment with Advanced, Low Cost, and Easy to Use investment strategies.



SogoTrade and Genesis

SogoTrade is a division of Genesis Securities, LLC. Genesis was established around 1999. Primarily, Genesis provides trade execution services and direct market access to high volume traders, large domestic and international hedge funds, and other stock market professionals. What this means is that Genesis executes orders for the elite segment of the trading population.

Genesis's business results in processing very large amounts of trades. In January 2006 alone, Genesis executed 1.5 Billion shares, or 2-3% of NASDAQ and 1-2% of NYSE monthly trading volume. Genesis's advanced trading platform is the only one rated Platinum by NASDAQ as of 01/2006.

Because of all this, Genesis's costs are low when it comes to trading. More trades mean less cost per trade. Genesis also performs many brokerage related procedures internally, thereby saving on operational costs.

That is what allowed us to launch SogoTrade. The idea behind SogoTrade is to give the average person the pricing that only the professional traders get. But why not just charge the same as everyone, and make more money? Instead, our philosophy is to pass the savings on to our customers, and to build a relationship with you over the long term.



SogoTrade Features

Fraud Protection: Your account in insured by the SIPC for $500,000, out of which a maximum of $100,000 protects cash and the remaining $400,000 protects securities.
Multiple Account Types: You can open Individual, Joint, IRA, and even ESA (Educational Savings) accounts.

Fractional Shares: Buy any share quantity, even a fraction of 1 share, depending on how much you can afford to invest, with scheduled investments.
Scheduled Investment Plans: Let us do the work for you. Set up automated fund transfers from your bank account, and tell us what to buy, as often as daily, for only $3 per trade.

Real Time Trades: With $2,500 minimum net equity, $3.00 per trade for Standard package, $1.50 per trade for Premium package with $10.00 subscription fee per month.
Easy to Use: Open an account in just 5 minutes. Do research. Manage your account from one screen. We built our website with one word in mind: Easy.




Technology

We are very experienced with trading technologies, having pioneered one of the fastest direct market access systems in the world. SogoTrade uses this technology to make trading easy, reliable, fast, and hassle-free.


Fee Structure

Premium Standard
Real-time Trades (Market or Limit) $1.50 (Premium) $3.00 (Standard)
Automatic Investments** $1.50 Pr.) $3.00 (std.)
Account minimums $2,500 (pr.) $2,500 (std)
Electronically Transfer Funds Free Free
Inactivity Fees None None
Subscription Fee $10 per month (Pr) None (std)



** Automatic investments are recurring or one-time purchases of stock. All sales of stock are made real-time and are subject to real-time commissions.





SogoTrade is a product oriented towards any kind of investor, whether a beginner or an advanced professional. Anyone who seeks to build a long-term, diversified portfolio without using expensive and complicated methods will feel at home with SogoTrade. Customers can utilize a broad range of investment products, from stocks to ETFs.

We offer the strategies of fractional share investing, compound return, diversification, and dollar cost averaging, which are essential in a long-term investment plan. Our transaction fees are some of the lowest in the industry, since we are affiliated with Genesis Securities, LLC., a self-clearing organization.

We never charge any account maintenance or inactivity fees.

There are two ways for our customers to invest. Set up an scheduled plan to do the investing automatically, or buy stock in real time with low commissions.




Executive Team

William Yeh: Chairman and CEO


William Yeh founded Genesis Securities, LLC in 1999. Genesis is the largest Asian owned broker/dealer that has traded the most Nasdaq volume. Genesis executes about 2-4% of Nasdaq daily volume and 1-1.5% of the NYSE/AMEX daily trading volume. In January 2006, Genesis traded over 1.6 Billion shares.

Genesis and its proprietary trading platform, Laser, has been awarded the prestigious NASDAQ Platinum Certification every quarter since inception of the award in Q1 2004. Laser is currently the only order entry platform certified Platinum. Genesis services professional traders, institutions, hedge funds, and other broker/dealers.

William Yeh was one of the top five Commodity Trading Advisors selected by MAR in 1997. William Yeh, with full fellowship, attended U.C. Berkeley and received MS in Mechanical Engineering in 1982. In 1981, he graduated with top honors in Physics and received Magna Cum Laude with BA in Physics and minor in Math from City University of New York, Queens College. He was the winner of the 1981 Paul Klappa Physics award and was elected to Sigma Xi, the National Scientific Research Society. He co-authored several papers on "Superconductivity."

