GMAG Celebrates its 7th Anniversary

It’s hard to believe Global Markets Advisory Group was founded seven years ago.

While the idea of building the firm grew out of conversations I had with a former colleague of mine from the NYSE, Dan Labovitz, it was Kevin Trimble, my Chief Compliance Officer at Kellogg Capital Markets, who took the initial dive with me.

Kevin lived in Staten Island, and I live in Gladstone NJ, so we decided our office should be in Berkeley Heights, NJ, which was equidistant for both of us.?The one requirement was windows – after working on the floor of the NYSE for 25 years, I wanted to be able to experience what was happening outside! Kevin and I found a great little spot, cleaned the floors, painted the walls, bought some cheap furniture, and settled in.?On our first day in the office, we sat down, sipped our coffee and said “what the hell do we do now?”.?

We began reaching out to every contact we had in the business to explain how we could add value. It was a rough start.?During those first difficult months, the phone would occasionally ring and Kevin would answer, ultimately explaining to the caller that he had reached the wrong number and that we were a financial regulatory and compliance advisory firm.?Eventually, I asked him, “who keeps calling, and what do they want?”. Kevin responded, “apparently we have the old number for a house cleaning service”.?I said, “listen, the next time they call, the answer is YES—we can help!”?And my next sentence summed up what has become the philosophy of our firm: “If someone calls to ask if we do dental work the answer is YES—and if we can’t do it, we will find them someone who can!”

In hindsight, it was the right way to start a business.?We both worked in the financial industry for decades and built wonderful relationships with business folks from banks and brokerage firms. We also had, and continue to have, deep relationships with senior folks at FINRA and the SEC which we value a great deal.?At the same time, one of the values we bring to clients is that we’ll admit if we don’t know something. But because of our relationships, if we don’t know it, chances are we can connect them to someone who does.

One of the first things Kevin and I did was to look for others who had skills that complemented ours, and more importantly, were people with whom we wanted to work. Lou Pastina, former EVP of operations at the NYSE, joined the firm as a partner early on and with a little more coaxing, Dan Labovitz joined us as well.?Dan headed the NYSE Regulation's Office of General Counsel, in charge of rule and policy development for the NYSE and NYSE Amex. Finally, Jim Buckley, former head of compliance for all NYSE North American markets and CRO of the National Exchange joined the firm. We were on our way!

Fast forward seven years.?GMAG has built what we refer to as a “boutique financial advisory firm”.?Our focus is on strategic regulatory compliance advice for a varied roster of clients, including individuals who were launching ATS platforms and registered exchanges. We’ve also had the privilege of working internationally to assist exchanges in bringing their regulatory programs up to international best practices.?We provided strategic advice to one of the three final bidders for the Consolidated Audit Trail and had they stayed in the game, we are fairly certain they would have been the industry’s preferred winner. In addition, we have worked with two of the world’s largest Cloud Service Providers, helping them refine what the “shared responsibility model” means to financial clients and how to support their regulatory responsibilities.

As GMAG has grown, and in keeping with our commitment to finding the right people for what the client needs, we’ve been blessed to have several other subject matter experts join the team and add value by broadening our reach and services that we offer. Some have stayed for the duration; others have worked with us on a project basis, but all have added to the long-term success of the firm. As a result, the list of clients that GMAG has assisted reads like a who’s who of the current financial services world. We find ourselves sought after by both major firms and entrepreneurial individuals who have a dream and want to see it become a reality. Sometimes that is a successful launch, other times it’s a recommendation to pivot and change direction.

As a still relatively young firm that continues to strive aspirationally, it is not lost on us as advisors that most businesses fail within the first five years. We have successfully made it past that point and hope to assist clients for many years to come. Our partners are all focused on the most current trends in the markets, technology, regulation, and market structure. Our contacts are deep and broad across the industry. At the end of the day, our most valuable asset is our reputation, and we guard it well. This means that our clients get clear, concise, strategic advice without any worry that we will ever recommend a course of action that is not honorable and right.

In addition, as partners we are practitioners too, and by that we mean, we do the work ourselves. We don’t farm it out, we don’t pay for fancy offices, and we don’t pad our estimates. We are able to provide expert opinions and recommendations based upon decades of executive experience at reasonable prices. Not many consulting firms can make that claim.

Seven years, in our opinion, is a significant milestone, and we are proud reaching this point. We have come a long way from that small two-person office that Kevin and I rented, fielding calls for house cleaning. Since then, Kevin has retired (yes, you can retire from our firm!), and we have expanded the number of partners and senior advisors working with us, but our philosophy has always been the same. Provide honest, direct advice at reasonable prices, and always act in a manner consistent with our values.

GMAG continues to grow and improve, and therefore we’re constantly on the lookout for like-minded individuals who want to share what they’ve learned over their careers in the industry. If that’s you, let us know, and let’s talk about how we can work together!

[email protected] https://www.glblmkt.com/

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