Merlin Securities has appointed Robert Garrett, former global head of execution services technology at Deutsche Bank, as the new chief technology officer of the firm. Garrett replaces Amr Mohamed, one of Merlins co-founders.
Bob has a proven track record of setting the strategic technology direction for major firms and managing the detailed aspects of developing and implementing solutions for sophisticated managers, investors and traders, says Stephan Vermut, founder and managing partner of Merlin Securities. Were delighted to welcome him aboard.
At Deutsche Bank, Garrett was most recently responsible for order management and execution, algorithms and crossing engines across all asset classes. Prior to that, he was global head of equities electronic trading technology. Before Deutsche Bank, Garrett ran the equity derivatives trading platforms (trading and risk) for Bank of America and subsequently headed the companys electronic trading IT organization. He spent 6 years as a technology consultant at Sapient, driving strategy and implementation projects. He began his career at AT&T as a systems developer and architect.
Merlin has secured its position at the leading edge of prime brokerage services, providing the most innovative and useful technology-driven solutions in the industry to more than 500 hedge fund clients, Garrett says. Im excited by the opportunity to continue this tradition and to further work on ways to meet the needs of our clients.
Mohamed left the firm to start a social networking site for financial services professionals, according to Ron Suber, senior partner and head of global sales and marketing for Merlin. This has been a natural progression [for Mohamed] and a transition for many weeks, Suber told Global Custodian.
Mohamed left the firm on good terms, Suber says; his social networking venture, which Suber and other Merlin executives say they may invest in, has been in the works for at least a year.
As CTO, Mohamed led Merlin to achieve the highest-ranked technology and reporting scores of Global Custodians most recent annual survey of prime brokers. Before Merlin, he worked at Banc of America Securities, according to his profile on LinkedIn.
Merlin is a different firm than people knew last year, Suber says.