Mr. William Yeh holds the following licenses: 3, 4, 7, 63, 24, 27, 55.

Mr. William Yeh resides in Mill Neck, NY with his wife and two daughters.

Genesis Securities: www.gndt.com



Senior Managing Directors

Tom Dittmer
Mr. Dittmer is the former Chairman of Refco. He retired from REFCO in 1998. REFCO is a commodities brokerage firm which he founded in 1969 with his stepfather Raymond E. Friedman, now deceased. In credit to his achievements, Dittmer is recognized in the Futures Industry Association "Hall of Fame", referring to him as "one of the legends of the futures industry" as well as citing Refco's success in being one of the first firms to garner an international presence. In 1981, he joined the elite club of thirty-seven dealers who buy Treasury securities for the Federal Reserve.

As a benefactor to education and public service, Mr. Dittmer currently serves on the Board of Directors at Providence St. Mel School on Chicago's west side and on the Sheriff's Council in Santa Barbara, California. Currently, he is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. In the past, he has served on the boards of Direct Relief International and the Lyric Opera in Chicago in addition to supporting the Art Institute of Chicago. His two children, Jason Dittmer and Alexis Dittmer, both reside in Santa Monica, California; his stepson, Robert T. Pittman, resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr. Dittmer is married to Sandy Hill.


Brad Reifler
Mr. Reifler is the principal founder and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pali Holdings, Inc., the group parent of Pali Capital Inc., a NASD member firm, Pali International, a FSA registered broker-dealer in the UK and Pali International Asia, a registered broker-dealer in Singapore. The Pali Group is a global boutique institutional trading and investment banking firm focused primarily on a money manager customer base. Now in its 12th year, Pali is unique in its capacity to service the execution needs of money managers seamlessly across the major financial centers around the world.

In 1982 he founded Reifler Trading Corporation, a firm engaged in the execution of global derivatives. In 1992, Mr. Reifler founded Reifler Capital Management, a commodity pool advisor focused on commodity-based and foreign exchange trading strategies. From 1995 until 2000, Mr. Reifler managed Refco, Inc.'s Institutional Sales Desk where he was responsible for sales and execution of global derivatives, foreign exchange, and creating custom investment programs for institutional and high net worth clients.

Mr. Reifler has served on multiple boards and advisory boards, Majestic Research; Foresight Research Solutions; Genesis Securities and Root Markets. Mr. Reifler is also a Trustee of the Millbrook School and chairs the finance committee.

Mr. Reifler received his degree from Bowdoin College, and his regulatory licenses include Series 3, 7, 63, and 24.

Mr. Reifler resides in Millbrook, New York with his wife and three children.

Pali Capital: www.palicapital.com


Bert Cohen
Bert Cohen has been a private investor and consultant since 1988. He was one of the founders of Telerate Systems, Inc. in which provides information on the financial markets to institutions via tele-screens and was sold to Dow Jones Corp. in 1990 for $1.2 billion.

From 1973 to 1988, Mr. Cohen was an executive officer of Cantor, Fitzgerald & Co., Inc., Beverly Hills, California, serving as Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors from 1978 to 1988. He is Chairman of the Board of Euram.

Euram: www.euram.com


Paul Chu
Paul C.Y. Chu, a financier and one of the original investors in SINA Corporation, the largest internet portal in China, is a member of the board of directors of the Cathay Life Insurance Company (Taiwan's largest life insurance company), has been a member of the board of directors of Summit National Bank (a public traded company, SBGA) since May 1993, and is the Chairman of the Novax Group of computer software development companies. Novax was organized to provide financial management software such as accounting and point of sale for specific vertical market applicators.

Trained as an attorney at law and certified public accountant, Mr. Chu spent three years from 1976 to 1979 with Ernst & Young as an auditor and tax consultant. From 1980 to 1983, he worked for Amerex Trading Co. as President in charge of its Taiwan operation. From 1983 to 1987 he served as chief of investments for the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan responsible for attracting foreign investment.

Mr. Chu received his Jurist Doctor degree from Pace University Law School and his MBA in finance from Columbia University Business School. He graduated from Soochaw University in Taiwan with a B.A. in Economics.

Summit Bank: www.summitbk.com

Wall Street E - About the Company

http://www.wallstreete.com/

Securities offered through WallStreet*E, WallStreet Electronica Inc., member of FINRA ( Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), S.I.P.C., SIFMA
All accounts carried by Ridge Clearing & Outsourcing Solutions, Inc., member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC/SIFMA

For the tenth consecutive year, Barron's has ranked WallStreet*E the among the best online brokers -- And the biggest winners are our clients! If being among the best gives us the competitive edge imagine what it will do for you!

