People Moves: Liquidnet, Quandl, State Street, CloudMargin, Greenwich Associates, Mediant, GLMX

Liquidnet Appoints Steven Nichols as Head of NLP and Unstructured Data 

Liquidnet has appointed Steven Nichols head of natural language processing (NLP) and unstructured data.

In his new role, he will guide the strategic direction of the NLP team while serving as one of the leaders on the Liquidnet data science team.

Nichols joined Liquidnet through Liquidnet’s 2019 acquisition of NLP technology company Prattle, where he was a director of data science. He has helped develop Liquidnet’s NLP capabilities and its integration into the Liquidnet Investment Analytics product suite, combining artificial intelligence (AI) tools like machine learning and NLP with traditional and alternative data.

In the new role, he will report to Liquidnet’s chief data scientist, Tom Doris.

Liquidnet has also announced the appointment of three new data scientists, Dr. Nicholas Burtch, Dr. Anthony Schramm, and Yusong Liu, to its team.

Nasdaq’s Quandl Announces Hamza Khan as Head of European Data

Nasdaq’s Quandl, a provider of alternative and financial data, has hired Hamza Khan as head of European data.

Khan, who is based in Amsterdam, will lead the organization’s data strategy in Europe and help expand its presence in the European market.

Khan was formerly the CEO and founder of Suburbia, a technology company that specializes in alternative data solutions. Prior to founding Suburbia, he was the head of commodities strategy at ING.

State Street Appoints Rick Lacaille to Lead Company-wide ESG Program

State Street has appointed Richard Lacaille to the newly created role of senior investment advisor.

In his new role, Lacaille will provide enterprise-wide leadership of the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) solutions, services, and thought leadership across all of State Street’s businesses. Lacaille will report to Ronald O’Hanley, chairman and CEO of State Street Corporation.

The organization has also promoted Lori Heinel to global chief investment officer for State Street Global Advisors.

Heinel joined State Street Global Advisors in 2014 as chief portfolio strategist and has previously served as deputy global chief investment officer since 2016.

In her new role, Heinel will oversee the full spectrum of investment capabilities from index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to active, multi-asset class solutions and alternative investments. She will lead an investment team of more than 600 professionals globally. Heinel will report to Cyrus Taraporevala, president and CEO of State Street Global Advisors.

Mario Platt Joins CloudMargin as Vice President, Head of Information Security

Mario Platt has joined CloudMargin as vice president, head of information security.

Prior to joining CloudMargin, Platt provided information security and data protection consultancy services to a variety of UK-based organizations through Privacy Beacon, a firm he founded in 2018. He has also work in security-related roles at Dixons Carphone Group, Three UK, and Vodafone UK.

Greenwich Associates Taps David Easthope for Senior Advisor Role 

Greenwich Associates has appointed David Easthope as a senior advisor for its market structure and technology team. 

In the new role, Easthope will lead the market structure and technology team’s efforts in capital markets fintech, market data, and analytics. Easthope joins Greenwich Associates from Celent, a research and advisory company, where he led the firm’s capital markets practice.

Mediant Announces Chris Nobles as CTO

Mediant, a provider of investor communications technology and technology-enabled solutions to banks, brokers, corporations, and funds, has appointed Chris Nobles as its new CTO.

In the new role, Nobles will oversee the ongoing expansion of Mediant’s technology platform.

He joined Mediant at its inception in 2002 and led the development of broker advisor and investor user interfaces at the firm.

GLMX Appoints Lauren Carroll as General Counsel and CAO

GLMX has appointed Lauren Carroll as general counsel and chief administrative officer.

Carroll will be based in GLMX’s New York office and will be responsible for providing strategic legal advice and direction for the global business.

She joins GLMX from MarketAxess, where she was general counsel for LiquidityEdge, the MarketAxess rates business, and assistant general counsel for the firm. Before MarketAxess, she held various senior and general counsel positions at Icap, MyTreasury, and R3.