Saxo Bank has appointed Matteo Cassina to the newly created position of global head of institutional business, as the firm launches a new institutional office in London as part of a new growth strategy.

Saxo Bank, the Copenhagen-based online trading and investment specialist, has appointed Matteo Cassina to the newly created position of global head of institutional business. He will be based at Saxo Bank’s London office in Canary Wharf, and report to the co-chief executives and co-founders, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen.

Cassina’s appointment is part of the firm’s strategy to foster growth within the institutional space, and as such, Saxo is placing its core institutional activities in London, the firm said in a statement.

“The appointment of a global head of institutional business is a major strategic step for Saxo Bank. Matteo brings considerable experience and senior market presence, which will prove invaluable as we continue to grow our business in both the institutional and private retail space,” said Fournais and Christensen in a joint statement.

In his new role, Cassina will be working to further bridge the gap between the firm’s retail and institutional capabilities, by promoting SAXO’s new disruptive technology, a one-stop institutional platform.

“It is about making sure we have a globally aligned organisation. About half of our current business is with other institutions, but we have never really marketed that capability, so everyone knew our retail capabilities, but not our institutional expertise. exclusively retail,” Cassina told WealthBriefing.

“The benefit of dealing with SAXO is that we can offer one single solution to institutional clients. If you are an investment manager, SAXO offers all the different services across our institutional platform, which includes physical contact, an execution desk, trading platforms, help forums, etc. This is a far easier solution than traditional investment bank interactions, which usually means going through several platforms,” he added.

Cassina has senior experience in investment banking as well as expertise in electronic trading, having served as the head of prime access SM for Goldman Sachs and head of total trader for Merrill Lynch. He later served as president of Citadel Execution Services, the broker dealer of the US Hedge Fund. As a former member of the Boerse Berlin Exchange Council and the Boerse Berlin Supervisory Board, Cassina also brings regulatory and market control experience.

The appointment of Cassina comes simultaneously with the firm’s plans to move its business development team to London, Cassina told this publication.

“Institutional business in Europe is done out of London, that’s where you find the talent, the other firms, the press, the clients, the conferences. We’re making an effort on global business, because firstly, its a lot easier to deal with clients in London, rather than have them fly to Denmark. Secondly, we have offices across the globe and its important for us to reflect that,” explained Cassina.

In related news, Saxo added two new members to its board of directors, with the appointment of Lone Fønss Schrøder as vice chairman and Jacob Polny, a former alternate member, as a full member of the board, last week. Read more on that story, here.