Muriel Siebert & Company - History

Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc., has been in business and a member of the New York Stock Exchange since 1967, longer than any other discount brokerage firm.

Muriel Siebert, our founder, chairwoman and president, was the first woman ever to become a member of the Exchange.

On May 1, 1975, the first day that New York Stock Exchange member firms were permitted to negotiate commissions, Siebert became one of the very first to announce that it would become a discount brokerage house.

In 1977, Ms. Siebert placed her firm in a blind trust for five years to accept an appointment as New York State’s first woman Superintendent of Banks, with responsibility for the safety and soundness of all banks in New York State. This was the highest position in banking supervision or regulation ever obtained by a woman at the time.

In 1982, when she returned, Ms. Siebert concentrated on growing the business into a unique entity among discount brokerage firms – a retail discount brokerage with an active capital markets division that provides high-quality brokerage services to institutional investors and investment banking services to corporations. In 2004, the firm substantially expanded the scope of its capital markets operations by enhancing its trading and underwriting capabilities with the addition of seven capital markets professionals. The investment banking team has acted as co-manager or underwriter in more than $50 billion of global equity offerings and $128 billion in global corporate bond offerings since January 2002, alone. Backed by the latest information technology and systems, our trading desk and investment bankers offer value-added services to some of the nation’s largest investment managers, corporations and public retirement systems.

Over the years, the close affiliation of the retail business with a capital markets group has given thousands of independent investors opportunities to purchase new-issue securities.

In 1996, the Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. LLC affiliate was established. This company provides tax-exempt investment banking and financial advisory services and has offices in Atlanta, Anchorage, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Oakland, Orlando, San Antonio, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Weehawken. It is the largest woman/minority owned and operated municipal bond firms in the U.S. and ranked one of the nation’s top 25 municipal bond underwriters, overall, for the past five years.

In order to take advantage of opportunities to expand by purchasing other organizations, Siebert completed a reverse-merger with an already existing public company in November, 1996. Since then, the renamed Siebert Financial Corp. has continued growing. Siebert is a Nasdaq-traded company under the symbol SIEB.

Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc., has been actively involved in the consolidation in the discount brokerage business in recent years and continues to well positioned as opportunities may present themselves going forward. In the 80’s, Siebert purchased the retail discount brokerage accounts of Bevill Bresler & Schulman, Inc., and Parr Securities Corp. In the 90’s, the firm purchased the retail brokerage accounts of William O’Neill & Co., the Los Angeles-based institutional equities and financial data firm which is the parent company of Investors Business Daily. In 1999, Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc., continued to expand by merging with Andrew Peck Associates, Inc., a privately held brokerage firm serving high net worth investors and headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Through its merger with Peck, Siebert established an operations center and offices in Jersey City.

In 2002, the firm purchased certain Florida-based retail accounts of TradeStation Securities and State Discount Brokers which Siebert serves through its Boca Raton branch. In 2003, the firm continued its expansion by purchasing the discount brokerage accounts and certain assets of Your Discount Broker, Inc., a Boca Raton-based firm that had been one of the few locally-owned discount stock brokerages in South Florida. In 2004, Siebert acquired the retail brokerage accounts of New York City-based Wall Street Discount Corp., a majority of which reside in the New York tri-state area and Florida where Siebert has a strong presence.

The company opened its first out-of-state branch in Beverly Hills in 1992 and its second in Boca Raton in 1994. Today, Siebert maintains its headquarters in Manhattan and branches in Beverly Hills, and Boca Raton, Naples, Palm Beach and Surfside, FL. With a large well-established retail account base, over 100 employees, and revenues greater than $31 million a year, Siebert continues to be in the forefront of change and innovation in the discount brokerage marketplace.

Optionsexpress About the Company

http://www.optionsxpress.com/


optionsXpress is a pioneer in online investing. This unique and progressive company is driven by a veteran management team dedicated to providing the self-directed investor with the best overall online trading experience and value.

The company has been lauded by the industry and the press as a model for online investing including being named Best Online Broker by Barron's in four of the last five years1.

