`The Cow Guy' Helps Marex Spectron Expand OTC Business to U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Marex Spectron Group Ltd. has hired Scott Shellady, known in the trading pits of Chicago for his trademark “cow jacket,” as part of an expansion of its over-the-counter business to the U.S.

The London-based brokerage, which already has a presence in the U.S. futures and options market, has now started its American OTC hedging entity, Marex Spectron USA LLC, the company said in a statement. Shellady, whose jacket has earned him the moniker ‘The Cow Guy’, is joining the business, which will start with a focus on agriculture.

Marex Spectron is expanding at a time when banks are retrenching. The firm has hired former Societe Generale SA staff after the lender said in April it was shutting its OTC commodities business and its proprietary trading unit as part of a move to cut about 1,600 jobs globally. BNP Paribas SA also closed its U.S. commodities derivatives desk earlier this year.

“Given the existing coverage of agricultural commodities, it made sense to start there,” Eugene Faller, head of commodities at Marex Solutions, as the OTC business is known, said in emailed response to Bloomberg questions. “We plan to add metals and energy expertise at a slightly later stage.”

Shellady, who has almost 30 years of experience in U.S. agriculture markets and was previously managing director for TJM Europe, will be based in Chicago and focus on grains and proteins, according to Faller. He will focus on producers and work alongside Nick Burke, who joined Marex’s OTC business from SocGen earlier this year and deals with corporate and institutional clients. He began wearing his jacket as an homage to his father, who was also a trader and owned a dairy farm in Illinois, according to Business Insider.

Marex Spectron has been boosting its presence in the U.S. In February, the company acquired Chicago-based Rosenthal Collins Group, adding to its U.S. broking business Marex North America LLC. Establishing an U.S. OTC entity is “a natural progression” for the business and broadens the services available for the group’s American customers, according to the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in Chicago at ialmeida3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Pratish Narayanan, Patrick McKiernan

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