The PEAK6 logo has a bold typeface with slightly rounded edges. The 'A' in the word PEAK is a multi-faceted triangle in deep navy blue tints to create a prism effect.

We Are

Thinkers Risk Takers Innovators

Our Origin Story
In the early nineties, Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer worked for a well-known trading firm in Chicago, O’Connor and Associates. In their mid-twenties, they were both selected to work on an over-the-counter equity derivative business for a pivotal Swiss Bank and O’Connor partnership. They were fortunate enough to work alongside the legendary Clay Struve, one of the best risk managers in the world, where they learned the invaluable lessons that shaped their savvy outlooks to this day.

Eventually, O’Connor and Associates moved the business to the East Coast. Chicagoans through and through, Jenny and Matt were determined to stay. They pitched the executive team on opening a new line of business, which, of course, would be based in Chicago. They received a resounding no. Jenny and Matt looked at each other and uttered the phrase that would define their trajectory into entrepreneurship, “There’s a better way.” They left O'Connor and Associates soon after.
The Shared Vision
Early on, the duos' ideas percolated on what they were going to do. Fear didn’t factor into their decision. They weren’t surrounded by the ubiquitous stories of failure everyone sees today.

PEAK6 started as a proprietary equity options trading firm — and still operates that way 25+ years later. Their original vision didn’t include the powerhouse of a holding company PEAK6 has become. Jenny and Matt built a team. Money made from the trading business fueled PEAK6’s other ventures.

From a chicken-cleaning business to a ferris wheel to an oil field, some of Jenny and Matt 's ventures didn't come to fruition, but they learned from each decision. Concurrently, the markets started to change. PEAK6 built a hedge fund and a retail broker-dealer, OptionsHouse.
The Defining Moment
The pivotal point came in the form of a phone call from the CEO of Penson Financial Services, the custodian and clearing firm for OptionsHouse. Penson was operating at a significant loss and was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. FINRA and the SEC were pushing for a sale and tens of millions of dollars were needed in the business within two weeks. The fate of OptionsHouse rested with Penson. Recognizing the opportunity before them, Jenny and Matt acquired what became Apex Fintech Solutions from Penson and saved OptionsHouse in the process.

The only goal: Anything that didn’t serve OptionsHouse had to go. Redundant employees were let go, as well as two-thirds of Penson's customers. At the same time, new technology was being developed: account-opening technology that would better serve PEAK6 and our OptionsHouse customers. This made us the only company with new technology that wasn't outdated and over 30 years old. Disruptive brokerage firms like Robinhood, Wealthfront, and Betterment soon signed on with PEAK6.

After that, PEAK6's identity changed. We became the technology company that enabled disruptors to disrupt.

We follow opportunities, not the status quo.
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PEAK6 Delta
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We're not defined by one industry or market.
Jenny Just
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, PEAK6 Investments

Meet Our Transformative Founders

For more than 25 years, Co-Founders Jenny Just and Matt Hulsizer have been transforming outdated sectors, industries, ideas, and modalities into spaces filled with energy and opportunity for innovation.

Jenny and Matt have taken the fiercely competitive manual trading pits at the Chicago Board of Trade and turned them into collaborative digital spaces. Together, the PEAK6 team builds industry-leading companies like PEAK6 Capital Management, esports team Evil Geniuses, and Apex Fintech Solutions. While ideas and innovation come from every level of the company, it’s our leaders, Jenny and Matt, that hold the space for ideas to grow and thrive.

Headshot of Jenny Just, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, PEAK6 Investments. Jenny is a middle-aged White person who presents as female. She has brown hair flowing past her shoulders, and she has a bright and friendly smile.

Jenny Just

Jenny Just is a visionary, powerhouse, and one of the few self-made female billionaires in the United States. From her days of cutting her teeth on the trading floor in Chicago to now running a fintech empire, she has started or turned around more than fifteen companies. She has also made hundreds of private investments, including in such companies as Webull, Stash, QuantumScape, and Thrasio.

