Marsco launches securities lending programme with new chief
21 September 2020 New York
Image: Philip Sercia
US online brokerage Marsco Investments has brought on Philip Sercia from fellow broker TradeStation to launch and lead its new securities lending business.
Marsco has a 30-year track record as a self-clearing firm with hundreds of thousands of retail clients but until recently it did not have a securities lending programme.
Last year it was acquired by Tiger Brokers, which offers Chinese investors a platform to trade in US stocks, and it was deemed that their combined assets would benefit from the additional revenue a securities lending programme could bring.
Until this point, Tiger Brokers had also not hosted a securities lending business although it did use other clearing firms to lend on its behalf.
The Tiger/Marsco SBL programme was launched in July and Sercia became its inaugural head of securities lending fresh from a role as co-head of securities lending at TradeStation, where he had served for just under a decade.
He began at TradeStation as a director within the securities lending team in 2011 and rose to become a senior director and co-lead the business in May 2015.
During that period, Sercia handled institutional and retail clients and was an active participant in launching its fully paid programme.
Before that, he spent just under five years as part of Citigroup’s prime finance team specialising in American depositary receipts.
“I was initially attracted to Tiger/Marsco due to the growth potential, the desire to start something from the ground up as well as seeking an opportunity to grow professionally as well as personally,” Sercia tells SLT.
In his new role, Sercia, who is based in New York, reports to Fred Zhang, COO of US Tiger Securities and he is listed at Marsco Investment Corporation and US Tiger Securities.
“My time at TradeStation was very rewarding as I grew into the role and position I attained upon my departure,” Sercia adds. “I saw TradeStation’s SBL programme grow exponentially over my time there as well as adding offerings previously not available to the customer base when I started in 2011.”
Sercia says he currently has operational support within the existing team but is looking to build out his own securities lending team by the end of the year.
“My ambitions in my current role is to take my experience, build a solid team of SBL personnel and grow the SBL programme in line with the firm’s growth,” he explains. “We will expand on the fully paid offering to Marsco’s current and future client base while also utilising the SBL offering to grow the firm's profits.”
Marsco has a 30-year track record as a self-clearing firm with hundreds of thousands of retail clients but until recently it did not have a securities lending programme.
Last year it was acquired by Tiger Brokers, which offers Chinese investors a platform to trade in US stocks, and it was deemed that their combined assets would benefit from the additional revenue a securities lending programme could bring.
Until this point, Tiger Brokers had also not hosted a securities lending business although it did use other clearing firms to lend on its behalf.
The Tiger/Marsco SBL programme was launched in July and Sercia became its inaugural head of securities lending fresh from a role as co-head of securities lending at TradeStation, where he had served for just under a decade.
He began at TradeStation as a director within the securities lending team in 2011 and rose to become a senior director and co-lead the business in May 2015.
During that period, Sercia handled institutional and retail clients and was an active participant in launching its fully paid programme.
Before that, he spent just under five years as part of Citigroup’s prime finance team specialising in American depositary receipts.
“I was initially attracted to Tiger/Marsco due to the growth potential, the desire to start something from the ground up as well as seeking an opportunity to grow professionally as well as personally,” Sercia tells SLT.
In his new role, Sercia, who is based in New York, reports to Fred Zhang, COO of US Tiger Securities and he is listed at Marsco Investment Corporation and US Tiger Securities.
“My time at TradeStation was very rewarding as I grew into the role and position I attained upon my departure,” Sercia adds. “I saw TradeStation’s SBL programme grow exponentially over my time there as well as adding offerings previously not available to the customer base when I started in 2011.”
Sercia says he currently has operational support within the existing team but is looking to build out his own securities lending team by the end of the year.
“My ambitions in my current role is to take my experience, build a solid team of SBL personnel and grow the SBL programme in line with the firm’s growth,” he explains. “We will expand on the fully paid offering to Marsco’s current and future client base while also utilising the SBL offering to grow the firm's profits.”
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