Straits Financial Expands US Presence
with the Formation of the LW Division
Chicago, Illinois – Straits Financial LLC, a member and brokerage arm of the CWT Group, today announced the hiring of 8 former MF Global Lind-Waldock division employees. These employees include key former Managers and Trade Desk Supervisors, as well as support staff. The group will be branded as the LW Division, for the purpose of reuniting the family of customers and staff, along with a true commitment to bringing together as many as possible. Straits Financial believes these key employees were the most effective, professional, and competent group of employees within the Lind-Waldock division.
Straits intends to use the core group to build a retail trading division where customers may enter their orders online, or call a trade desk for the best possible personalized execution in the industry. We believe there is a strong need for a retail operation whereby customers are not charged a desk fee to telephone orders, and will not be charged inactivity fees. In addition, these clients will not be pestered by high commission brokers with the intent of being "upsold". These clients will speak to the same group of people daily, as they may have for many years. People who trade online will have access to current technology and trading tools.
"This type of personal service has been lost over the years as electronic trading has taken over the marketplace, and we intend to bring it back to the community" says Greg Gulotta, Head of the LW Division.
Greg and the team of professionals have approximately 170 years of cumulative futures experience, most of which was with the Lind-Waldock Company and later as divisions of other FCMs.
Greg Gulotta is an Economics major with a BS from Northern Illinois University and a MA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a twenty seven year industry veteran who managed all aspects of the Lind Waldock group rising to the number two position overseeing customer execution, risk control and client services. At one
Greg adds: "Joining Straits at this time is a great opportunity for me and for the other senior professionals. This is a chance to re-build our franchise and to continue to service and support all our loyal customers.
Managing the day-to day operation will be William Urban. Bill is an industry veteran with over twenty-five years' experience, most of which with the Lind-Waldock group. Per Bill, "Straits is a fresh new FCM that is focused on customer service, something no one does better than our group."
Joseph Mazurek, President of Straits Financial LLC, is also very excited about this new development. "The Lind Waldock group was arguably the finest team ever assembled to service the retails and professional trader. It is an honor to be associated with all the top members of that team."
Straits Financial Chief Operating Officer Paul Fry adds, “Having this group of professionals starting and running Straits' retail division is great for the firm. I have known this group my entire career and there are no finer futures professionals anywhere. It’s great having them on-board."
About Straits Financial Group
Headquartered in Singapore, Straits Financial Group is the brokering division of the CWT Group and has established offices in Singapore, Chicago and Shanghai with planned gateways in Southeast Asia and beyond. Our US subsidiary, Straits Financial LLC, is a full Clearing Member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Through our global offices and partnerships, we are focused on delivering a wide range of financial services including brokerage of exchange-traded and OTC products as well as trade facilitation for physical commodities. For more information, visit www.straitsfinancial.com.
About CWT Group
CWT is a leading provider of integrated logistics solutions for worldwide customers in the commodities, chemical and petrochemical, marine, oil and gas, defense and industrial sectors. CWT designs, engineers and manages unique and effective supply chain solutions leveraging its in-depth domain knowledge, innovative capabilities and global logistics infrastructure. Through its global network, the CWT Group is able to connect customers to 120 ports and over 1,200 destinations seamlessly around the world.
Headquartered in Singapore, the CWT Group also provides engineering management and maintenance services for facilities and vehicles and equipment fleet as well as financial services through the asset management of Cache Logistics Trust and brokering of futures and derivatives trades. The largest listed logistics company in Southeast Asia, CWT is traded on the Singapore Stock Exchange under the stock symbol CWT. For more information, www.cwtlimited.com.