Just co-founded PEAK6 in 1997 with $1.5M in seed capital as a proprietary options trading firm and since then has grown it into a multibillion-dollar financial services and technology giant housing the next generation of products and service brands including PEAK6 Capital Management, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Apex Fintech Solutions, PEAK6 InsurTech, PEAK6 EdTech, and Evil Geniuses.

With a true knack for unearthing talent and opportunities, Just looks for forgotten and underestimated sectors to transform into high-growth businesses. Her passion specifically lies in finding opportunities for women to succeed at every table — from the classroom, to the poker room, to the board room.

This passion led her to launch Poker Power in 2020, a woman-led company that teaches poker to all who identify as female, and by extension, teaches women strategic thinking, capital allocation, and decision-making skills. Additionally, Just has created programs to help women advance their careers in trading, fintech, and technology. She founded the Women’s Trading Experience, Women’s Technology Experience and Fintech In Action, programs that seek to tangibly increase the pipelines of women and Black talent in these fields.

Just’s remarkable success has earned her a number of accolades, including being named to Forbes list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women in 2022, Forbes 50 over 50 in 2022 and Worth Media’s Groundbreaking Women in 2023. She was also the recipient of the Women’s Poker Association’s Industry Innovation Recognition Award in 2019 and received a Tony Award for her involvement in Memphis the Musical.

Jenny Just Linked In Profile

Headshot of Matt Hulsizer, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, PEAK6 Investments. Matt is a middle-aged White person who presents as male. He's wearing a sweater and jacket, has temple-gray hair, and smiles warmly.

Matt Hulsizer

Matthew Hulsizer is co-founder and managing partner of PEAK6 Investments, a Chicago-based financial services and technology firm. He started PEAK6 in 1997 as a proprietary options trading firm — PEAK6 Capital Management. Since then, Hulsizer and his co-founder have turned PEAK6 into a multi-billion-dollar firm with a diversified portfolio of businesses. Today, PEAK6’s core businesses include PEAK6 Capital Management, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Apex Fintech Solutions, PEAK6 InsurTech, PEAK6 EdTech, and Evil Geniuses.

Hulsizer has a knack for discovering underfunded and undervalued opportunities with potential to transform the future. While sports are his passion, spotting and coaching up-and-coming talent is his calling. Through his investment prowess and mentorship, he has helped budding investors and founders build impressive businesses from fruition to completion. Hulsizer and his co-founder have created, turned around, or invested in more than 200 companies — from options trading and clearing firms to professional sports teams and consumer products — over the past two decades. Beyond financials, Hulsizer shares a Tony award for co-producing the hit musical “Memphis” and is the co-chair of the women’s soccer team in Monaco.

Matt Hulsizer Linked In Profile

Meet Our Innovative Leaders

Headshot of William (Bill) Capuzzi, CEO of Apex Fintech Solutions. Bill is late middle-aged White person presenting as male; he has a shaved head and a wide smile.

William Capuzzi

The in-house visionary of Apex Fintech Solutions, CEO Bill Capuzzi has been evolving trading, clearing, custody, and the finance industry as a whole for more than 20 years. His work routinely garners industry recognition, including the 2021 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Southwest Award and a 2022 election to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) board of directors. Under Capuzzi’s leadership, Apex has become the trusted technology that powers the digital economy, offering frictionless investing for everyone — from start-ups to the titans of business.

Prior to Apex, Capuzzi worked at Convergex Group, where he was chief of staff and a member of the company’s executive committee. He also served as a director at Pershing LLC and was responsible for their institutional product suite and directing their global reengineering efforts firm-wide.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and a master of business administration in strategic management from Rutgers University. He holds Series 3, 7, 24, and 63 registrations.

William Capuzzi Linked In Profile

Headshot of Jay Coppoletta, Chief Corporate Development and Legal Officer of PEAK6 Investments. Jay is a young White person who presents as male. He is looking up from below the camera and smiling at something off camera. His light brown hair is trimmed short.

