Alumni Profiles
Woman on Wall Street
Danielle F. (Bionda) Hughes '91 (political science), founder and CEO of Divine Capital Markets in New York City, is one of the few women on Wall Street running a financial services firm. She began her Wall Street career in 1991, and has extensive proven experience in the areas of proprietary and agency trading as well as primary and secondary market capital formation.
Hughes started off in the business as a sales executive with regional brokerage Thomas James and Associates. In 1992, she was recruited by M.H. Meyerson & Co., a large wholesale market making firm, where she served as vice president of trading and was responsible for establishing the firm's IPO and secondary trading desk. Working with the investment banking department, Hughes effected numerous corporate finance transactions for companies listed on Nasdaq NMS, Small Cap and the OTC Bulletin Board.
Since Hughes founded Divine Capital Markets LLC in the 1990s, it has become a leading securities brokerage and investment banking firm. The firm is recognized for providing institutions, corporations and a short list of accredited investors with high quality agency execution, independent research and trading strategies, corporate finance and consulting services, and private wealth management.
In a February WCBS radio interview on CEO Radio with Ray Hoffman of the Wall Street Journal, she discusses a variety of topics, including 1) how she got started in the business; 2) what to do during a bear market and trading over-the-counter securities; 3) changing direction of her company; 4) being a woman in the financial world; 5) dealing with an unstable housing market; 6) buying short; 7) middle class growth in emerging markets; 8) getting in the overseas game; 9) dealing with continued vulnerability in the market; and 10) building wealth. [mp3 in ten parts; each topic connects to one segment.]
Hughes, who joined the SBS Dean’s Advisory Board this year, is also a frequent guest on CNBC as well as FOX Business Channel and FOX News Channel.
February 26, 2008
