Marex Group
has appointed Alex Salomon to lead prime services sales in Israel, putting a
dedicated salesperson on the ground in Tel Aviv for the first time as the
London-listed broker expands the institutional franchise it has been assembling
since acquiring Cowen’s prime brokerage business in 2023.
Singapore Summit: Meet the largest
APAC brokers you know (and those you still don’t!)
Salomon
will cover Israeli hedge funds, family offices, asset managers and
institutional clients from the firm’s Tel Aviv office, the company said in a
statement.
He will
report into the EMEA prime services sales team and connect local managers to
Marex’s global trading, custody and capital introduction platform.
Veteran Banker Brings 25
Years of Trading Experience
According
to his LinkedIn profile, Salomon spent five years as a director at Barclays
Capital in New York before moving to Tel Aviv in 2010 to run the bank’s local
trading room and new product development.
He left
Barclays in 2014 for Citi, where he spent a year representing the bank’s
Israeli credit franchise. Earlier in his career, he traded credit derivatives
at Citigroup in New York and emerging markets bonds at Merrill Lynch.
More
recently, Salomon co-ran the trading desk at Caesarea-based global macro fund
Hanavah Macro and served as director of credit at Exigent Capital Group in
Jerusalem. He is a founding partner at Alon Credit and chairman of the board at
Strawberry Fields REIT, an Israeli-listed nursing home operator.
His arrival
mirrors the playbook Marex used in Dubai in late 2024, when it hired
former IG Prime executive Mazen Najjar to spearhead institutional sales across the
MENA region. Both hires sit inside the EMEA prime services franchise led by
Lawrence Obertelli.
Prime Brokerage Build-Out
Follows Cowen Deal
Marex’s
prime services unit was formed after the firm completed the acquisition of Cowen’s
prime brokerage and outsourced trading business in October 2023, bringing in roughly 160
professionals across eight offices and putting Jack Seibald and Mike Rosen at
the head of the combined platform.
The unit
sits inside Marex Capital Markets and competes with bank-owned prime brokers as
well as a growing roster of mid-tier challengers.
The Israel
hire lands at a point of consolidation in the prime brokerage industry.
A 2024
Acuiti survey commissioned by Standard Chartered found that nearly 40% of hedge funds had
reduced their FX prime brokerage relationships in the prior three years, often because providers exited the
market. Smaller funds reported the greatest dissatisfaction with the number of
available providers.
That
backdrop has opened space for non-bank platforms. Interactive Brokers launched
its High Touch Prime Brokerage and
Global Outsourced Trading service for US hedge funds in April 2024, positioning against the larger
bank-owned primes.
Clear
Street and Marex have also been connecting hedge fund clients to
event contracts listed on prediction market Kalshi, illustrating how mid-tier brokers are using
product breadth to court managers that may not get attention from larger
competitors.
Cross-Asset Coverage From
a Single Office
Marex Prime
Services pitches a combination of cross-asset custody, securities financing,
outsourced trading and capital introduction within one franchise.
The
platform was reinforced earlier this year when Marex and NatWest agreed a cross-margining arrangement that
lets FX clients reduce collateral requirements by linking futures and prime
brokerage positions
across the two providers.
“Tel
Aviv is a highly active and diverse market, with clients operating across
strategies and asset classes, and a strong outward focus on global
opportunities,” Salomon said in a statement shared on LinkedIn.
He added
Marex’s combination of “prime brokerage, outsourced trading and broader
financial services” was “a strong draw” for him.
Local Coverage in a
Concentrated Market
Israel’s
hedge fund and family office community has historically routed institutional
flow through trading desks at the country’s major banks and a handful of
foreign primes operating without a local team.
The country
has produced a thick layer of quant and macro funds but limited domestic prime
infrastructure, leaving managers reliant on counterparties in London and New
York.
Jack
Seibald, Marex’s global co-head of prime services and outsourced trading, said
the firm’s focus is on “helping managers launch, scale and operate
effectively by combining prime brokerage, outsourced trading and capital
introduction within a single, globally connected offering.”
Obertelli
described Salomon as bringing experience “across investing, trading and
advisory, along with a strong relationships across the Israeli market.”
Marex has
been expanding aggressively across regions and asset classes over the past two
years, with acquisitions including UK market maker Winterflood and Abu
Dhabi-based Aarna Capital, as well as Brazilian commodities firm Agrinvest.
