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OpenDoor Trading (“OpenDoor”), a platform designed to improve liquidity in the U.S. Treasury bond markets, has appointed Robert Grillo as its President. He is the second senior hire by OpenDoor this month, as it prepares to launch an innovative session-based trading platform.
Grillo, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch veteran with nearly 30 years’ industry experience, is joining a seasoned management team headed by CEO Susan Estes. In his new role, Grillo is responsible for driving product development and electronic distribution. He will help expand the growing pool of primary dealers, central banks, asset management firms and other institutional investors supporting the pending launch. His appointment follows the recent hire of Guy Haselmann as Managing Director of Product Solutions.
“Rob has spearheaded both product development and electronic trading operations, two areas that have been redefined across the industry in recent years,” said Estes. “His wealth of experience will be invaluable in our efforts to alleviate the ongoing liquidity issues market participants have been facing."
“Off-the-runs have been largely ignored, although they represent 98% of outstanding issues. This has created a liquidity chasm in the US Treasury market, as the markets are now bifurcated between high-frequency trading of benchmarks and the genuine liquidity void that exists in older issues. I am excited to join the OpenDoor team to help address these disparities,” said Grillo.
Grillo held several leadership positions at BAML, most recently as AMRS Head of Electronic Fixed Income Sales. Prior to BAML, he was Managing Director at some of the industry’s largest financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, Black River Asset Management, HSBC and JP Morgan. He was also a member of the original CME OTC Steering Committee, and oversaw all institutional client initiatives during the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
