iSAM Securities (previously known as ISAM Capital Markets) has promoted two of its executives Samuel Johnson as the company’s Managing Director and Ryan Poole as the Chief Investment Officer. Johnson was previously the Global Head of Sales at the company and joined in September 2023, while Poole has been the Head of Quantitative Trading for the last five years.

An Internal Promotion to a Top Role

Before joining iSAM, Johnson only worked for UBS since the beginning of his professional career. According to his LinkedIn profile, he joined the Zurich headquarters of the Swiss banking giant as a Graduate in May 2009. later, he climbed the corporate ladder at UBS for more than fourteen years.

He was promoted to Analyst within six months of joining UBS and then became an Associate Director of Credit Repo Trading after a couple of years. Over the following years, he moved to the London offices of the Swiss-headquartered bank and assumed the role of Associate Director of Credit Trading (Financials) and then Associated Director of FX Spot G10 Trading.

He was appointed as a Director at UBS in February 2019, handling FX Spot G10 Trading. At the time of his departure from UBS last year, he was a Director of eFRC Trading.

Johnson said: “This title change not only represents a personal milestone but underscores the collective dedication of our team to drive innovation and excellence in the financial industry.”

Poole joined iSAM Securities in November 2018, becoming a part of its London office. He brought quantitative trading experience from Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas to the company.

"This change reflects a willingness to adapt as the markets in which we operate become more competitive and clients become more sophisticated," Poole said.

Rebranding to Align Businesses

Last year, ISAM Capital Markets was rebranded as iSAM Securities. The rebranded entity consolidates the business and covers all four business units: iSPrime, regulated by the FCA; Hong Kong-regulated iSPrime Hong Kong Limited; iSRisk, which is regulated in the US by the CFTC; and CIMA-regulated iSPrime Markets Limited.

Interestingly, the two co-founders of iS Prime, Raj Sitlani and Jonathan Brewer, left days after the rebranding was announced. They started iSPrime in 2014 in partnership with iSAM, a systematic hedge fund manager.