MKM is led by a committed management team with deep industry knowledge, extensive sales & trading expertise, and decades of experience in the institutional brokerage space.
Management Committee
Sagar Sheth
Chief Executive Officer
Sagar Sheth became the Chief Executive Officer of MKM Partners in April 2022. He is responsible for creating, communicating, and implementing MKM’s vision, mission, and direction across all business lines. He also focuses on evaluating opportunities for expansion, increasing the firm’s visibility in the marketplace, and managing relationships with key stakeholders.
Prior to his role as CEO, Mr. Sheth joined the firm’s Senior Management Team as President in August 2018 and, together with the Founders, oversaw the operations of the firm. He was tasked with forming and executing strategies that improved the firm’s overall business in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He grew MKM’s market share by broadening distribution, developing new as well as existing client relationships, and making significant investments in the company’s human capital.
Mr. Sheth started at MKM in 2014 as Managing Director & Head of Midwest Equities and was tasked to open the company’s first Chicago office, which he successfully completed shortly after his arrival. He was soon promoted to Co-Head of Institutional Sales, and then in the next year was named Chairman of the Operating Committee.
Mr. Sheth previously served as Director in the Global Markets Division of Deutsche Bank, and prior to that, he was a Director at UBS Investment Bank in the Equities Group. He also held positions as an Associate Quantitative Analyst at UBS Global Asset Management and as a Business Analyst at Morgan Stanley’s Discover Financial Services Group.
In his personal time, Mr. Sheth gives back to the community by volunteering as a Board Member on multiple charitable organizations, and he was also an Adjunct Professor at the IIT Stuart School of Business in Chicago from 2011 to 2016. He is an investor in a wide variety of businesses and start-ups ranging from education, technology, hospitality, finance, and real estate.
Mr. Sheth received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and he graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors in Economics.
Thomas G. Messina
Co-Founder & Co-Chairman
MKM Partners LLC was founded in 2002 by Thomas G. Messina to provide a service and detail-oriented trading and research organization focused on becoming an extension of their clients’ trading and research efforts. Prior to founding MKM, Mr. Messina was the Executive Vice President of Institutional Sales and Trading at A.B. Watley. He founded the Institutional Trading Operation at A.B. Watley in 1995. From 1988 through 1995, Mr. Messina gained experience in Institutional Sales and Trading at firms including Cantor Fitzgerald, Weeden & Co., LP and Mabon Securities.
Steven L. Messina
Co-Founder & Co-Chairman
Steven L. Messina co-founded MKM Partners in 2002. Mr. Messina is known for his ability to deliver quality service and value-added trading solutions. Prior to founding MKM, Mr. Messina was a Senior Vice President of Equity Sales and Trading at A.B. Watley from 1996 to 2002. He was a member of the Institutional Management Committee and directed all equity sales strategy. Previously, Mr. Messina served as Vice President and Sales Manager of Fidelity Insight Management. From 1987 to 1992, he was a Vice President and Sales Manager at Fidelity Investments.
Michael T. Darda
Chief Economist & Chief Market Strategist
Michael T. Darda, MKM’s Chief Economist and Market Strategist, has a unique approach that combines macroeconomics with market strategy to deliver timely and high-impact insights to clients. His research is designed to guide equity and fixed income investors toward higher risk-adjusted returns by determining where we are in “the cycle” using leading indicators, the credit markets and business cycle history to identify inflection points. Mr. Darda is a frequent guest on financial television and radio, especially in times of uncertainty. He is frequently quoted in the WSJ, NYT, Barron’s and other financial publications. Having started his career in the Wisconsin state legislature, he understands how the legislative process works and how policy decisions are likely to affect markets. Mr. Darda has been a recurring guest at the prestigious Santa Colomba monetary conference put on by Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell. He has also been a guest lecturer at Columbia University, speaking on major market trends that drive markets. A Wisconsin native, Mr. Darda graduated with honors in economics and public relations from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Matthew Casamassima
President – Head of Trading
Member of the Operating Committee
Matthew J. Casamassima is a senior member of the team having joined MKM in its founding year, 2002. Prior to joining MKM, Mr. Casamassima worked as a market maker for Spencer Trask, a New York based venture capital firm, from 1999 to 2002. Matt graduated from Boston College in May of 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications.
Operating Committee
TJ Hegarty
Managing Director, Co-Head of Sales Trading
Co-Chair of the Operating Committee
T.J. Hegarty joined MKM Partners in 2003 as an institutional sales trader. After 14 years at MKM, T.J. was promoted to co-head of institutional sales trading. T.J. has been a key contributor to the firm’s growth and has covered some of the firm’s top clients over the years. Before joining MKM, Mr. Hegarty worked at institutional trading firm Instinet Corp. T.J. graduated with a degree in finance from the Hagan School of Business at Iona College.
Alex Panagiotidis
Managing Director, Head of Derivatives & Event Driven
Co-Chair of the Operating Committee
Alex Panagiotidis joined MKM Partners in September 2018 from Robert W Baird & Co where he worked for two years as a Managing Director heading up the Equity Derivatives department. He has more than 20 years of experience trading equities and equity derivatives for Salomon Smith Barney (Citigroup), ICAP, and Sterne Agee. Mr. Panagiotidis is a Financial Engineer, a Fulbright Scholar, and holds Master Degrees from both Columbia University and the National Technical University of Athens.