Jay Coppoletta

Jay Coppoletta is the chief corporate development and legal officer of PEAK6 Investments LLC. Since he joined PEAK6 in 2010, he has overseen legal functions across all PEAK6 businesses and has grown the legal function from one person to a team of over 15. Jay also oversees the daily operations of PEAK6’s private investing business, PEAK6 Strategic Capital. Jay lead the deal team in the 2012 acquisition of Apex Fintech Solutions from Penson. 

Previously, Jay was an associate at Sidley Austin LLP, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, corporate counseling and securities issuances. He graduated summa cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Jay also received a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude and was a member of the Michigan Law Review and Order of the Coif.


Jay Coppoletta Linked In Profile

Headshot of Judi Hart, COO of PEAK6 Investments. Judi is a White, middle-aged person who presents as female. She has brown hair past her shoulders and a kind, open-mouthed smile.

Judi Hart

Judi Hart is the chief executive officer at PEAK6 EdTech. Converging her background as a solution-focused leader of human resources with her ability to anticipate problems, navigate issues, and successfully manage complex changes in operations, Judi serves as a strategic partner to PEAK6’s core businesses in addition to leading the EdTech business. Her areas of focus include overseeing operational execution across portfolio companies within EdTech, promoting a company culture of confidence and risk taking, and positioning the organization for continued growth. Since she joined PEAK6 in 2018, Judi has successfully led the organization through a tremendous expansion, growing from 300 to 2,000 employees worldwide.

Prior to joining PEAK6, Judi spent 16 years as a human resources professional leading people and culture for global brands, most notably Apple and Beats Electronics. She began as Vice President of People and Culture at Beats Music and Beats Electronics, which expanded from 25 to 750 employees before being acquired by Apple. In these roles, she strategically and successfully led teams of high achievers during fast-paced transitions with a culture-first approach. Continuing at Apple, she served as the Director of Human Resources over the media business in Internet Software & Services, overseeing 3,500 employees globally.

Judi earned her bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southern California, and has been marching to the beat of her own drum ever since.

Judi Hart Linked In Profile

Headshot of Erin Lydon, General Manager of Poker Power. Erin is a White person presenting as female, with dark hair flowing well past her shoulders. She looks to the camera from below with a closed smile and steel blue eyes.

Erin Lydon

Erin Lydon worked on Wall Street when pregnancy was hidden, and pay was secret. As a thought leader and frequent speaker on the topic of gender equity, Lydon inspires audiences to take action and create change in their communities and organizations. As president of Poker Power, Lydon leads with a mission to teach one million women how to play the game — of poker and of life. Learning how to think, strategize, negotiate, and allocate capital like a winning poker player translates to leadership skills that help women succeed from the classroom to the boardroom. One hundred million people play poker; fewer than 10% are women. Poker Power is changing that.

Before joining Poker Power, Lydon was the strategic advisor to Evil Geniuses. She also was a vice president at JP Morgan, as well as an independent director on the boards of Marbles: The Brain Store and Roomlinx. Lydon also served as an adjunct instructor at Whitworth University, teaching strategy to MBA students. For eight years, she led N. Idaho XC, an elite cross country team where she coached 20 All-American athletes and two national champions.

Lydon’s recent speaking engagements include TEDx, Money 20/20 USA, and AWS Women’s Summit. Lydon received her master of business administration in finance from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in English from Bates College.

Erin Lydon Linked In Profile

Headshot of Andy McGuire Co-CEO of PEAK6 InsurTech. Andy is a middle-aged White person who presents as male. He's wearing a blue suit, his hair is short and neat. He wears horn-rimmed glasses, has an open smile, and sports a five o'clock shadow of facial hair.

Andy McGuire

Andrew McGuire is co-CEO of PEAK6 InsurTech, which is committed to delivering better value to customers through the development of cutting-edge technological advancements, seamless service, and mutually beneficial agency and carrier partnerships.

An established leader in the insurance industry, McGuire has acquired more than 25 years of a broad range of industry expertise, including risk-management and reinsurance expertise. He also has a proven track record of building insurance operations from the ground up and an efficient approach to integrating technology and business functions.