At optionsXpress we're determined to constantly push this unique and powerful investing experience even further, and to build upon our remarkable successes through consistently delivering:

An award-winning trading platform1 – a one-stop destination for competitive stock, options and futures trading execution.
Practical, on-demand investing education.
Powerful, state-of-the-art analytical tools for enhanced evaluation.
Excellent, attentive customer service, available when you need it.


Feel confident when investing with optionsXpress. We currently have hundreds of thousands of customers who have placed their trust in us. We are also a member of SIPC, which provides up to $500,000 in account protection, and a ccounts at optionsXpress are automatically eligible for extended coverage up to $25,000,000 per account.




address:
311 W. Monroe Street, Suite 1000
Chicago, Illinois 60606

Tel: (312) 630-3300 | (888) 280-8020
Fax: (312) 629-5256

To contact the executive team, please send an email to: nedb@optionsxpress.com.


Financial Reliability

optionsXpress is a member of SIPC, which provides up to $500,000 in account protection against the financial failure of the Firm, of which $100,000 may be in cash. In addition, accounts are automatically eligible for extended coverage up to $25,000,000 per account, including SIPC coverage.

Firsttrade - About Firsttrade

http://www.firstrade.com/public/en_us/welcome/aboutfirstrade/

Established in 1985, Firstrade began as a discount brokerage firm serving the local community. Achieving steady and organic growth, the company caught sight of the benefits to be gained from tapping into the capabilities of the Internet. Truly a pioneer in online trading, Firstrade.com was launched in 1997 joining only a handful of other brokerage firms on the web.

Firstrade's commitment to offer the most for the least struck a chord with investors. Firstrade.com grew rapidly, providing self-directed investors with fast order execution, excellent customer service, and exceptional site performance. Major industry publications including Barron's, Forbes, and Smart Money have all rated Firstrade among the best online brokers for consecutive years.

Firstrade today continues to thrive on its fundamental value: Low Costs, Higher Standards. In 2005, Firstrade was named the "Best Deal" in online discount brokerages by Smart Money Magazine, and continued the streak in 2006 when Kiplinger's Magazine called Firstrade the "Clear Winner in the Mutual Funds Category" and "Top Clean-Hands Firm". The newly redesigned Firstrade website, built from the ground up using the latest technology, offers many new and exciting possibilities for our customers. You'll be hard pressed to find another brokerage firm which offers as many products and services as we do while offering such low commissions.

Scottrade - History

1980
Rodger Riney founds Scottsdale Securities in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1980. The first two branch offices open in St. Louis, Mo, and Phoenix, Ariz.


1981
Rodger Riney relocates Scottsdale Securities' headquarters to St. Louis, Mo.

1986
Scottsdale Securities begins to branch out with its third branch office in Dayton, Ohio.

1987
Scottsdale Securities becomes a self-clearing firm.

1990
Scottsdale Securities grows to 14 offices with new locations in Springfield, Mo.; Southfield, Mich.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.; Bloomington, Minn.; Irvine, Calif.; La Mesa, Calif.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Clearwater, Fla.; and Englewood, Colo.


1994
Scottsdale Securities is named on Inc. magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.

1995
Scottsdale Securities reaches 57 offices. Scottsdale Securities is named on Inc. magazine's 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America.

1996
Scottsdale Securities offers online trading to its already substantial customer base.

1999
Scottsdale Securities reaches 100 offices in September 1999 and opens 20 offices over the course of the year, the most in any year to date.

2000
Scottsdale Securities changes its name to Scottrade to reflect the domain name of its Web site, www.scottrade.com.

2001
Scottrade opens 21 new offices, reaching 147 by the end of the year. In September, Scottrade was named Highest in Investor Satisfaction Among Online Trading Services by J.D. Power and Associates.

2002
Scottrade opens 24 offices, including its 150th in March 2002. The firm opens its first Manhattan office in New York City in October. By the end of the year, Scottrade grows to 170 offices. In March and again in September, Scottrade was named Highest in Investor Satisfaction Among Online Trading Services by J.D. Power and Associates for the second and third consecutive times.

2003
Scottrade launches a new Chinese trading platform, Scottrade Chinese, available to customers in the United States, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In August, Scottrade reached another milestone, opening its one-millionth customer account. In September, J.D. Power and Associates named Scottrade Highest in Investor Satisfaction With Online Trading Services for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time.

2004
In February, Scottrade opened its 200th branch office. In March, Scottrade launched ScottradeELITE, an online trading platform for active traders. In September, Scottrade is ranked Highest in Investor Satisfaction With Online Trading Services by J.D. Power and Associates for an unprecedented fifth consecutive time.

