Tora Expands into Liquidity Services

Tora has expanded its trading group to include liquidity services across Asia and hired two Asia-Pac trading veterans to head up the new initiative.

The new offering will leverage Tora’s Compass EMS/OMS, Tora Alpha suite of algorithmic trading strategies and Tora Clearpool electronic OTC marketplace for off-exchange liquidity to deliver a liquidity offering focused on best execution.

The new liquidity services business will be led by Rob Santos, who will focus on the pan-Asian markets, and Khahlil Kirtman, who will focus on the Japanese markets.

In a statement, Robert Dykes, CEO of Tora, said, “Both Rob Santos and Khahlil Kirtman are highly experienced trading professionals whose deep Asia expertise and client relationships will greatly complement our existing business. With the addition of this team to our current trading operations, we will be able to expand our footprint and better serve both long-only and hedge fund clients.”

He added, “Rob’s experience in pan-Asian markets combined with Khahlil’s knowledge of Japan is a perfect combination to assist clients no matter which markets they trade. I look forward to working with the team as we continue to grow our liquidity services group.”

Santos was previously executive director at Morgan Stanley where he served as Head of Sales Trading for Non-Japan Asia Equity. Kirtman joins Tora from Goldman Sachs where he was most recently Head of the International Sales Trading Desk.