A nine-year veteran of the New York Stock Exchange is taking over a 27-year-old, $48.5-billion-AUM (as of September 30) fund firm in Gotham after its throne has been vacate for several years.

On Monday, Michael Rafferty, CEO of Raffery Holdings, confirmed that he has hired Doug Yones as CEO of Rafferty's Direxion [profile], a mutual fund and ETF shop that specializes in leveraged, inverse, and thematic offerings. Yones will be based in Direxion's New York City headquarters.

Yones most recently served as head of exchange-traded products (ETPs, which includes ETFs and closed-ended funds, i.e. CEFs) at the NYSE. At Direxion, the fund firm's former CEO Dan O'Neill stepped down a few years ago (though O'Neill had still been working with Michael Rafferty on "strategic oversight" of Direxion, a company spokesperson tells Pensions & Investments). Angie Brickl, general counsel of Direxion and Rafferty Holdings since 2010, succeeded the firms' prior president in 2022.

Michael Raffery states that Yones will help the Direxion team "build on the momentum [they've] created over the past two decades."

"Doug's history of delivering innovative ideas and valuable insights in the capital markets was a major reason for bringing him aboard, and Direxion is delighted to welcome him to the team," Michael Rafferty states.

For his part, Yones praises the "talented team of people" at Direxion, saying that they have "always set the bar high for progressive ETF ideas-especially in the non-traditional, leveraged, and inverse space."

"Their dedication and creativity have been instrumental in driving success, and together, we're ready to bring fresh ideas to life, ensuring that traders and investors continue to receive the unique opportunities they've come to expect from us," Yones states.

"I couldn't be more excited to join the incredible team of #etf professionals at Direxion!" Yones writes on LinkedIn.

Yones joined the NYSE in 2015 after 17 years with Vanguard, where he rose to lead domestic equity index and ETF product management. He is an alumnus of Villanova University and of Penn State University. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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