2005
Scottrade celebrates its 25th year in business as a discount brokerage firm by offering a new flat-rate commission of $7 for all online market and limit orders. In October, Scottrade receives the J.D. Power and Associates award for investor satisfaction for the sixth consecutive time.

2006
Scottrade rings the closing bell on the NASDAQ on January 18 to commemorate the company's partnership with NASDAQ to offer NASDAQ TotalView to Scottrade's customers who use its active trader platform, ScottradeELITE.



2007
Scottrade becomes the online broker with America's largest branch network. Scottrade marks this milestone with the opening of its 306th branch office, in Canton, Ohio. In October, Scottrade is ranked Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Investing Services by J.D. Power and Associates for the seventh time.

Scottrade - About the Organization

As a leading online brokerage firm, Scottrade offers a full line of investment products, online trading platforms and market research tools to help investors take control of their financial future. Scottrade’s dedication to excellence is what truly makes us stand apart from other brokerage firms and better serve our customers, employees and communities.

Ways to Trade

Scottrade Web Platform
Scottrader Online Platform
ScottradeELITE Platform
Broker-Assisted Trading
Wireless Trading
Touchtone Trading

Top Products

Stocks
Options
Mutual Funds
Individual Retirement Accounts
Bonds
Fixed Income Investments



Scottrade wins the 2008 Customer Loyalty Award in the online brokerage category for the third consecutive year


Having a full line of products and services and an easy-to-use Web site keeps online brokerage customers loyal, according the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index



St. Louis – Feb. 28, 2008 – Scottrade, a leading branch-supported online brokerage, has won the Online Brokerage Category of the 2008 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index for the third consecutive year. Scottrade was ranked higher than other online brokers, including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, E*Trade and Merrill Lynch. Other brands that were No. 1 in their categories included Apple and Google.



In this year’s annual survey of 26,000 consumers, Brand Keys determined that Scottrade again “commanded the highest customer loyalty” in the online brokerage industry. According to Brand Keys, there are four drivers of loyalty in the online brokerage category and each are areas in which Scottrade excels. In order of importance, they are:



A full line of products and services
Ease of Web site operations
Customer service and editorial content
Depth and usefulness of data


“Online brokerage customers have high expectations – they want the products and services they need to make their own investment decisions, and they need an easy-to-use Web site so they can do that as quickly as possible,” said Chris Moloney, Chief Marketing Officer at Scottrade. “Scottrade offers exactly that, combined with award-winning personal customer service plus data and research that helps them take control.”



Brand Keys also noted that online brokerage customers have the highest levels of expectations regarding Web site usability than any other online category – more than the online books and music category, which was won by Amazon, and the online travel category, which was a first-place tie between Expedia and Orbitz.



“Our customers’ experience with Scottrade is very personal,” Moloney said. “They visit our Web site regularly, often daily, and make decisions that affect their futures – their retirement, their children’s college education, their plans for their dream house. They can’t be bothered with a Web site that is cumbersome; it has to be easy to use. Scottrade understands that and we’ve designed our trading platforms with that in mind.”



Scottrade also focuses on ease of use as it adds new features to its three online trading platforms. Recent examples include a new Mutual Funds Center, a new ETF Center, and a new Quotes and Research section on Scottrade’s Trading Web Site. In 2008, Scottrade will continue upgrading and adding features to its trading platforms, including new portfolio management tools that will make it easier for our customers to track their holdings.

The Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement survey asks customers to rate their relationships with 382 brands in 57 categories. The categories range from the airline industry to banking, from beer companies to car rental companies. The brand whose rankings come closest to meeting (or exceeding) those of the category Ideal is always the one whose customers will demonstrate the highest levels of engagement and loyalty over the next 12 to 18 months, according to Brand Keys.



The winners were named in Brandweek’s Feb. 18 issue.



In addition to the recognition from Brand Keys, Scottrade was recently named Highest in Investor Satisfaction with Online Investing Services by J.D. Power and Associates for the seventh consecutive time. In January, FORTUNE magazine named Scottrade one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America.



