BTIG opens Melbourne office

BTIG Australia has set up a Melbourne office hiring two executives from AustralianSuper and VFMC to lead the new operation.

Joe Mahony and Drew Forrest will join BTIG as managing directors.

Initially, Mahony and Forrest will be responsible for building out the Asia-Pacific leg of BTIG's global portfolio trading and ETF trading businesses.

BTIG said the two executives bring close to 25 years of combined experience with two of the largest asset owners in the region, Victorian Funds Management Corporation and AustralianSuper.

The Melbourne office marks the firm's second in Australia and 20th worldwide.

BTIG's offices in Sydney will continue to serve as its headquarters and centre of operations in Australia.

Mahony most recently was a senior manager within trading and execution at AustralianSuper.

Previously, he was a director of institutional sales at UBS.

Earlier in his career, he was a vice president at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

For his part, Forrest served as portfolio manager and dealer at VFMC for 18 years.

He also worked at National Australia Bank and CUSCAL.

Lee Mitchell has also joined as a director.

Before this appointment, Mitchell was a director of event-driven sales trading at Société Generale.

He is a former co-founder and chief executive of SKX at Smartkarma Innovations and the director of special situations at Religare Capital Markets.

Mitchell is a former director of special situations at Aviate Global Asia and head of sales trading at Churchill Capital.

"Given Drew, Joe, and Lee's experience, we expect they will have a positive impact on our business and better position us to support the objectives of clients in the region," said Richard Jacklin, chief operating officer of BTIG Securities.

"By expanding the resources available to clients, we will enhance local coverage and help drive growth throughout Australia and beyond."

"We are confident that the opening of our Melbourne location will create new opportunities for clients and the firm throughout Asia-Pacific as well as our offices worldwide," added Andrew Dalgleish, co-head of BTIG Asia-Pacific and chief executive of BTIG Australia Limited.