Cantor Fitzgerald Charges into Transition Management

Cantor Fitzgerald has revealed its intentions for the depleted transition management market, and they’re serious. 

The New York-based brokerage and capital markets investment bank today announced the hiring of four senior staff members to build out its transitions—or “portfolio solutions”—business. 

Cantor Fitzgerald pulled all four new hires from the detritus of JP Morgan’s transition management program. 

Evenly split between the New York and London offices, the new additions are to report to division head Michael Gardner. Cantor scooped him up just four months ago to lead the nascent unit, following JP Morgan’s exit from transition management and the dissolution of Gardner’s team. 

In May 2013, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse began shuttering their transitions services, shortly followed by ConvergEx. BNY Mellon followed suit less than a year later, leaving the market without three of its largest players.

Cantor has reassembled many of Gardner’s former staffers, drawing all four new hires from the detritus of JP Morgan’s transitions program. The group of industry veterans have experienced handling some of the largest and most complex portfolio changeovers the sector has witnessed, according to their once-again boss. 

Gardner’s former deputy Filip Skala will return to that role, newly appointed as Cantor’s US division head. Kenneth Wong—ex-JP Morgan reporting specialist—also joins the New York office as a senior vice president and portfolio manager. 

More familiar faces are to fill the London unit. After many years on the JP Morgan transitions trading desk, with Cantor Khairul Hussain makes a climb to director of IT for the business line. 

Finally, the new market entrant said it hired Jemma Broadgate to lead institutional sales from the UK. She shares a corporate pedigree with her reunited team members, having spent eight years in sales with the financial giant, culminating as head of investor services for UK pension funds. 

“These appointments demonstrate our ability to attract exceptional talent across the industry,” Cantor’s Chief Executive Shawn Matthews said in the announcement, highlighting the firm’s “continued commitment to providing clients with top notch service.”