Marex Group
has appointed Alex Salomon to lead prime services sales in Israel, putting a
dedicated salesperson on the ground in Tel Aviv for the first time as the
London-listed broker expands the institutional franchise it has been assembling
since acquiring Cowen’s prime brokerage business in 2023.
Singapore Summit: Meet the largest
APAC brokers you know (and those you still don’t!)
Salomon
will cover Israeli hedge funds, family offices, asset managers and
institutional clients from the firm’s Tel Aviv office, the company said in a
statement.
He will
report into the EMEA prime services sales team and connect local managers to
Marex’s global trading, custody and capital introduction platform.
Veteran Banker Brings 25
Years of Trading Experience
According
to his LinkedIn profile, Salomon spent five years as a director at Barclays
Capital in New York before moving to Tel Aviv in 2010 to run the bank’s local
trading room and new product development.
He left
Barclays in 2014 for Citi, where he spent a year representing the bank’s
Israeli credit franchise. Earlier in his career, he traded credit derivatives
at Citigroup in New York and emerging markets bonds at Merrill Lynch.
More
recently, Salomon co-ran the trading desk at Caesarea-based global macro fund
Hanavah Macro and served as director of credit at Exigent Capital Group in
Jerusalem. He is a founding partner at Alon Credit and chairman of the board at
Strawberry Fields REIT, an Israeli-listed nursing home operator.
His arrival
mirrors the playbook Marex used in Dubai in late 2024, when it hired
former IG Prime executive Mazen Najjar to spearhead institutional sales across the
MENA region. Both hires sit inside the EMEA prime services franchise led by
Lawrence Obertelli.
Prime Brokerage Build-Out
Follows Cowen Deal
Marex’s
prime services unit was formed after the firm completed the acquisition of Cowen’s
prime brokerage and outsourced trading business in October 2023, bringing in roughly 160
professionals across eight offices and putting Jack Seibald and Mike Rosen at
the head of the combined platform.
The unit
sits inside Marex Capital Markets and competes with bank-owned prime brokers as
well as a growing roster of mid-tier challengers.
The Israel
hire lands at a point of consolidation in the prime brokerage industry.
A 2024
Acuiti survey commissioned by Standard Chartered found that nearly 40% of hedge funds had
reduced their FX prime brokerage relationships in the prior three years, often because providers exited the
market. Smaller funds reported the greatest dissatisfaction with the number of
available providers.
That
backdrop has opened space for non-bank platforms. Interactive Brokers launched
its High Touch Prime Brokerage and
Global Outsourced Trading service for US hedge funds in April 2024, positioning against the larger
bank-owned primes.
Clear
Street and Marex have also been connecting hedge fund clients to
event contracts listed on prediction market Kalshi, illustrating how mid-tier brokers are using
product breadth to court managers that may not get attention from larger
competitors.
Cross-Asset Coverage From
a Single Office
Marex Prime
Services pitches a combination of cross-asset custody, securities financing,
outsourced trading and capital introduction within one franchise.
The
platform was reinforced earlier this year when Marex and NatWest agreed a cross-margining arrangement that
lets FX clients reduce collateral requirements by linking futures and prime
brokerage positions
across the two providers.
“Tel
Aviv is a highly active and diverse market, with clients operating across
strategies and asset classes, and a strong outward focus on global
opportunities,” Salomon said in a statement shared on LinkedIn.
He added
Marex’s combination of “prime brokerage, outsourced trading and broader
financial services” was “a strong draw” for him.
Local Coverage in a
Concentrated Market
Israel’s
hedge fund and family office community has historically routed institutional
flow through trading desks at the country’s major banks and a handful of
foreign primes operating without a local team.
The country
has produced a thick layer of quant and macro funds but limited domestic prime
infrastructure, leaving managers reliant on counterparties in London and New
York.
Jack
Seibald, Marex’s global co-head of prime services and outsourced trading, said
the firm’s focus is on “helping managers launch, scale and operate
effectively by combining prime brokerage, outsourced trading and capital
introduction within a single, globally connected offering.”
Obertelli
described Salomon as bringing experience “across investing, trading and
advisory, along with a strong relationships across the Israeli market.”
Marex has
been expanding aggressively across regions and asset classes over the past two
years, with acquisitions including UK market maker Winterflood and Abu
Dhabi-based Aarna Capital, as well as Brazilian commodities firm Agrinvest.
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Damian Chmiel