NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ITG (NYSE:ITG), a leading independent execution and research broker, today announced the hiring of three veteran sector specialists and two high-touch portfolio traders as part of a build-out of its full-service agency trading desk. The sector specialists are responsible for providing clients with trading insights and superior high-touch execution, with a particular focus on the more than 300 companies covered by ITG Investment Research. The new sector specialists are:

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Rob Cohen, Telecom, Media & Technology: a 28-year equity market veteran, Mr. Cohen previously served as head of technology trading at Jefferies & Company and head of listed technology trading at both J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse, as well as trading roles at Morgan Stanley and Drexel Burnham in both New York and Tokyo.

Brian Fenske, Telecom, Media & Technology: A 9-year equity market veteran with 5 years of advertising and online media experience, Mr. Fenske previously worked as a desk analyst at Nomura Securities and Barclays Capital and an equity research analyst at Lehman Brothers and Prudential Equity Group.

Tommy Labenz, Consumer: A 17-year equity market veteran, Mr. Labenz previously served as head of consumer retail trading at Jefferies and Company and head of trading at First Albany Corporation. He also worked in trading roles at Imperial Capital, J.P. Morgan and Hambrecht & Quist.

Cohen, Fenske and Labenz join energy and industrials sector specialist Jeff Haise, who started at ITG in April of this year.

ITG also made two recent key hires to its high-touch portfolio trading desk:

Jenkins Marshall: Head of Portfolio Trading, Mr. Marshall is a 26-year equity market veteran who served in senior trading roles at Knight Capital, Citigroup, Nomura and UBS.

Tom Caputo: A 17-year equity market veteran, Mr. Caputo previously worked as a senior program trader at Knight Capital, Citigroup and Bear Stearns.

"With the addition of these respected industry veterans, our high-touch trading desk now has a full complement of seasoned trading professionals with deep industry knowledge and market experience. I am pleased to welcome them all to ITG," said Michael Marrale, Managing Director and Head of Research, Sales and Trading. "They will provide our clients with enhanced access to our alpha-generating research ideas combined with an agency approach to best-in-class execution."

For more information about ITG's high-touch agency trading desk and ITG Investment Research, please email info@itg.com or call the New York sales desk at 212-444-6100.

About ITG
ITG is an independent execution and research distribution broker that partners with global portfolio managers and traders to provide unique data-driven insights throughout the investment process. From investment decision through settlement, ITG helps clients understand market trends, improve performance, mitigate risk and navigate increasingly complex markets. ITG is headquartered in New York with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.itg.com.

ITG Media/Investor Contact:
J.T. Farley
(212) 444-6259
corpcomm@itg.com

SOURCE ITG