The Fintech Finance 40: Vikas Shah

Currently ranked: 33
Previously ranked: PNR

Thesys Technologies, which in January 2017 beat rival bids to build the Securities and Exchange Commission’s consolidated audit trail system, “did not go it alone,” notes Vikas Shah, head of investment banking at brokerage firmRosenblatt Securities. As the trading technology company’sstrategic adviser, Rosenblatt worked alongside law firm Latham & Watkins and International Business Machines Corp., which is supplying cloud computing and other support as part of the contract to deliver the massive securities market transaction database.

It was not a typical banking advisory engagement, but it showed the industry expertise, creativity, and relationship-building capacity that Shah has instilled in Rosenblatt during his nine years with the New York–based firm. Rosenblatt’s president, Joe Gawronski, refers to him as “our fintech guru.”

Shah hosted Rosenblatt’s first annualFinancial Technologies Summitin 2009, the year he joined the brokerage firm. Last year’s conference included panel discussions on blockchain, insuretech, and machine learning, as well as “one-on-ones” for investors and entrepreneurs.

Shah, who previously worked at Credit Suisse Group and American International Group, stresses independence and trust in approaching relationships and assignments. He leads a team of five who work on just a few deals at a time to maximize their level of attention.

“We have started to focus on adjacent areas of fintech such as insuretech, where significant innovations and investments are happening,” says Shah.

Apart from Thesys, Rosenblatt in 2017 advised business lenderSnap Capitalon a debt financing from Old Hill Partners; robo-adviser Blooom on a series B round of funding; andEuronexton itsacquisitionof FastMatch, an electronic communications network for foreign exchange trading.

See the full Fintech Finance 40 here.