Anthony Malakian: The Year in Quotes, 2012

Every month, Waters profiles a C-level technologist and in 2012 we featured many buy-side leaders and their sell-side providers. Here are some of their thoughts.

Michael Liberman, COO and CRO, BlueMountain Capital Management
“We’ve built a lot of credibility by delivering results, and we have used that credibility to innovate. But we always understand that we have to renew it—there’s no way for us to say that we’ve been here for eight years and that’s all we need.”

Takeaway: Liberman and his team of quants have been together for nearly a decade, but despite their success, they vow to never become complacent.

Richard Alexander, CIO, Cerberus Capital Management
“I can assure you, I was never the best player on the field, but when my teammates chose me as a captain, they considered me their leader. I’m the guy they want to go out to the midfield for the coin toss or when there’s conflict on the field to talk it through with the officials. So what I didn’t have in the athletic department, I made up for in leadership ... and we won a lot. Winning is important, too.”

Takeaway: As technology plays a greater role in financial firms—and as technology leaders get more boardroom seats—having strong leadership qualities is imperative. Every day, Alexander is confronted by the CEO, CFO and/or COO and he has to be ready with the answers and confidence.

Steve Ellis, group head of wholesale services, Wells Fargo
This interaction took place between Ellis and his boss, David Hoyt, after news broke that Wells Fargo had acquired Wachovia.
Hoyt: “You want to run the merger, don’t you?”
Ellis: “Nope.”
Hoyt: [After a long pause.] “No, you really do, don’t you?”
Ellis: [Groans.] “You bet I do!”

As technology plays a greater role in financial firms, having strong leadership qualities is imperative.

Takeaway: Sometimes things get forced on technologists. As Ellis told Waters, “I knew what it was going to be—hell.”

Todd Berlent, CTO, Cantor Fitzgerald
“Distance running is not unlike managing an IT project. Patience, perseverance, and the ability to adapt to changes and make corrections mid-run are crucial. It really is analogous to running a race, where you don’t control the weather or other external factors. Technology projects often present hurdles and other challenges you need to overcome.”
Takeaway: Berlent runs ultra-marathons, which typically range from 50 to 100 kilometers. It fascinates me how C-level technologists can find the time for extra-curricular endeavors. It’s even more interesting when those activities mirror their work lives.

Michael Levas, founder, Olympian Capital Management
“There are a number of musicians in the business. Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, for instance, went to performing arts conservatory The Juilliard School. I think there’s a connection from watching the markets and looking at the charts. When you think about it, it’s kind of linear and musical—there’s a flow to it, which is very symmetric with music.”

Takeaway: Levas studied at the New England Conservatory and then at Berklee College of Music, before deciding he liked the idea of making money rather than spending his life as a starving artist. A surprising number of technologists originally wanted to be writers or musicians. Or maybe that isn’t so surprising.

Tom Miglis, CIO, Citadel Group
“I told him, ‘Well, that’s impossible,’ and he shot right back, ‘I know—go do it!’ and hung up the phone.”

Takeaway: Miglis had this conversation early in his career when Lewie Ranieri asked him to execute a novel mortgage-backed security (MBS) product. It is a prime example of how technologists must answer to the whims of business leaders, for better or worse.

And, of all the quotes these and other technologists gave to us over 2012, this one is my favorite: Miglis looks over the menu during a business meeting at one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants in Manhattan—visited the day before by soccer great David Beckham—and asks the waiter: “Do you have any Cheerios?”