Paul Maguire
Founder and Managing Partner
Paul began his career at the New York Stock Exchange in 1990. His more than thirty years’ experience in the financial investment industry includes working as a trader and Registered Competitive Market Maker for Raymond C. Forbes & Co., Incorporated, and holding the position of Managing Director at New York Stock Exchange Specialist firms LaBranche & Co., LLC, and Henderson Brothers, Incorporated. At these companies, Paul’s responsibilities primarily entailed matching institutional buyers and sellers as well as providing bids and offers to comprehensively resolve all public trading needs. At both Specialist firms, Paul was entrusted with the crucial leadership roles of training large support staff and creating innovative new processes to optimize trading proficiency. These activities and their associated communication skills have given Paul a masterful adeptness at identifying and retaining clients, building and maintaining strategic alliances, and effectively leading Iron Edge VC.
Shortly after departing the NYSE, Paul became interested in late-stage private equity trading. After identifying operational deficiencies and disadvantageous pricing within the pre-IPO industry, Paul decided to establish Iron Edge VC as a means of addressing those issues. As our Founder and Managing Partner, Paul leads Iron Edge with an uncompromising commitment to setting client interests ahead of all other priorities. His tireless mission is to keep his firm at the forefront of pre-IPO providers by delivering best-in-class investment opportunities.
Paul was recently quoted in the WSJ as well as Reuters. Click on the icons below to view the articles.
Cris Palacios
President and General Partner
With more than 22 years of Wall Street experience, Cris Palacios has vast experience in managing and raising funds for investments ranging from stocks to bonds to private equities and beyond.
The diversity of Cris’s experiences within the broader sphere of the financial industry has equipped him with an impressive understanding of the trading mechanism. Furthermore, most of Cris’s industry experience has taken place within the context of leadership roles. While working at numerous brokerage firms, Cris has been entrusted with the vitally important task of training key strategic associates.
All of this has combined to form a professional persona characterized by the utmost proficiency, integrity, and attention to clients’ needs.
John W. Nick
Director, Southeastern U.S. Operations
Jack's career in equities began in 1979, when he trained with Paine Webber and eventually became a member of the New York Futures Exchange, developing and implementing creative trading strategies.
Then, in 1982, Jack transitioned to the New York Stock Exchange, where he acted as a Specialist for Dresdner Bank. He eventually advanced to Dresdner's top position at the NYSE as Director of the firm's floor operations. After Dresdner, he served as Managing Partner for MND & ZZ Securities, creating direct access to the NYSE Floor. After that, Jack took his talents to Albert Fried and Company, where he created and implemented an off-exchange floor commission business and achieved profit targets with an innovative sales and marketing platform.
Iron Edge VC is greatly privileged to benefit from Jack's prolific expertise in securities trading.
Christos Erics
Director of European Operations
Christos Erics has 15 years' experience as an equity trader. He has undertaken research and analysis to decide when to buy or sell shares of a company on equities markets. In addition to common stocks, Christos's duties include trading options, futures, exchange traded funds, and other derivatives. Christos has also managed investor funds for pre-IPOs, secondary markets, and capital raising.
Ayad Hachem
Director of Middle East Operations
A dedicated professional with more than 20 years’ experience in the financial industry, Ayad Hachem is uniquely qualified to oversee our business in the Middle East as head of Iron Edge’s Dubai Office. Working in the Financial Centers of the United States and Europe has developed Ayad’s advanced expertise in catering to a global clientele. Ayad has covered the Middle East Region for more than fifteen years while working with the most renowned banks around the globe, including Track Data equity trading in New York, HSBC in Luxembourg, and the Beirut locations of Indosuez Wealth Management, Julius Baer Bank, and Merrill Lynch. Ayad earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston, his MBA in Finance from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, as well as certification from the Wealth Management Institute in Singapore.
