The FCM has also struck a deal with Colagrossi Futures, an introducing broker that is a leader in serving CTAs – the US companies that run managed futures accounts. Gerard Colagrossi, the firm’s owner and a 25 year futures market veteran, has agreed to exclusively use Penson as a channel to the market.

“This 24 hour desk is different from some of those established at other firms,” said John Streich, CEO of Penson GHCO. “It specialises in executing large block orders for CTAs that we will give out to other clearing firms.”

To achieve that, Penson is hiring the team from MF Global, which is well known in the market and previously handled Colagrossi’s business. Streich said several CTAs had confirmed to him that they would be bringing their business to Penson via Colagrossi.

“These individuals we are hiring have proprietary allocation models they’ve built which can deliver superior execution,” said Streich. The computer model is designed to allocate large orders – say, a 1,000 lot block order that might come in during the night – to hundreds of accounts at different FCMs.

Orders will be placed on all the markets around the world where Penson is active. The team will staff the desk round the clock, two at a time, in three shifts.

The team hire and deal with Colagrossi are part of a wider strategy at Penson to transact more business for CTAs, and to establish Penson’s credentials as a global firm.

“This deal came together very quickly, because of the synergies and the vision we share,” Streich said. “As this grows, we anticipate not only executing for CTAs but also clearing for CTAs. We are not going to take every deal that comes along, but when the chemistry is right we will.”

He said the desk would be aimed at CTAs but that its services would also be applicable to any customer wanting to execute large orders.

“It’s important people know about Penson – we’re more than the local clearing firm that we have been in the past,” said Streich. “I want to be known as a first class firm that really delivers.”