JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, a leading block trading firm in U.S. and international securities for its institutional customer base, announced today that it has recently expanded its focus on Healthcare trading and research. JonesTrading has hired George Zavoico as Senior Equity Analyst and Robert Katz as a sales trader in its San Francisco office.
Over the past several years JonesTrading has significantly expanded its efforts with corporate issuers by broadening its offerings to complement trade execution for institutional money managers.
JonesTrading views the healthcare and biotech vertical as a strategic opportunity given its current coverage of dedicated biotech fund managers, and the ability to bring its market expertise to corporations. The initiative follows on the announcement and launch in 2014 of JonesTrading’s PrimaryAccess, the firm’s corporate access offering.
Dr. Zavoico will lead the healthcare research effort. He has extensive experience in the financial, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries. He has served as Managing Director and research analyst with MLV & Co., Cantor Fitzgerald, and Westport Capital Markets. He received The Financial Times/Starmine Award two years in a row for being among the top-ranked earnings estimators in the biotechnology sector. He holds a Ph.D. in Physiology.
Mr. Katz’s industry experience as a sales trader has been Healthcare focused. Prior to joining JonesTrading he was with Montgomery Securities, Volpe Brown Whelan & Co., and Wedbush Securities (continuing with Wedbush after its acquisition of Pacific Growth Securities).
Said Alan Hill, JonesTrading CEO: “Clients continue seek insight to enhance their trading strategies. While we will continue our delivery across all sectors, we also see that Healthcare, as a dedicated focus, now requires additional resourcing to serve client interests. George Zavoico and Robert Katz will augment our already established research and trading to meet client demand in this increasingly critical sector.”