Mr. Gardner brings to Soleil over 15 years of experience within the financial services industry. He was previously the Founder and President of S-2 Research and Gardner Capital Advisors which provided customized research solutions for its clients. Prior to founding S-2, Mr. Gardner was the COO for Deutsche Bank's Global Equities Research Division after serving as the Associate Director of Research for North America. He began his career as an equity research analyst at Alex Brown & Sons and eventually became a senior analyst covering the transportation sector at Deutsche Bank where he was recognized as a top stock picker by the Wall Street Journal. Mr. Gardner has served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a graduate of St. Lawrence University.
Dante Ferrarie, Head of Equity Trading
Mr. Ferrarie provides Soleil's clients with more than 20 years of institutional trading experience. Most recently, he was a Managing Director at LaBranche & Co. and prior to that was Head of U.S. Sales Trading at Merrill Lynch where he played an integral role in the growth of Merrill's electronic trading, prime brokerage and swap businesses. Prior to his tenure at Merrill Lynch, he served as the Head Trader for NASDAQ Trading at Deutsche Bank. Mr. Ferrarie received his B.A. from the University of Delaware.
Jennifer Fleissner, Chief Financial Officer
Ms. Fleissner has worked in a financial capacity in the securities industry for over 15 years. After starting her career in the financial markets group at Arthur Andersen, she worked at publicly traded Wit Capital and its successor firm, SoundView Technology Group, Inc. initially as the Corporate Controller and subsequently as the Chief Financial Officer, where she was responsible for all financial, operational and administrative functions of the firm. Ms. Fleissner is a Certified Public Accountant and received her B.A. from the University of Richmond.
John Kelleher, Head of Equity Capital Markets
Mr. Kelleher has over 15 years of experience in the capital markets arena. Prior to joining Soleil, Mr. Kelleher was a Managing Director at LaBranche & Co. where he was responsible for all aspects of the firm's capital markets origination and execution efforts. Prior to his role at LaBranche, Mr. Kelleher spent four years as a Principal in the Equity Capital Markets group at Banc of America Securities where he executed over 100 book-run offerings raising over $50 billion in proceeds. During his career, Mr. Kelleher has also held capital markets positions at UBS Warburg, PaineWebber and RBC Capital Markets. Mr. Kelleher received his JD, MBA and BA degrees from Georgetown University.
Mike Loftus, Head of Relationship Management
Mr. Loftus has over 25 years of institutional equity sales trading experience. Mr. Loftus began his career as a sales trader at Merrill Lynch, after which he held senior sales trading positions at firms including Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, DLJ, Salomon Brothers and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Loftus received his B.S. in Finance from Boston College.
Rick Rubin, Chief Operating Officer
Mr. Rubin brings to Soleil over 10 years of trading and operations management expertise. He most recently served as a Portfolio Manager and also as Director of Trading and Operations for XTF Global Asset Management. Prior to his tenure at XTF, he spent eight years as an Institutional Equity Trader for Spear, Leeds & Kellogg and later for Goldman Sachs. Mr. Rubin received his M.A. from Duke University and his B.A. from the University of Miami.