Equities and derivatives traders at institutional broker-dealer BTIG collectively had a pretty good day trading on Tuesday.
But they didn’t take home a red cent in commissions for their efforts. Instead, they chose to donate the $3 million they earned from trades to 27 children’s charities, as part of their seventh Commissions for Charity Day, said Steven Starker, BTIG co-founder. “I think we knocked the cover off the ball,” Starker said. “It’s great to be able to give back in a very, very, very trying and difficult economic environment.” For the event, a number of athletes and celebrities spent the day at the firm’s New York office to lend support and encouragement, including actor Michael J. Fox, New York Yankee Johnny Damon, New York Giant Eli Manning, former Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson, former New York Knick John Starks, model Tori Praver and New York Stock Exchange boss Duncan Niederauer. The featured guests, however, were the roughly 25 kids in attendance, Starker said. But it was the traders handling BTIG’s roughly 1,200 accounts who did most of the heavy lifting. They executed equities, options and exchange-traded fund trades that day for its institutional clients, Starker said. “We had broad participation from the accounts in the day,” Starker said. “Obviously, we rely on them to participate because it’s their commission dollars that get contributed.” The charity is in its seventh year. Early on, the annual event began by raising several hundred thousand dollars. That figure mushroomed to more than $2 million last year.
In the overall market on Tuesday, more than 10 billion shares traded. Starker said he was “pleasantly” surprised by the firm’s level of business, given that Tuesday’s market wasn’t overly volatile, with clients requiring high-touch assistance. Interestingly, the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Volatility Index closed Tuesday under 30 for the first time since the Friday before Lehman Brothers’ collapse in September.