Evolution Markets, a White Plains, N.Y.-based brokerage firm for the energy and environmental markets, has launched a North American over-the-counter natural gas and power options desk. The firm recruited Trenton Davis and Corey Geraghty as directors to lead the initiative.
Jeff Rosenzweig, managing director of natural gas and power markets, said the brokerage launched the desk to take advantage of a growing market. "There is a perceived increase in volatility in the marketplace in the absence of its original players," he said, explaining power marketers have sold assets to clean up their balance sheets, leading hedge funds and investment banks to move in and pick up the pieces. The number of participants in the market has increased and those new players bring with them a greater risk appetite, he said.
Davis was formerly a natural gas options broker with GA Options, an energy derivatives brokerage in New York. An official at GA said Davis, who left about four months ago, has not been replaced. Geraghty worked as a power options broker at Amerex Energy where he was helping to build the power derivatives desk until about six months ago. An official there said the shop does not intend to find a replacement.
Despite their specializations, Davis and Geraghty will both trade power and natural gas, alongside Missy Ellis, also a director with Evolution. The firm plans to double the desk's size to six brokers from three within six months.
