Former BofA Equities Head Joins Nomura

As Nomura Securities International continues to build out its U.S. presence, Ciaran O’Kelly has joined the firm as managing director and head of equities, Americas.

He will be overseeing all liquid markets, derivatives and prime services at NSI. O’Kelly joins Nomura from Bank of America where he spent seven years, most recently as head of global equities.

“In order for Nomura to achieve their global ambitions and realize their aspirations, the U.S. was the missing piece and consequently they are using this opportunity to aggressively built out the U.S. sales and trading business across all asset classes,” says O’Kelly.

Last fall Nomura acquired Lehman Brothers’ Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East business and began its drive to build a U.S. presence and ultimately a global operation.

“My responsibilities will include recruiting world class talent, branding Nomura with U.S. investors and clients and partnering with European and Asian businesses in order to achieve global leadership in all equities products,” he adds.

O’Kelly’s first order of business is formulating a “strategic plan” for the group. It’s his first week on the job, but he is reviewing options on how best to build out the business, looking at both traditional and non-traditional avenues.

He is also getting to know the teams and products at Nomura. “We have good momentum with new products and rolling out algorithmic and quant products and the goal is to continue to enhance the product offering over time.”

O’Kelly explains that the hiring has already begun with recent additions in the firm’s Global Program Trading, Derivatives Trading and Quant Analytics and Systematic Trading groups. “We’ll continue to hire in those areas as well as focus on building out the cash equities area,” says O’Kelly.

He adds that the U.S. piece of the puzzle satisfies client needs from a global trading perspective.

“Major clients view the markets holistically and they trade across time zones, around the globe,” says O’Kelly. “Therefore it’s beneficial that we have a strong European franchise, a top Asian franchise and then the infrastructure and momentum we get from those regions gives us an edge in establishing the U.S. business.”