LEADERSHIP

Sam Gaer

CEO & CEO, Katana Financial

Sam Gaer is the founder and CEO of Katana Financial LLC, a leading quantitative investment company focused on energy, equity index, and cryptocurrency markets.

His past experience at the forefront of trading technology offers him a unique skillset at the intersection of finance, operations, technology, and trading.

Sam’s expertise at building and scaling financial technology-focused enterprises has driven investor-focused value creation strategies for both small and large enterprises. He is the author of three patents for electronic trading.  

Sam has held several iconic leadership positions in the financial services industry. He served as the CIO and EVP at FINRA, where he authored its technology strategy and laid the foundation for the future direction of their technology.

Previously, Sam served as the Global CIO and later EVP of NYMEX, the world’s largest energy exchange, and was the founding CEO of its European subsidiary, NYMEX Europe. At NYMEX, he was instrumental in the 2006 NYMEX IPO, the most successful in US history, as well as its $9B sale to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Sam has been a consultant for over two dozen exchanges, crypto funds, trading firms and hedge funds on topics ranging from complete restructuring to technology strategy, execution, and implementation. He is a winner of multiple industry technology awards, has co-authored several electronic trading patents, and served on the boards of multiple financial services companies. In addition, he founded Locust Walk Trading and was the Global Vice Chairman of Derivatives for the Fix Protocol Organization.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Sam holds a degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Business. He is fluent in seven programming languages and is the creator of three proprietary trading systems.