Quantitative Brokers Taps Roth for CEO, Ascher as Chairman

Roth, who was most recently CTO of IHS Markit’s equities division and a member of Almax Analytics’ advisory board, replaces Quantitative Brokers co-founder Christian Hauff, who will continue to serve as a member of the firm’s board and executive committee. Before joining Markit in 2016, Roth was managing director and global head of the Elektron data infrastructure offering at Thomson Reuters, prior to which he spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank in various roles, including managing director and global head of equity product development, where he was responsible for the bank’s Autobahn electronic trading platform.

Ascher, who has served as a member of Quantitative Brokers’ board for the past four months, was previously president and CEO of International Securities Exchange technology spin-off Longitude, and spent 11 years at parent ISE, including as chief strategy officer, during which time he also served as a board member at Hanweck Associates, Quadriserv and Direct Edge. From 2002 to 2003, he was CEO of Nasdaq Liffe Markets, and spent three years as executive vice president at Interactive Brokers, prior to which he spent 10 years at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, as vice chairman of the board, chairman of the executive committee, a board member, and an independent options market maker.

“The appointment of Ralf marks the next step in our plan and vision for QB’s growth,” Ascher says in a statement. “Advancements in trading strategies for futures and cash treasuries have driven more demand for QB’s products and services. He provides the executive leadership the firm needs to meet this demand and build on QB’s culture of innovation.”