About Scottrade

Scottrade is a leader in online investing, serving individual investors who are comfortable making their own investment decisions. Scottrade is unique in the industry because it boasts low commission rates while offering the largest branch network among online brokerages, with 342 local branch offices nationwide. In October 2007, Scottrade was named Highest in Investor Satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates for the seventh time. Scottrade.com is the online trading site of Scottrade, Inc. and offers customers the convenience of placing many orders online for just $7 per trade. In addition to its online capabilities, Scottrade staffs each easily accessible branch location with a branch manager plus additional brokers and assistants. In January 2008, Scottrade was named one of FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America for the first time. For more, visit www.scottrade.com or www.scottrade.com/careers.

About Tradeking

http://www.tradeking.com/


TradeKing is a nationally licensed online broker with a mission to help investors become smarter, more empowered stock and options traders. We offer all clients the same fair and simple pricing - just $4.95 per trade, plus 65 cents per option contract- no matter how often they trade, or the size of their account.

SmartMoney August 2007 Broker Survey rated Tradeking as "Best Discount Broker" ( SmartMoney August 2007), based on: Commissions, Interest Rates, Mutual Funds, Investment Products, Banking Amenities, Trading Tools, Research, Customer Service.


Founders

TradeKing’s founders include the original management team from SureTrade Inc.


This team founded the online brokerage company SureTrade, Inc. in 1997, which is recognized as one of the pioneers of electronic trading. As a subsidiary of Quick & Reilly, SureTrade offered the cheapest online trading commissions at the time ($7.95) and helped create the active trading market.

Meet TradeKing’s founders:


Donato A. Montanaro, Jr. (Don) – Chairman & CEO

Recognized as a pioneer in electronic trading, Don was Founder and President of SureTrade, Inc., an NASD member brokerage firm and a subsidiary of Quick & Reilly. Under his leadership, SureTrade became profitable in 13 months and grew to be the 8th largest online brokerage firm worldwide. As special consultant to the American Stock Exchange (2002 – 2005), Don also conceived an innovative option product, the Fixed Return Option, due to be introduced by the Amex in early 2008. Don earned his J.D. from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.



Richard J. Hagen, Jr. - President & COO

Rich joined TradeKing from H&R Block Financial Advisors (“H&R Block”) where he was Head of Financial Advice Delivery. As part of his responsibilities at H&R Block, Rich led the firm’s online brokerage strategy and the integration of H & R Block’s online channel with its traditional branch-office-based business model. Prior to H&R Block, Mr. Hagen was at Foliofn where he served as Vice President of the firm’s retail brokerage division. Before joining Foliofn, Mr. Hagen succeeded Mr. Montanaro as President of SureTrade, where he was responsible for its operations and strategy. He also served on numerous committees and action groups within Fleet Financial, SureTrade's parent company, in developing Fleet's overall Internet strategy. Rich holds a B.A. in business and marketing from Southampton College.


Philip Claxton - Chief Financial Officer

Philip joined TradeKing from E*Trade Financial where he was the Senior Manager in charge of Financial Planning and Analysis for the US Brokerage. Prior to E*Trade, Philip served as Vice President of Global Internet Strategy for FleetBoston Financial, Vice President of Strategy for Quick & Reilly Group and Chief Financial Officer for Suretrade. Philip has received an MBA with a Finance concentration from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a BA in both Economics and Computer Science from New York University’s College of Arts and Science.




Thomas A. Desmond – Chief Growth Officer

Prior to joining TradeKing, Tom was a co-founder, Partner and Managing Director of Baird Venture Partners, LLC, a venture capital firm based in Chicago, IL. Prior to Baird Venture Partners, Tom served as a Vice President in Robert W. Baird & Co.’s Investment Banking Group. Tom was also a Senior Product Manager and Senior Analyst at Morningstar, Inc. and an Associate in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Investment Banking Division. Tom earned an MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and MA with high honors from Michigan State University and a BA, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame.

Roberto E. Donovan – Vice President Brokerage Operations & Client Experience

Roberto joined TradeKing from optionsXpress where he was Marketing Director. Prior to optionsXpress, Roberto was co-founder and CEO of SIM Monitor, the first online rating agency of Italian online trading services. Roberto started his career in the online trading industry as Director of Operations at Suretrade in 1997 and later moved to Merrill Lynch where he served as Operating Officer of Merrill Lynch Direct. Roberto holds a BA from Boston University and a post graduate degree in Economics from Italy’s Università degli Studi.


Kevin M. Corrigan – Vice President of Project Management

Kevin is an experienced Project Manager specializing in back office development for financial services companies. He was a Vice President – Web Development for SureTrade and is a Certified Project Manager (PMP). He conceived and launched an online trading platform used by Quick & Reilly and over 30 other brokerage firms.




