Luke is a managing partner and is responsible for risk management and overall portfolio construction at Equity Armor Investments.
Luke has over 25 years of experience trading equities, equity derivatives and structured products. Previously, he served as the largest independent market maker at CBOE for LETCO Trading (at the time, the largest listed equity options specialist firm in the United States), and became LETCO’s most profitable independent trader within the Designated Primary Market-Maker group. He subsequently managed the largest specialist unit at the CBOE, which, under Luke’s direction, became LETCO’s most profitable unit.
After Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) acquired LETCO in 2002, Luke launched TD’s U.S. Institutional Equity Derivatives desk for listed and OTC client orders and proprietary portfolio trading. The desk grew from zero volume to trading billions in notional value across US single names and indices. During this period, Luke traded with the largest overlay and volatility managers in North America. After leaving TD, Luke established a FSA approved, UK asset manager, Peachtree Asset Management (the asset manager for Peachtree Settlement Funding), managing assets in the structured settlement space. In his dual role as CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Luke was responsible for financial, compliance and business decisions of the unit, in addition to all asset mix, selection and trading of structured portfolios.
Luke is a well-recognized expert in the derivatives industry and has been widely quoted or featured in the WSJ, Reuters, Dow Jones Newswire, TheStreet.com, The Financial Times, and Pensions and Investments.
He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.