Former CME Executive Joins Sterling Trading Tech to Lead Growth Strategy

Wednesday, 23/04/2025 | 07:12 GMT by Damian Chmiel
  • The company has appointed financial industry veteran Julie Armstrong as Chief Commercial Officer.
  • She brings decades of experience from roles at Convera, Aeris Communications, ChartIQ, and CME Group.
Julie Armstrong

Sterling Trading Tech has appointed Julie Armstrong as Chief Commercial Officer (CMO), a newly created position aimed at accelerating the company's global growth. A CME veteran is joining the team following the recent hiring of former Fidessa executive Chris Contrino as Sales Director.

Sterling Trading Tech Appoints Julie Armstrong as Chief Commercial Officer

According to a press release sent to FinanceMagnates.com, in her new role, Armstrong will support commercial efforts focused on driving further growth, expanding into new client segments, and increasing both product reach and geographic presence.

Jennifer Nayar, Sterling's CEO.

“Sterling is entering a transformational period in its evolution,” said Jen Nayar, President and CEO of Sterling Trading Tech. “We've made major investments in product innovation and infrastructure to support institutional growth and global expansion. Julie's appointment is essential to our revenue efforts.”

This likely refers to the expansion announced in March of the company’s Sterling Risk & Margin (SRM) service to include fixed income instruments, adding to its existing offering of equities, options, futures, FX, and cryptocurrencies .

Armstrong brings extensive experience in financial technology leadership. Most recently, she served as VP General Manager and Global Head of Verticalized Industry & Partnerships at Convera from March 2023 to March 2025, where she led go-to-market teams focused on cross-border payment solutions.

For Sterling Trading Tech, this marks another key hire in recent weeks. At the end of January, the provider of trading technology solutions brought on Chris Contrino, who previously worked at Fidessa and, most recently, served as Customer Service Manager at Trading Technologies.

ChartIQ and CME Group Veteran

Armstrong’s career includes serving as CMO at Aeris Communications from December 2020 to January 2023 and holding the same title at ChartIQ from May 2019 to December 2020, where she previously served as an Independent Board Member.

Armstrong spent nearly eight years at CME Group in various executive roles, including Executive Director and Global Head of Market Technology Services, where she managed a $100 million P&L and oversaw co-location services, software trading services, and market data sales. During her tenure, she launched CME's Tech Talk conference series, which was held in major financial centers globally.

“The firm is uniquely positioned as a next-generation infrastructure provider in the financial markets,” Armstrong said of Sterling Trading Tech. “This is an opportunity to contribute to the growth of an organization that is already making a profound impact in our industry.”

Sterling Trading Tech provides professional trading technology solutions for equities, equity options, and futures markets, serving over 100 clients including brokers, clearing firms, and proprietary trading groups across more than 20 countries.

Sterling Trading Tech has appointed Julie Armstrong as Chief Commercial Officer (CMO), a newly created position aimed at accelerating the company's global growth. A CME veteran is joining the team following the recent hiring of former Fidessa executive Chris Contrino as Sales Director.

Sterling Trading Tech Appoints Julie Armstrong as Chief Commercial Officer

According to a press release sent to FinanceMagnates.com, in her new role, Armstrong will support commercial efforts focused on driving further growth, expanding into new client segments, and increasing both product reach and geographic presence.

Jennifer Nayar, Sterling's CEO.

“Sterling is entering a transformational period in its evolution,” said Jen Nayar, President and CEO of Sterling Trading Tech. “We've made major investments in product innovation and infrastructure to support institutional growth and global expansion. Julie's appointment is essential to our revenue efforts.”

This likely refers to the expansion announced in March of the company’s Sterling Risk & Margin (SRM) service to include fixed income instruments, adding to its existing offering of equities, options, futures, FX, and cryptocurrencies .

Armstrong brings extensive experience in financial technology leadership. Most recently, she served as VP General Manager and Global Head of Verticalized Industry & Partnerships at Convera from March 2023 to March 2025, where she led go-to-market teams focused on cross-border payment solutions.

For Sterling Trading Tech, this marks another key hire in recent weeks. At the end of January, the provider of trading technology solutions brought on Chris Contrino, who previously worked at Fidessa and, most recently, served as Customer Service Manager at Trading Technologies.

ChartIQ and CME Group Veteran

Armstrong’s career includes serving as CMO at Aeris Communications from December 2020 to January 2023 and holding the same title at ChartIQ from May 2019 to December 2020, where she previously served as an Independent Board Member.

Armstrong spent nearly eight years at CME Group in various executive roles, including Executive Director and Global Head of Market Technology Services, where she managed a $100 million P&L and oversaw co-location services, software trading services, and market data sales. During her tenure, she launched CME's Tech Talk conference series, which was held in major financial centers globally.

“The firm is uniquely positioned as a next-generation infrastructure provider in the financial markets,” Armstrong said of Sterling Trading Tech. “This is an opportunity to contribute to the growth of an organization that is already making a profound impact in our industry.”

Sterling Trading Tech provides professional trading technology solutions for equities, equity options, and futures markets, serving over 100 clients including brokers, clearing firms, and proprietary trading groups across more than 20 countries.

About the Author: Damian Chmiel
Damian Chmiel
  • 3352 Articles
  • 105 Followers
About the Author: Damian Chmiel
Damian Chmiel is a Senior Analyst & Editor at Finance Magnates with more than 15 years of experience in the CFD and online trading industry. Active as both a trader and journalist since 2010, he focuses on broker coverage, fintech innovation, and regulatory developments across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. His work includes interviews with C-level leaders at major brokerages and fintech platforms, as well as co-authoring Finance Magnates’ quarterly industry benchmarking reports. Damian’s reporting is data-driven, market-aware, and grounded in direct industry engagement. His analysis and commentary have also been cited by external media outlets, including Investing.com, Binance, The Asset, Stockhead, and Dispatch. Education: MA in Finance and Accounting, Cracow University of Economics
  • 3352 Articles
  • 105 Followers

More from the Author

Executives

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|} !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}