Baird Hires Christopher Yuknek as Program Trader

Baird has, the employee-owned, Milwaukee-based financial services firm, hired Christopher Yuknek, as a program trader in its Stamford office.

Yuknek brings more than 25 years of industry experience to Baird. Previously, he was VP of portfolio sales and head trader of the agency desk at Prudential Equity Group in New York. His career includes equity-trading positions at ABN Amro, PaineWebber Inc., Cantor Fitzgerald, and Kidder Peabody& co.

“We are very pleased to have Chris as part of the Baird team,” stated Emil Skulski, Baird’s director of program trading, who joined the firm in late 2009 to spearhead the expansion of Baird’s program trading capabilities.

Baird’s equity trading services focus on providing best execution, anonymity, responsive service, and a broad array of trading products. In addition to program trading, Baird offers traditional high-touch equity trading and algorithmic trading as well as CSA and soft dollar execution. Baird makes a market in over 1,700 stocks.

According to the release, Yuknek’s addition underscores the continued growth of Baird’s Institutional Equity Services business, which posted its 15th consecutive year of record revenues in 2009, despite the turbulent market environment.

Earlier this year, Baird established an exclusive partnership with Fox River Execution to provide algorithmic trading capabilities to Baird’s institutional clients, opening a new state-of-the art trading floor, and expanding the team with multiple institutional traders and sales people in both the U.S. and Europe.

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio