Institutional brokerage BTIG Australia held its first charity day at the end of April, donating all commissions raised on the day to Cure Our Kids, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving quality of life for children with cancer the families who love them. BTIG Australia and Cure Our Kids invited children and their families from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead to the brokerage’s Lime St, Sydney office to experience the buzz of the trading floor – a thrill that took a while to resonate for Dakota Gurnett, who for some time was more interested in the view of the boats on Darling Harbour. All revenues made on the day were donated to Cure Our Kids, and some of the company’s service providers doing the same. It was part of a worldwide effort from BTIG, which raised $4 million for charities in the US, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Sydney. The long-running partnership between Cure Our Kids and the annual Hedge Funds Rock fundraiser made the charity a good fit for BTIG Australia, says CEO Paul Brech, since many of the broker’s clients would already be aware of what the charity does. “We felt it’s important that this day was about the children, to focus on what they would want, make it an upside for them and hopefully have a bit of fun,” said Brech. No doubt it was: next on the day’s activity list was a close-up look at sports cars, followed by lunch and bowling.

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