RBC Hires Noel Reyes from Goldman Sachs to Lead Algorithmic Equities Execution

Royal Bank of Canada has recruited Goldman Sachs equities trader Noel Reyes to lead product innovation and advance its algorithmic equities execution capabilities, Bloomberg reported Feb. 18. According to an internal company memo cited by Financial Post and Investing.com, Reyes will join RBC Capital Markets in May and be based in New York.

Reyes most recently served as head of Americas equities electronic trading product at Goldman Sachs, according to Investing.com and Bloomberg summaries. Financial Post reporting, citing the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority registry, traces his electronic trading career to Lehman Brothers in 2006, a move to JPMorgan in 2010, and a switch to Goldman Sachs in 2018.

Investing.com and Financial Post both state Reyes will report to Jas Sandhu, identified as global head of electronic multi asset agency solutions at RBC, and that his remit will center on product development across electronic trading and execution algorithms. Investing.com reported the memo saying, "Reyes, who previously served as head of Americas equities electronic trading product at Goldman Sachs, will join RBC Capital Markets in May, according to an internal company memo. Based in New York, he will lead product development across electronic trading and execution algorithms. In his new role, Reyes will report to Jas Sandhu, global head of electronic multi asset agency solutions at RBC."

Bloomberg framed the hire as part of RBC's push to broaden its footprint in stock trading, writing that "Royal Bank of Canada has recruited a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. equities trader and execution specialist to lead product innovation as the bank continues to broaden its footprint in global stocks." Coverage across outlets notes this is one of multiple senior additions to the bank's equities effort.

Reporting compiled from Bloomberg, Ainvest, Investing.com, and Financial Post shows the hire sits inside a wider recruitment drive at RBC. Ainvest and Bloomberg report the bank has recruited eight senior staff since July, including hires from UBS and Societe Generale, and Investing.com noted the move follows the appointment a year earlier of James Masserio as global head of equities from Societe Generale.

Financial Post provides the most granular career timeline for Reyes, noting his start on Lehman's electronic trading team in 2006, continuity through the firm's acquisition by Barclays after the financial crisis, a 2010 move to JPMorgan, and his 2018 start at Goldman Sachs as reflected in the FINRA registry.

The public reporting relies on an internal RBC memo for the May start date and New York base; Financial Post and Investing.com cite that memo. Investing.com also discloses its article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. None of the accounts include direct comments from Reyes, RBC or Goldman Sachs, nor do they provide compensation, exact start day in May, or the specific algorithms and product names Reyes will oversee.

Analysts are watching whether these hires translate into execution performance and client satisfaction, Ainvest noted. With Noel Reyes scheduled to join in May and reporting to Jas Sandhu, RBC's next quarterly results and client win announcements will be the first hard tests of whether the bank's eight-senior-staff hiring spree improves its algorithmic equities execution.