Rebecca Reeves
Managing Director, Co-Head of Institutional Sales
Rebecca Reeves joined MKM’s research sales team in 2019 covering clients on the West Coast. In 2022, she was promoted to Co-Head of US Institutional Equity Sales. Prior to joining MKM, Ms. Reeves spent most of her career growing in the Institutional Equities business at Cowen & Company (in both their Chicago and Dallas offices). She has also held positions at firms including Cantor Fitzgerald and Stephens Inc. Ms. Reeves graduated with a BA from Texas A&M University and resides in Austin, TX with her family.
Cameron Eberheim
Managing Director,
Co-Head of Sales Trading
Cameron Eberheim joined MKM Partners in 2002 as an institutional sales trader. After 15 years at MKM, Cameron was promoted to co-head of institutional sales trading. Cameron has been a key contributor to the firm’s growth and has covered some of the firm’s top clients over the years. Before joining MKM, Mr. Eberheim worked as an intern at Amaranth Advisors in Greenwich CT. Cameron was a member of the Golden Key Honor Society and graduated cum laude from The University of RI with a degree in finance and communication studies where he was a four year letterman of the university’s Division one football program.
Christopher Mascera
Chief Operating Officer
Christopher Mascera rejoined MKM Partners in May 2018 from Recon Capital Partners where he worked for a year as the Chief Operating Officer responsible for the daily operations of a SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Prior to that, he spent over 13 years with MKM Partners in a variety of roles, most recently as Chief Information Officer. Mr. Mascera holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Tulane University in Chemical Engineering.
John O’Brien
Managing Director,
Head of West Coast
John O’Brien joined MKM Partners in June 2006 to open and run the Cleveland office. In August 2014, John was appointed to Head of West Coast to develop MKM’s institutional research, sales and trading product offerings in the West Coast. Prior to joining MKM, he was a Managing Director at Keybanc Capital Markets and Head of Sales Trading from 2003 to 2006. From 1999 to 2003 he was Sr. V.P. of Sales Trading for Keybanc, managing their west coast trading operations. From 1993 to 1999 Mr. O’Brien was an OTC market maker for Legg Mason and Everen Securities. He graduated from Georgetown University with a BSBA in Finance in 1993.
Sheila Slattery
Chief Financial Officer
Sheila Slattery joined MKM Partners in December 2010. Prior to joining MKM, Ms. Slattery was with the Schonfeld Group where she was CFO of its executing broker-dealer. Her professional experience also includes financial controller positions with Calyon Corporate & Investment Bank, SBC Warburg and Citicorp Securities. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant while with Ernst & Young in Dublin, Ireland and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Galway, Ireland.
Eric Handler
Managing Director,
Senior Research Analyst
Eric Handler joined MKM Partners in March 2009 as an analyst covering the Media and Entertainment sector. Eric has been covering a broad range of industries within the Media and Entertainment universe since 1998, including video games, theatrical exhibition, Hollywood movie studios, advertising related media, the Internet and toys. Prior to MKM, Eric spent more than four years covering small and mid-cap companies within the entertainment and video game industries at Barclays (formerly Lehman Brothers). His professional experience also includes research analyst positions at Goldman Sachs (2002-2004) and SG Cowen (1998-2002). He holds an MBA from Tulane University and a BA in Political Science from Boston University.
Joshua Forst
Managing Director, Co-Head of Institutional Sales
Joshua Forst joined MKM Partners in 2002 as a day one employee covering large institutional accounts as a sales trader. In 2005, he started covering accounts as a research salesperson as MKM rolled out fundamental research and was elevated to Co-Head of Institutional Sales in 2019. Prior to joining MKM, he was an institutional sales trader at Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, Ladenburg, Thalmann & Com, Inc., CIBC World Markets, and Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. Joshua graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.
Rohit Kulkarni
Managing Director, Internet & Capital Markets Analyst
Rohit Kulkarni joined MKM Partners in 2019, and draws on more than 17 years of diverse experience spanning an operating role at a Silicon Valley Series C start-up, covering Internet stocks, Investment Banking advisory, and Technology strategy at a Fortune 100 company. Prior to joining MKM, Rohit spent several years as Managing Director at SharesPost, as well as working as a Senior Analyst at RBC Capital Markets. Rohit was voted a “Rising Star” of Internet research by Institutional Investor. Previously, Rohit has held equity research roles at Citigroup and Robert W. Baird. Rohit was a key member of highly regarded research team ranked #1 for five years in a row, from 2008 to 2012 in the Internet category of Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team. Rohit holds an MBA degree from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a Masters in Computer Science in Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and a Bachelors in Engineering from University of Mumbai, India.
Wendy D. Farina
Managing Director, Head of Quantitative Survey Group
Wendy D. Farina joined MKM Partners in April 2008. Prior to joining MKM, Ms. Farina led all consumer research and trend analyses at Vardon Capital Management, a long/short equity hedge fund located in New York. Previously Ms. Farina was a successful business strategist and spent more than 20 years consulting to Fortune 500 companies covering a wide range of industries. Prior to Vardon, she was a Principal with Kurt Salmon Associates, a global strategy boutique widely respected by C-level executives across the retail and consumer business landscape. Ms. Farina earned her MBA with honors from City University of New York/Baruch College and also received honors from NYU for her Post-Masters degree in Accounting. She received her B.S. in business from The University of Arizona.