TradeZero

TradeZero Taps Futu Alumni as CEO and COO of Securities Clearing Business

TradeZero announced the appointment of Ila Jehl III and Colette Rex today, two industry veterans with extensive experience in the global brokerage industry.

The New York-based online broker-dealer taps Ila Jehl as CEO of TradeZero’s planned securities clearing business. Previously, he worked as the CEO of Futu Clearing, a subsidiary of China-based online broker Futu Holdings, Ltd (Nasdaq: FUTU).

Prior to Futu, Mr. Jehl was founder and CEO of MB Trading in London and Canada. He also founded registered investment advisor KIP Partners and served as CEO of TradeOptimizer Group Inc., which managed the technology and algorithm systems for KIP Management.

Earlier in his career, Jehl had been a mainstay with clearing firm Penson Worldwide, where he held many senior roles for 12 years.

Ms. Colette Rex joins TradeZero’s securities clearing business as its first chief operating officer. The appointment helps lend her expertise on a variety of channels, drawing upon Rex’s over thirty-seven years of experience in clearing and brokerage operations.

Before the appointment, Colette served in a multitude of different roles, including COO of Futu Clearing and the EVP of Operations at Axos Clearing. She also spent long stints as an operations manager with Morgan Stanley and Grandview Group. Prior to that, she held VP positions with AXA Advisors, LLC, The MONY Group and the Pershing division of BNY Mellon Bank, part of a lengthy career dating back to 1984, according to information made public on her Linkedin profile.

Brooklyn-based TradeZero, led by CEO Dan Pipitone, has agreed last month to merge with Dune Acquisition Corp., a blank-check firm.

TradeZero America reported a massive spike in new account openings since the frenzied share dealing in GameStop and other firms emerged, fuelled by Reddit chat boards. Earlier this year, the company said its new account applications surged by more than 200 times compared with the same period in 2020. TradeZero attributed that to a huge interest in unrestricted access as investors look to pick up stocks that have been the focus of a trading war between amateur investors and Wall Street pros.

TradeZero America allows its ‘active traders’ to select the specific destination where their orders are routed for execution. Those who maintain a minimum account balance of $30,000 can take advantage of these features to increase both the speed and likelihood of order execution, while simultaneously lowering their trading costs by taking advantage of rebates.

TradeZero began as an international company in 2015, and investor demand led to the formation of its US arm, TradeZero America, which provides commission-free stock and options trading across all US states.

Commenting on the new hires, Daniel Pipitone, the CEO and co-founder of TradeZero, said: “Ila and Colette have tremendous experience in the securities clearing space. They have successfully launched and managed several clearing businesses, and we’re fortunate to have them on board to launch our self-clearing division. Self-clearing should enable us to provide new service opportunities for our customers, create new revenue opportunities, reduce costs, and increase margins.”