Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
PEAK6
The Chicago options market maker — founded in 1997 by Matt Hulsizer and Jenny Just, two former O'Connor & Associates options traders, with ~$1.5m of seed money (Forbes, Oct 2021, via Wikipedia) — that used its trading profits to build other businesses rather than to become the biggest market maker. The firm's record is less a story about one edge than about turning a trading edge into businesses: an online options broker, OptionsHouse (launched 2006 per Crain's; sold to General Atlantic in 2014, reportedly for ~$200m, and resold by General Atlantic to ETrade for $725m in Sep 2016 — Trade 10-K); a hedge-fund arm spun out in 2014 as Achievement Asset Management (~$2.3bn, WSJ via Wikipedia, verify); and, from a June 2012 rescue of the failing Penson clearing business, Apex Clearing — the back-office custodian behind a generation of app brokers (Robinhood, Wealthfront, Betterment and Stash were clients by 2015, Forbes via Wikipedia). Apex's moment in the spotlight was a bad one: on28 Jan 2021 it told introducing brokers including Webull and Public to stop customers opening new positions in GameStop, AMC and Koss after the DTCC raised collateral demands (reported); its $4.7bn SPAC listing with Northern Star Investment Corp. II (announced Feb 2021) was abandoned in Dec 2021; and it paid a $6m SEC penalty over off-channel communications (Aug 2024) and a $3.2m FINRA fine over its fully paid securities-lending programme (Feb 2025). PEAK6 moved its headquarters from Chicago to Austin, Texas from 1 Jan 2025 (company announcement). It publishes no financial statements; options-trading revenue and market share are not public.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1997, Chicago, by Matt Hulsizer and Jenny Just, former options traders at O'Connor & Associates; seed ~$1.5m from O'Connor partners, friends and family (Forbes, Wang, 25 Oct 2021, as cited by Wikipedia); PEAK6's own history page dates the trading firm ("Capital Management") to 1997
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas since 1 Jan 2025 (PEAK6 announcement, 27 Dec 2024; Bloomberg, 28 Dec 2024, via Wikipedia); previously Chicago; offices in the US and Europe including New York (2019) and Belfast (announced Sep 2020) (company; BBC via Wikipedia)
- Ownership / structure
- Private; founder-controlled (PEAK6 Investments LLC/L.P. and affiliates — entity names vary across filings, verify). Apex Fintech Solutions (Apex Clearing's parent) is described as majority-owned by PEAK6 (press, reported) with a minority investment from State Street (2025, aggregator report — verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer, co-founders (company); Apex Fintech Solutions CEO William (Bill) Capuzzi (Fortune, Oct 2023, reported — verify current); earlier PEAK6 president Brad Goldberg (2014, reported)
- Business lines
- Proprietary equity-options trading and market making (the founding business); Apex Fintech Solutions (clearing, custody and brokerage infrastructure); insurance ("PEAK6 InsurTech": National Flood Services 2018 — controlling stake sold to UniFi 2022; Team Focus and We Insure 2021); venture and strategic investments (fintech, sports, esports, education); company list also names Hardcastle Trading (Switzerland, 2020) and CODA Markets (2021) (company; trade press)
- Scale (dated, reported)
- No revenue or capital figures published. Hedge-fund arm ~$2.3bn AUM at its Sep 2014 spin-out (WSJ via Wikipedia, verify); OptionsHouse at sale (Jul 2016): LTM revenue ~$104m, ~154,000 accounts, ~$3.6bn customer assets (E*Trade announcement); Apex Clearing (Aug 2025): ~222 registered representatives, ~40 operations professionals and ~656 other fingerprinted employees, Dallas HQ (FINRA SD-2432, primary). PEAK6 LLC files 13F reports (Q1 2026 listed from Austin — aggregator, verify holdings)
- Regulators
- Options trading: the SEC and the options exchanges (Cboe and others), with FINRA under regulatory-services agreements; Apex Clearing: SEC and FINRA (member since 14 Mar 1983, the inherited Ridge broker-dealer — FINRA SD-2432), DTC/NSCC, the options and equity exchanges; insurance units: state insurance regulators and FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for flood servicing
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding as an options trading firm (1997); OptionsHouse (2006); rescuing Penson's clearing book as Apex (Jun 2012); selling OptionsHouse (2014; E*Trade buys it for $725m in 2016); spinning out the hedge fund (Sep 2014); buying National Flood Services from Aon (Aug 2018); Apex's GameStop restrictions (28 Jan 2021); the Apex–Northern Star SPAC and its collapse (Feb–Dec 2021; SEC order against the SPAC, Jan 2024); Apex's SEC and FINRA fines (2024–25)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1997
Founding as an Options Trading Firm
Founding
2006
OptionsHouse Online Options Broker
New product, market or distribution channel
2012
Penson Rescue and Apex Clearing
Acquisition / distressed rescue; new business line (clearing and custody)
2014
Hedge Fund Spin Out Achievement
Spin-out; closing a business line at the parent
2014
OptionsHouse Sale to General Atlantic
Divestiture (sale of a business line)
2018
National Flood Services and Insurance
Diversification; acquisition outside trading
2021
Apex GameStop Restrictions
Counterparty or clearing event; risk-limit decision (controversy)
2021
Apex SPAC with Northern Star
IPO attempt via SPAC merger (failure)
2024
Apex SEC and FINRA Enforcement
Regulatory, enforcement or legal action (settled; failure)