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
Thomas G. Messina
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
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. Mr. Messina uses his almost 20 years of experience to service the clients of MKM as the Head of Sales and Trading.
Steven L. Messina
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Steven L. Messina co-founded MKM Partners in 2002. Mr. Messina is the President of MKM and 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.
Sagar Sheth
President of MKM Partners
Chairman of the Operating Committee
Sagar Sheth is currently the President of MKM Partners. 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 together with the Founders, overseeing the operations of the firm.
Prior to his role as President, Mr. Sheth was Chairman of the Operating Committee and Co-Head of US Institutional Sales. Reporting directly to the CEO, he was tasked with creating and executing strategies that will improve the firm’s overall business in the US, Canada, and Europe. He grew MKM’s market share by broadening distribution, developed new and existing client relationships, and led the national sales team located in nine different offices across the country. Mr. Sheth started at MKM Partners in 2014 as a Managing Director and Head of Midwest Equities, where he started the firm’s first Chicago Office.
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 serving 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, and finance.
Mr. Sheth received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and he graduated from University of Michigan with a Bachelors in Economics.
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
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.
Roxanne Meyer
Director of Research & Co-Chair of the Operating Committee
Roxanne Meyer is the Director of Equity Research and Co-Chair of MKM’s Operating Committee, as well as a Managing Director and Senior Analyst covering the Softlines Retail sector. Roxanne joined MKM Partners in 2015, and draws on 18 years of experience covering the softlines retail space to offer investors thoughtful industry reports, detailed analytical work, and stock picking. Prior to joining MKM Partners, she spent seven years at UBS Securities as an Executive Director, Specialty Retail Analyst, and prior, spent eight years as an Executive Director, Specialty Retail Analyst at CIBC World Markets Corp. Roxanne was highly regarded in the Retailing/Specialty Stores category of Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team, and ranked as a Runner Up in 2010 and 2011. Roxanne holds an MBA degree from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a BBA degree from the University of Michigan, School of Business. She is also a CFA charter holder.
Brendan McLaughlin
Chief Compliance Officer
Brendan joined MKM Partners in December 2013. Prior to joining MKM, he was at CRT Capital Group (2006-2013) where he served as a Senior Vice President of Compliance (2009-2013) and as a Senior Vice President of Institutional Research Sales & Trading (2006-2009). From 2002-2006, he was a Director, Equity Sales Trader at Putnam Lovell NBF Securities. From 1996-2001, Mr. McLaughlin was a Director, Equity Trading at CIBC Oppenheimer & Co. Brendan holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Rutgers School of Management and a Certified Regulatory Compliance Professional (CRCP) designation from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Alex Panagiotidis
Managing Director, Head of Derivatives & Event Driven
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 17 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.
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.