John Dominic – Vice President of Operations

Before TradeKing, John was Director of Web Development at the American Stock Exchange. John managed the web technology transition from NASDAQ, which included launching three new websites. At SureTrade, he held the positions of Director of Brokerage Operations – Scranton branch, and Vice President of Business Development. Prior to that, he was a full service broker at Smith Barney. John holds a B.A. in Economics from Siena College.


Francesco Matteini – Chief Compliance Officer

Francesco was a Director in the Energy Trading Group at Cinergy Corp., one of the nation’s leading energy trading organizations. He has 12 years of leadership experience in regulatory and compliance management. Francesco holds a JD from Italy’s Università degli Studi and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University.



Christopher Sandel - Vice President Special Projects

Before joining TradeKing, Sandel was a senior vice president with Penson Financial Services, Inc., where he was responsible for driving clearing services, new business development and new product development for the firm. Earlier, he was a managing director with ADP Clearing and Outsourcing Services with responsibility for the relationship management, service quality and sales groups. In 1997, Sandel joined Fleet Securities, Inc. as vice president and established its execution capabilities for both equities and options. He holds a B.S. from Saint John's University.


Brian Overby – Director of Education and Options Analyst

Brian has worked in the financial industry since 1992. Prior to joining TradeKing he founded Financial Coaching, Ltd., an investor education company. He also served as an option trading specialist for Charles Schwab, a senior staff instructor for The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and managed the training department for one of the world’s largest market makers, Knight Trading Group. Over the span of his career Mr. Overby has preformed more than 1000 seminars worldwide on option trading and composed numerous articles for investor trade publications. Brian has a Bachelor of Science degree in Implied Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point.
(Source; http://tradeking.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=20 accessed on 3-3-2008)



Board of Directors


TradeKing’s Board of Directors is made up of leaders from the Financial Services and Technology sectors. Together, they form a strong team committed to bringing TradeKing’s customers a unique and first-rate brokerage experience, backed by guaranteed customer service.



Donato A. Montanaro, Jr. (Don) – Chairman & CEO


Recognized as a pioneer in electronic trading, Don was Founder and President of SureTrade, Inc., an NASD member brokerage firm and a subsidiary of Quick & Reilly. Under his leadership, SureTrade became profitable in 13 months and grew to be the 8th largest online brokerage firm worldwide. As special consultant to the American Stock Exchange (2002 – 2005), Don also conceived an innovative option product, the Fixed Return Option, due to be introduced by the Amex in early 2008. Don earned his J.D. from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Michael Brown – Battery Ventures/General Partner


Michael Brown is a General Partner at Battery Ventures. Since joining Battery Ventures in 1998, Mr. Brown has made, or managed, a number of investments in the areas of financial services technology, enterprise software and business services. Mr. Brown currently serves on the board of directors of Fingerhut Direct Marketing, a privately held database marketing company, MRU Holdings, a publicly traded specialty finance company focused on the educational loan market, and OutlookSoft Corporation, a privately held company providing web-based business performance management solutions. In addition, he has been actively involved with Battery's investments in ChemConnect, The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (acquired by Euronext) and Pedestal, Inc. From 1996 to 1998, Michael was a member of the High Technology Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he worked on a variety of debt and equity financings and merger and acquisition assignments. Prior to joining the High Technology Group, he was a Financial Analyst within Goldman's Financial Institutions Group between 1994 and 1996. Mr. Brown graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a dual BS in Finance and International Business.

Brian O’Malley – Battery Ventures/Senior Associate


Brian is a Senior Associate at Battery Ventures, focusing his efforts on consumer internet and digital media investments. Before entering the venture world, Brian worked at several successful startups, including Bowstreet, Inc. (acquired by NYSE: IBM), Matrics, Inc. (acquired by NYSE: SBL) and Compoze Software (acquired by NASD: BEAS). Earlier in his career, Brian was at Ernst & Young's Center for Business Innovation and Motorola Computer Group. He received a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Brian mentors students in UC Berkeley's Center for Entrepreneurship Studies and is a judge in Wharton's Business Plan Competition.

