Akuna Capital is an American proprietary trading firm headquartered in Chicago. It has additional offices in London, Shanghai, and Sydney.
 | |
_Downtown,_S_Wabash_Ave,_%22_CNA_Center_%22_1972._(4825718231).jpg) Headquarters at 333 South Wabash | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founders | Andrew Killion Mitchell Skinner |
| Headquarters | 333 South Wabash, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Key people | Andrew Killion (Chairman) |
| Products | Proprietary trading Algorithmic trading High-frequency trading |
Number of employees | 580 (2022) |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Background
editAkuna Capital was co-founded by Andrew Killion in 2011 in Chicago.[2][3][4] Killion was previously a partner at Optiver and had left his hometown of Sydney in 2011 to move to Chicago.[2][3][4] Chicago was selected to launch Akuna Capital as it was considered the center of the world for derivatives and options.[3]
The word Akuna comes from an Australian Aboriginal word that means flowing water.[3][4]
Akuna Capital has an affiliated broker-dealer named Akuna Securities.[5]
According to Bloomberg News, Akuna Capital had one of the highest monthly salaries for internships in the financial sector from 2021 to 2022.[6]
History
editIn 2015, Akuna Capital signed a deal with the state of Illinois worth $4.5 million in tax breaks.[7] Under the deal, Akuna Capital would hire ten new employees where five would be in trading and five would be in software.[7]
In 2019, Akuna Capital lost $5.4 million on cryptocurrency assets and technology startups.[8]
In January 2023, the firm cut 11% of its entire global workforce with some new hires having their contracts rescinded.[8]
In June 2023, Akuna cut 40% of its Asia-pacific workforce.[4]
References
edit- ^ "BrokerCheck - Find a broker, investment or financial advisor". brokercheck.finra.org.
- ^ a b "Derivatives trader makes $30m return to hometown". Australian Financial Review. November 8, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Chicago exec buys $23 million home—in Australia". Crain's Chicago Business. January 4, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Turner-Cohen, Alex (June 29, 2023). "Australian derivatives trading firm Akuna Capital slashes 40% of APAC workforce". News.com.au.
- ^ "Andrej Bolkovic Becomes New CEO at Chicago-Based OCC". Financial and Business News | Finance Magnates. June 22, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "Interns Are Making Over $16,000 a Month as Wall Street Talent Wars Heat Up". Bloomberg.com. April 14, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "Akuna Capital signed tax break deal with state of Illinois estimated to be worth $4.5M". Illinois Policy. May 23, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "Australian trading company Akuna Capital slashes 11 per cent of workforce". news.com.au. January 20, 2023.