Nomura, the global investment bank, is pleased to announce the appointment of Samir Patel as Head of Execution Sales and Chris Valli as Head of US Research Sales. Samir and Chris begin these senior leadership positions after distinguished careers as individual producers and sales managers. Both are based in New York, and together they oversee all distribution of equities products in the Americas.
Samir Patel, Head of US Execution Sales, is responsible for sales-trading of cash, convertibles, derivatives, futures, electronic trading and programs. His mandate is to ensure outstanding client service, and to create a high-impact network of information, liquidity and ideas for our clients. Samir joined in March 2009 as co-head of derivative sales from Bank of America, where he co-led derivative sales. He was previously a structured derivatives salesman at Lehman Brothers, and graduated from Duke University with a bachelors in economics.
Ciaran O’Kelly, senior managing director and Head of Equities Americas, said, “Samir has proven himself as a business builder and leader in derivatives. In his new, expanded role, he will drive integration across products to provide our clients with seamless execution and holistic market intelligence, especially correlations and relationships between asset classes and markets.”
Chris Valli, as Head of US Research Sales, is focused on completing the build of the sales team in New York and other regions, and will work closely with the research department and product desks to ensure clients get the full value of Nomura’s intellectual capital and broad capabilities. Chris joined in November 2008 as head of Asia Ex-Japan (AEJ) research sales from Lehman Brothers. While at Lehman Brothers, he was the desk head for Asia ex Japan from 2006 through 2008, and from 1999 through 2005 he was in US generalist sales. Chris graduated from Cornell University in 1993 and received an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1999.
“Chris’s background and success in selling our Asia capabilities best position him to lead US sales as we pursue Nomura’s aspiration to become the first true Asian global investment bank, built from east to west. He contributed to our substantial edge in Asia, including our top sales and research rankings. Under Chris, our sales force will deliver insight into global flows and themes as they continue to grow in importance to investors,” said Ciaran O’Kelly.
“Samir and Chris are strong player-coaches with deep client relationships, and I am confident they will make rapid progress in making Nomura an indispensible partner to our clients in the Americas. We have achieved significant client momentum in our US business and continue to work hard to become a broker of choice by having the best idea generation and execution,” added Ciaran O’Kelly.
Both Patel and Valli are employees of Nomura Securities International Inc., the firm’s US broker dealer.