People Moves: Theta, Google, B2C2, Tourmaline, and more

Theta adds Paul Flanagan as strategic sales advisor ahead of Apollo launch

Theta, a provider of buy-side trading technology, has appointed Paul Flanagan as strategic sales advisor, managing relationships with asset managers, hedge funds, fund managers, and pension funds. Flanagan joins Theta as it is due to launch its buy-side trading system, Apollo, later in 2021. Apollo is a cloud-native Software-as-a-Service super aggregator, designed from the ground up to address the gaps and challenges faced by firms as market structures and trading landscapes evolve.

Flanagan has worked in fixed-income sales for over 20 years and was most recently managing director for institutional investor sales at Lloyds Bank in London. His background also includes time at Societe Generale, HSBC, Citi, and Deutsche Bank in fixed-income sales management.

Cruz Informatics founder Philip Brittan returns to Google 

Crux Informatics founder and now-former CEO Philip Brittan has returned to Google as vice president of engineering for Google Workspace.

Brittan served as global head of business and product strategy for Google Finance and for Google Local Search quality, user experience, and infrastructure before founding Crux Informatics in 2017. His time in financial services also includes positions as chief technology officer and global head of platform for financial and risk at Thomson Reuters, now Refinitiv/LSEG.

He will continue to serve as an advisor to fintech startup incubator Sand Hill East and and will stay engaged with Crux at the board and general advisory level.

Nicola White appointed president of B2C2 USA

B2C2, a counterparty in the institutional crypto markets, has appointed Nicola White president of B2C2 USA. White joins B2C2 from Citadel Securities, where she was global chief operating officer of fixed income.

Prior to her time at Citadel Securities, White was global head of electronic markets within the fixed-income division at Morgan Stanley. Additionally, she was a TradeWeb board member as well as an alternate board member of NYSE Life.

Tourmaline adds Stephen Berte as managing director to establish Boston office

Tourmaline Partners, an outsourced trading solutions firm, has announced that Stephen Berte has joined the firm as managing director. Berte will establish Tourmaline’s Boston, MA, office.

Tourmaline recently announced the opening of a Dallas, TX, office and has added senior staff at the firm’s Stamford, CT, headquarters in an effort to enhance its trading, operations, and commission management expertise.

Berte most recently led business development and relationship management at Liquidnet with prior time as head of investments execution and global head of equity trading at Aberdeen Standard Investments and Standard Life Investments.

Transcend enlists Raj Patel to lead European sales and expansion

Transcend, a provider of analytics, optimization, and automation for collateral, liquidity, and funding, has enlisted Raj Patel to lead European sales, strategy, and expansion efforts. Based in London, Patel will help drive new customer relationships and deepen existing ones around the world.

Prior to joining Transcend, Patel was the chief operating officer and chief revenue officer of a macro hedge fund in London. He was formerly a managing director at Morgan Stanley, serving in various securities finance trading and management roles across New York, London, and Tokyo.