Barchart, the Chicago based full-service provider of futures, equity and Forex market data, announced today that Mark Haraburda has been named CEO. Haraburda, 38, has served as Managing Director of Business Development and Sales for Barchart since 2007. Current Barchart CEO Andrew Lowdon will continue as COO, as well as company Chairman.
Haraburda joins Barchart founders Lowdon and Eero Pikat, who serves as President and CTO, as part of the firm’s executive management team. As CEO, Haraburda will be responsible for Barchart’s growth, including business development and strategy, as a provider of market data and financial technology. In his previous role as Managing Director, Haraburda oversaw Barchart’s institutional sales and marketing, as well as managed Barchart’s agricultural technology division, AgriCharts.
“Since joining our firm 9 years ago, Mark has had a significant impact on the growth of our business,” said Lowdon. “He’s successfully built out our sales and marketing staffs, established our agricultural technology division as a leader in that space and spearheaded our acquisition of Stockgroup, while also working as a force behind our product development strategies. Mark also has impressive prior experience in the financial markets, notably with the CBOT as that organization underwent enormous technological and structural changes and with the CBOE as it established a futures exchange. Mark has a keen sense of detail and know-how to planning, organizing and executing the pieces to grow a business,” added Lowdon.
Haraburda’s prior career experience includes Bank One, Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Board Options Exchange. Academically, Haraburda holds a Master of Science in Financial Markets from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Bradley University.
“I’m honored to represent Barchart to our clients and the industry as CEO,” said Haraburda. “From the retail to institutional side, and across so many industries, including financial services, commodities, media and technology, we’ve developed a thriving business which I’m dedicated to continuing to grow. Barchart has become a household name in the world of market data but it’s a large industry and we are still a small firm compared to some of our competitors. There are significant opportunities to expand, including new content sets, products, and regions, as well as by adding value to our existing relationships. Also, we will continue to stand-out by focusing on a superior customer experience, which includes our technology, reliability and support,” added Haraburda.