Peter A. Ianello – OCA Ventures Partner/Co-Founder


Peter is a Partner and a Co-Founder of OCA Ventures and is the treasurer for the O'Connor Partners Investment Office. From 1995 to 1997, Peter was the President and Chief Executive Officer of SBC Capital Markets, Inc., the broker-dealer subsidiary of Swiss Bank Corporation. From 1979 until 1997, Peter was a General Partner and Member of the Executive Committee of O'Connor & Associates. Prior positions include Vice President of First Options of Chicago, Director of Surveillance for Chicago Board Options Exchange, Surveillance Department for the New York Stock Exchange, Surveillance Department and the research department of Loeb Rhodes & Co. Peter received a B.A. from Mount St. Mary's College in 1970. In addition, he is a Member of the Board of Trustees of Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart located in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Jerry Callaghan – Chairman – Legent Clearing Corp.


Jerry Callaghan is Chairman of Legent Clearing. In this role, he is responsible for the company’s strategic direction. Mr. Callaghan has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Legent, he was the Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns. He was also Managing Director of the trading services division at Lehman Brothers Inc. and President of Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc.’s securities processing group (SPG).

Guy Gibson – Chairman – United Western Bancorp


Mr. Gibson is currently Chairman of United Western Bancorp, Inc. (formerly known as Matrix Bancorp, Inc.) of Denver, Colorado (NASD: UWBK), having returned to an active role with the firm in 2005. Mr. Gibson is also the founder and has served as Chairman of G2 Holding Corp. since 2002. G2 owned and controlled Legent Clearing LLC, a securities clearing firm, until its sale in February 2005.

Mr. Gibson originally founded United Western Bancorp in June 1993. Mr. Gibson served as the President and CEO of United Western Bancorp from June 1993 through June 2002. During that time period, Mr. Gibson was responsible for strategic direction and determining what new product and business lines to add to the United Western Bancorp consolidated group. Mr. Gibson was also one of the original founders of Matrix Financial Services Corporation (a national mortgage bank) and served as its Chairman from 1990 through June 2002. He has extensive mergers and acquisition experience as well as material experience in integrating new acquisitions as a result of the numerous acquisitions made by United Western Bancorp during his initial tenure in active management for the company. Prior to founding United Western Bancorp, Mr. Gibson held the position of Account Executive with the investment banking firms of PaineWebber from 1987 to 1989 and Lincoln Financial Group, a Denver-based mortgage serving brokerage firm, from 1989 to 1990. Mr. Gibson received a B.S. in Finance from Bowling Green State University.

Richard J. Hagen, Jr. – President & COO


Rich joined TradeKing from H&R Block Financial Advisors (“H&R Block”) where he was Head of Financial Advice Delivery. As part of his responsibilities at H&R Block, Rich led the firm’s online brokerage strategy and the integration of H & R Block’s online channel with its traditional branch-office-based business model. Prior to H&R Block, Mr. Hagen was at Foliofn where he served as Vice President of the firm’s retail brokerage division. Before joining Foliofn, Mr. Hagen succeeded Mr. Montanaro as President of Suretrade, where he was responsible for its operations and strategy. He also served on numerous committees and action groups within Fleet Financial, Suretrade's parent company, in developing Fleet's overall Internet strategy.

Philip Claxton – Chief Financial Officer


Phil was Senior Manager of Planning and Analysis at E*Trade. He also served as Vice President of Global Internet Strategy for Fleet Financial Services, Inc, Vice President of Strategy for Quick & Reilly Group and Vice President – CFO for SureTrade.


Thomas A. Desmond – Chief Growth Officer

Prior to joining TradeKing, Tom was a co-founder, Partner and Managing Director of Baird Venture Partners, LLC, a venture capital firm based in Chicago, IL. Prior to Baird Venture Partners, Tom served as a Vice President in Robert W. Baird & Co.’s Investment Banking Group. Tom was also a Senior Product Manager and Senior Analyst at Morningstar, Inc. and an Associate in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Investment Banking Division. Tom earned an MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and MA with high honors from Michigan State University and a BA, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame.






Contact

Email
service@tradeking.com

Our goal is to respond to every email within 24 hours. To speed a response, summarize your inquiry in the subject area of the e-mail. (Example: "How do I exercise an option?" should be placed in subject line of the email). This will help us direct your question to the most qualified representative.

Telephone
877.495.5464 (Available 8am – 6pm ET, Monday - Friday)

Fax
561.988.0131

Mail
Send checks, forms and letters to:
TradeKing
PO Box 811690
Boca Raton, FL 33481-1690

Send overnight deliveries to
(No Saturday deliveries):
TradeKing
5455 N. Federal Hwy, Suite E
Boca Raton, FL 33487-4994