BMLL Appoints Futures Veteran to US Derivatives Role

BMLL Technologies has appointed Kevin Barrett as Senior Sales Director for listed derivatives in the United States, the London-based market data firm said today (Tuesday), bringing in a futures and quantitative research specialist as it looks to build out its presence in the asset class.

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Barrett spent nearly 13 years at Quantitative Brokers in New York, where he handled the full sales cycle for the firm's futures, options, spot FX and US cash treasury execution algorithms. Earlier in his career, he logged close to a decade at Graham Capital Management in Connecticut, working across quantitative research analyst, portfolio analyst and portfolio manager roles.

The Barrett hire is BMLL's second senior sales appointment since Nordic Capital completed its acquisition Acquisition Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities. To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service. For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something. There Acquisition means acquiring or taking possession or the securing of property, services, or abilities. To put it simply, it is the act or process of acquiring or gaining. You can acquire a work of art, you can acquire an ability such as speaking another language, you can acquire a business or shares in a company and you can acquire an accountant's service. For example, you can acquire a new car. In a broad sense, Acquisition can mean the act of taking ownership or possession of something. There Read this Term of the firm in October 2025, following the January appointment of Karen King as Head of Sales for Asia Pacific, where BMLL had recently added nine new exchange feeds.

Futures Data Coverage Under Construction

BMLL says it is actively building out its global futures offering, which the company says includes delivering Level 2 and Level 1 data feeds for the asset class and developing analytics to complement its existing equity suite.

Barrett, speaking in a statement, drew directly on his own research background to frame the pitch: "I am incredibly excited to join BMLL as the company looks to significantly expand its product offering... Drawing on my own background in quantitative research and trading, I intimately understand the challenges market participants face when researching and developing trading strategies.”

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“I know firsthand the tremendous value that BMLL's harmonized high-quality data and analytics can bring to researchers and quants looking to optimize their trading strategies."

Barrett’s broader background spans execution trading and research positions at Willowbridge Associates, Bengal Partners LLC and Trout Trading Management Co., as well as time at Merrill Lynch, putting his total industry experience at over 30 years.

Nordic Capital Deal Fuels Expansion Push

Nordic Capital acquired BMLL in October 2025 in a deal that also involved existing minority shareholder Optiver, which had led a $21 million investment in the firm in October 2024.

Rob Laible, Head of Americas at BMLL, said on Tuesday: "When Nordic Capital came on board, we made our intentions very clear, and we continue to deliver on this mission. We continue to invest in expanding our global venue footprint and extending our data coverage. This includes adding new asset classes such as global futures and options, and actively scaling our go-to-market teams globally."

The personnel moves come alongside a run of data partnerships. In March, BMLL launched a year-long pilot with Tradefeedr aimed at extending transaction cost analysis from foreign exchange into equities.

In February, the firm joined forces with Features Analytics to apply its order book records to market abuse detection across equities, ETFs, futures and US equity options.

BMLL was founded in 2014 in the machine learning Machine Learning Machine learning is defined as an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that looks to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning is a rapidly growing field that also focuses on the development of computer programs that can access data and use it learn for themselves.This has many potential benefits for most industries and sectors, including the financial services industry. Machine Learning ExplainedMachine learning can be explained Machine learning is defined as an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that looks to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning is a rapidly growing field that also focuses on the development of computer programs that can access data and use it learn for themselves.This has many potential benefits for most industries and sectors, including the financial services industry. Machine Learning ExplainedMachine learning can be explained Read this Term laboratories of the University of Cambridge. It describes itself as a provider of harmonized historical Level 3, 2 and 1 data and analytics covering global equities, ETFs, futures and US equity options, targeting banks, brokers, asset managers, hedge funds, exchange groups, academic institutions and regulators.