OpenDoor Appoints Former AQR Trading Head as Managing Director

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Dec. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — OpenDoor Securities (“OpenDoor”), the first all-to-all marketplace for off the run Treasuries and TIPS, has appointed Hicham Hajhamou, formerly Head of Rates and FX Trading at quantitative hedge fund AQR Capital Management, as Managing Director, responsible for overseeing OpenDoor’s Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) business. In his new role, Hicham will report directly to President & CEO, Susan Estes.

Hajhamou started his career at Lehman Brothers where he spent over six years as the VP of Rates and Mortgage Trading. He then traded rates at BNP Paribas and Pierpont Securities for six years, before joining AQR. He is a global macro and market structure specialist with experience in both OTC and e-trading, discretionary and systematic strategies.

“OpenDoor is helping to shape the electronification of the fixed income market, while unlocking liquidity at the same time. The Company listened to its clients and delivered a product and protocols that reduce costs and minimize market impact,” said Hajhamou. “I’m thrilled to be joining the team to continue the great work at this pivotal time of the Treasury market.”

“Market structure is constantly evolving around the world, particularly in the bond markets where everything is becoming increasingly electronic,” said Estes. “Hicham is an outstanding addition to the OpenDoor team and will play a pivotal role in enhancing our capabilities and broadening our presence into inflation-linked products.”

In the last seven months, OpenDoor has onboarded eight dealers that are currently trading on the platform for their own accounts, along with financial institutions representing $6 trillion in assets under management. OpenDoor’s order volume has exceeded $200 billion, with a matched trade volume of over $7 billion.

Hajhamou holds a Masters in Mathematical Finance from Columbia University and a Masters in Financial Markets, Commodities and Risk Management from Universite Paris Dauphine.

OpenDoor also recently appointed Liz Hogan as Managing Director. Before joining OpenDoor, Liz spent 25 years at Sociate Generale, most recently as Deputy Head of Global Markets where she spent time managing the bank’s fixed income, currencies and commodities business. She has over 30 years of global trading experience and will be responsible for expanding OpenDoor’s client base. Liz is tasked with streamlining workflow to better serve the Company’s expanding customer base.

OpenDoor’s market-based solution is the first session-based, all-to-all, anonymous trading platform for off-the-run US Treasuries and TIPS. The platform provides equal access and a level playing field for all participants and is engineered to prevent information leakage.

About OpenDoor Securities

OpenDoor Securities was founded to address key structural challenges facing US Treasury market participants. OpenDoor has pioneered an innovative all‐to‐all, session‐based platform that provides superior execution, balance sheet compression, anonymous trading, and greater liquidity for investment managers. OpenDoor’s market‐based solution enhances the value of broker dealers while leveraging their existing franchise. Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, OpenDoor has a client base that consists of central banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, primary dealers, asset managers, hedge funds and trading firms.

SOURCE OpenDoor Securities