DealVector, providers of the first secure electronic communication network for the fixed income and structured credit space, today announced that it has added Jim Nadler, the President of Kroll Bond Ratings, to its advisory board, and appointed Jim Kranz as Head of Business Development.
Both appointments were made in conjunction with the company exceeding its funding goal. The support from the marketplace for this offering is highlighted by the participation of key investors that include former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer, Data Explorers founder Mark Faulkner, and Data Explorers CEO Donal Smith.
Jim Nadler, 56, is the latest addition to DealVector's advisory team. He is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Kroll Bond Rating Agency, where he has been instrumental in driving the firm's rapid growth as a startup ratings agency. Previously, Jim was the Vice President for Corporate Development at General Re in the New England Asset Management Division. At General Re NEAM, Jim was instrumental in developing their alternative asset area. Over the last twenty years, Jim has held several roles in the world of financial analysis, working for mainstays in the ratings industry as well as independent research firms. As Executive Vice President at Fitch Ratings, he led the Structured Finance Group with responsibilities for strategy, budgets, hiring, product development, and credit rating criteria. Jim began his career as a senior accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and then became a ratings officer at Standard & Poor's. He received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Kansas and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University.
Jim Kranz, 53, brings 26 years of financial sales, product marketing and business development experience to his role as Head of Business Development, where he will be responsible for identifying new market opportunities and leading strategic initiatives that will help grow DealVector's business. Prior to joining DealVector, Jim spent over six years at Advent Software as Senior Market Manager and later the National Sales Manager. At Advent, Jim was one of the top sales managers and significantly increased the average deal size and profitability during his tenure. He was also instrumental in the launch oof Advent Portfolio Exchange (APX), a portfolio management end-to-end solution that integrates all phases of the investment management and client reporting process. He has also held executive positions at CRA RogersCasey LLC, Cap Spring Inc., BARRA Inc., Capital Management Sciences, and Knight-Ridder Financial. Jim received a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from St. Lawrence University and a degree in International Economics from the Austro-American Institute in Vienna.
DealVector exceeded its fundraising goal, due in large part to strong demand from investors such as Glocer, Faulkner and Smith who have professional experience in the financial information services and fixed income markets. Although initially targeting a raise of between $500,000 and $750,000 based on the typical seed raise for a company of this stage, DealVector was able to expand the round and surpass the $1 million mark, giving it the ability to expand its in-house staff and fulfill more investor research requests in a timely and efficient manner.
"For years there has been a large void in the communication process between banks and holders of structured credit, but we are already seeing the impact that DealVector is having in alleviating many of the liquidity and transparency issues that investors were previously facing," said Mike Manning, co-founder and CEO of DealVector. "The additions of Jim Nadler and Jim Kranz to our team, as well as the completion of a very successful seed round, will help to grow the company even further and allow us to continue to expand our service offering to hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds and the other buy-side asset managers we serve."
DealVector provides a confidential deal registry, secure online communication platform, and a validated membership base that make it easy to answer the question "Who's in my deal?" DealVector matches highly qualified, validated participants on a deal-by-deal basis. Members preserve their anonymity, but can be confident that they are dealing with validated deal participants. By enabling direct connections among investors, collateral managers, counterparties, broker-dealers and others, DealVector helps to eliminate information blockages and improve communication efficiency.