Marcus Hooper

Marcus Hooper is Managing Director of Agora Global Consultants. Agora provides management consulting services to financial services companies including investment banks, asset managers, vendors, Exchanges and other trading firms. Agora manages strategy and business change services together with project management for regulatory change programs. 

Prior to this Marcus was the Chief Executive Officer of the European division of Aritas Financial. Marcus established Aritas from the ground up as one of the very first pan-European MiFID compliant MTFs (Multilateral Trading Facility). Aritas was also an investment firm and offered algorithmic and electronic broker trading services. 

He has extensive financial services experience including many years in key management roles. He has a breadth of experience which covers a range of business types and activities, from wholesale broking through prime services, asset management, alternative investment and retail. His experience spans regulation, systems management / implementation, clearing & settlement deployment, business development and multiple other areas. 

Marcus was the director in charge of trading operations for the Investment Management divisions of HBOS, Allianz and AXA, where he set up the trading operation. Throughout his career he has worked in the fields of market structure and the deployment of electronic trading technologies. 

Having been actively involved in financial services industry working and advisory groups Marcus has deep knowledge & experience in the areas of electronic trading, financial markets regulation, market structure, transaction cost analysis and the development and application of trading technology. 

He has worked on projects undertaken by The European Commission, The UK Treasury, The FCA, The Investment Managers’ Association, The British Banking Association, The European Securities and Markets Authority and The London Stock Exchange. He has authored papers on Financial Markets behaviour including studies on the subjects of best execution, electronic and alternative trading systems and transaction cost analysis. He co-authored papers with Professor Schwartz, the Distinguished Professor of Finance and Economics at the City University of New York. He has contributed to a number of books about financial markets. 

As a regular speaker at industry conferences he is a firm believer in improved education in the market behaviour and management. Marcus is proud to have lectured executive MBA programs in the UK and USA, and was a nominated speaker for the USA’s Association of Investment Management and Research regulatory education program.