London / New York / Hong Kong ― 7th December 2023 ― Options Technology, the leading Capital Markets services provider, today announced the promotion of Laura McCann to the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
The appointment comes as Jon Lambert, who has served as CFO since January 2016, transitions to Senior Vice President (SVP) of Corporate Development, focussing on the firm’s partnerships, mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Laura has held the post of VP Corporate Controller since joining the company in 2016, where she quickly made significant contributions to the firm’s financial planning and analysis functions. Before her tenure at Options, Laura held pivotal roles at NYSE Euronext and Vela Trading and gained valuable experience in the fintech sector.
Danny Moore, President and CEO of Options, commented, “Laura’s promotion to CFO is the next stage in our long-term strategy of building a world-class finance team servicing the global business from our Belfast office. Back in 2016, Jon took on the challenge of laying the groundwork for that vision. Laura has been an integral part of the strategy from day one.
Like many global companies, we had a patchwork of finance teams spread around the world, including larger teams in London, New York, and Chicago. Consolidating that footprint into one high-functioning team, all sitting together in Belfast, provides the platform to scale as the business continues to grow over the next five years.”
Laura added, “Working with Jon and the team on the journey over the last seven years has been a terrific experience. We’ve been integral to three acquisitions, most recently the purchase and integration of Fixnetix, a carve out from a Fortune 500 company, and Activ Financial, a global market data company. We also supported the business in two major Private Equity majority investments, first with New York-based Bregal Sagemount in summer 2017, then with ABRY Partners in December 2019; truly unique international business exposure for a Belfast-based finance team.”
Jon Lambert added, “Transitioning to another role as a succession plan evolves is super exciting. Helping Laura and the expanded rockstar team come together and develop has been a pleasure. I look forward to working with and continuing to support them as the business moves to the next level.”
Laura’s promotion to CFO comes as the latest in a series of key senior leadership appointments at Options, including Terry Hughes as Chief Marketing Officer, Micah Kroeze as Chief Product Officer, Marlena Efstratopoulou as Chief Risk Officer, Christy O’Kane as SVP, Global Head of Delivery and Larry Leibowitz to the firm’s Board of Advisors.
Today’s news also follows the firm’s announcement of 200 new jobs in Belfast, and its 30-year company milestone.
In December 2019, Options received investment from Boston-based Private Equity Firm, Abry Partners. This investment has enabled Options to accelerate its growth strategy and develop its technology platform whilst expanding its reach in key financial centres globally.
ENDS
About Options Technology (www.options-it.com):
Options Technology is the No. 1 provider of IT infrastructure to global Capital Markets firms, supporting their operations and ecosystems.
Founded in 1993, the firm began life as a hedge fund technology services provider. Today, the company provides high-performance managed trading infrastructure and cloud-enabled managed services to over 550 firms globally, providing an agile, scalable platform in an Investment Bank-grade Cybersecurity wrapper.
Options clients include the leading global investment banks, hedge funds, funds of funds, proprietary trading firms, market makers, broker/dealers, private equity houses, and exchanges. With offices in 9 key cities; New York, Toronto, Chicago, Paris, London, Belfast, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Auckland, Options are well placed to service its customers on-site and remotely.
In 2019, Options secured a significant growth investment from Abry Partners, a Boston-based sector-focused private equity firm. This investment has enabled Options to considerably accelerate its growth strategy to invest further in its technology platform and expand its reach in key financial centres globally.
Options has been named among the UK’s leading growth companies in the 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table.
For more on Options, please visit www.options-it.com, follow us on X (Twitter) at @Options_IT, and visit our LinkedIn page.
About Abry Partners (www.abry.com)
Abry is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity investment firms in North America. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has completed over $82 billion of leveraged transactions and other private equity or preferred equity placements. Currently, the firm manages over $5.0 billion of capital across their active funds.
For further information, please contact:
Press Contact: Niall McAleer
Email: niall.mcaleer@options-it.com