His impressive insurance career spans disciplines including claims, sales, underwriting, product, pricing, and information technology. He began his career as a personal and commercial lines claims adjuster at Safeco Insurance. From there, McGuire was an agency manager, then went on to hold various leadership positions at Allstate Insurance, Zurich Insurance, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, and National General Insurance.

McGuire received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Illinois, where he was an Evans Scholar.

Andrew McGuire Linked In Profile

 

Headshot of Tom Simpson, CEO of PEAK6 Capital Management. Tom is late middle-aged White person and presents as male. His hair is closely shaved; he looking over his shoulder and appears to be smiling at a person who is off camera.

Tom Simpson

Tom Simpson joined PEAK6 more than 17 years ago as a trader. With a focus on asset management and proprietary trading, he rose through the ranks and now serves as chief executive officer of PEAK6 Capital Management, a proprietary options trading firm.

As CEO, Simpson leads the development of the company’s short- and long-term strategy for growth and expansion. He is a team-oriented leader who manages more than 70 traders focused on diversified business strategies. Simpson’s background includes trading positions at Consolidated Trading LLC, Fulcrum Investment Group, Stafford Trading, and Linnco Futures. In 1995, he graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in finance.

Simpson’s nearly 30-year history in the finance industry gives him deep knowledge and insight into all aspects of the business. During his tenure with PEAK6 Capital Management, he has positioned the company for growth – organically and by acquisition. In 2019, the firm expanded its national presence by opening an office in New York City. In 2020, the company expanded with the addition of Hardcastle AG, a trading firm based in Rapperswil, Switzerland.

Tom Simpson Linked In Profile

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What we do best is change.
Matt Hulsizer
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, PEAK6 Investments

Locations

Headquartered in the Chicago Board of Trade, PEAK6 has offices and collaborators all around the world. Our roots are in trading, but our options-thinking approach allows everyone a seat at the table when it comes to PEAK6’s success. At our core, we’re innovators, investors, collaborators, and amplifiers of progressive technology solutions.

Austin, TX

2010 E. 6th St.
Austin, TX 78702

Belfast, N. Ireland​

Urban HQ, Eagle Star House
5-7 Upper Queen St.
Belfast BT1 6FB

Bridgewater, NJ​

100 Somerset Corp. Blvd.
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

Budapest, Hungary

Krisztina Plaza,
Krisztina krt. 39/B.
H-1013 Budapest, Hungary

Chicago, IL - HQ

141 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
+1-312-444-8000

Dallas, TX​

350 N. St. Paul St.
Dallas, TX 75201

Glenview, IL

2624 Patriot Blvd.
Glenview, IL 60026

Jacksonville, FL

1430 Prudential Dr.
Jacksonville, FL 32207

New York, NY

888 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10106

Omaha, NE​

950 S. 10th St.
Omaha, NE 68108

Portland, OR

555 SW. Morrison St.
Portland, OR 97204

Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland

Hauptpl. 2, 8640
Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland

Santa Monica, CA
1823 Colorado Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Seattle, WA

400 2nd Ave. W.
Seattle, WA 98119

Sunrise, FL

1300 Sawgrass Corporate Pkwy
Sunrise, FL 33323

Work With Us

Opportunity means following a spark of an idea, grinding through nailing the details, throwing the creative spaghetti at the wall to find out what sticks. Opportunities are abundant at PEAK6. Are you ready to find yours?

Graphic badge indicating that PEAK6 won an award from the organization Built In as a 2023 Best Places to Work.
Graphic badge indicating that PEAK6 won an award from the organization Built In Chicago as a 2022 Best Places to Work in Chicago.
Graphic badge indicating that PEAK6 won an award from the organization Built In Chicago as a 2021 Best Places to Work in Chicago.
Graphic badge indicating that PEAK6 won an award from the organization Built In Chicago as a 2020 Best Places to Work in Chicago.
Graphic badge indicating that PEAK6 won an award from the organization Built In Chicago as a 2019 Best Places to Work in Chicago.