Senior Management
Darren J Caris
Chairman and CEO
Mr. Caris has 17 years of Wall Street experience, having held positions in proprietary trading, equity research, and institutional sales. Mr. Caris began his career at Gruntal and Co. as a proprietary trader where he was one of the top 10 producers in his second year at the firm. When he joined Torrey Pines Securities as Vice President in 1996, he created an institutional sales and equity trading infrastructure that brought the firm national attention as a leading market maker in such securities as Cisco, Dell, Intel, and Microsoft while simultaneously increasing the firms’ revenue by 600% through his proprietary trading activities. In 1999, he joined Granite Financial Group as a Partner and was responsible for managing and growing capital markets. The divisions under his supervision included institutional sales, equity research, retail sales, equity trading, operations and compliance. In 2002, Mr. Caris formed Caris & Company in an effort to create Wall Street’s leading research-driven boutique investment bank.
Mr. Caris holds a degree in economics from the University of California at San Diego. In his spare time, Mr. Caris likes to surf and spend time with his son. He holds the Series 7, 24, 55, and 63 licenses.
Peter L. Newman
Senior Managing Director: Head of Institutional Sales and Trading
Peter Newman has 25 years of experience as an Institutional Salesman covering Wall Streets' most prolific accounts. He joined Caris & Company after 4 years at Thomas Weisel Partners where he was a Principal and Branch Manager. From 1995-2001 he was a Senior Vice President at Gerard Klauer Mattison responsible for covering institutional accounts in New York and the Midwest. Peter started his career at Prudential Securities in 1986 where his primary territories were Hartford and New York.
He is a 1985 graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in Political Science. Peter resides in Old Greenwich, Ct. with his wife and 3 boys. Peter holds the following securities registrations: series 7, 63 and 24.
Craig A. Ellis
Managing Director: Director of Technology Research
Craig is Head of Technology Research at Caris and Company and is the firm's Senior Semiconductor Analyst. He comes to Caris from Citi, where most recently he led the firm's Specialty Semiconductor franchise since 2004. The team frequently attained top-5 rankings in Greenwich Associates' annual survey, placing 2nd and 3rd in 2008 in Analog and Communications IC's, respectively. Further, the franchise was a key part of Citi's third-ranked Institutional Investor Semiconductor team in 2007 and 2008 and Citi's top-ranked Institutional Investor Technology Team in 2008. Prior to Semiconductors Craig covered Imaging Technology in 2002 and 2003, ranking third in Institutional Investor's 2003 All-America Research Team. From 2003 through 2008 he frequently garnered Citi's coveted "Stock Call of the Month" award for accurate and impactful stock calls. He began his Citi career on the II-ranked Enterprise Hardware team in 2000 and 2001 after coming to Wall Street via Shroders' II-ranked Energy team in 1997, becoming that firm's Independent Refiners analyst in 1999.
As a set-up to his four-sector sell-side career he enjoyed 10 years at Chevron Corporation in Strategy and Finance roles, cultivating expertise in planning and execution, business process restructuring, and cross-functional team leadership.
Mr. Ellis graduated from Montana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business with a major in Finance and minor in Economics. He holds the Series 7, 24, 63, 86 and 87 securities registrations.
Sandie Turley
Senior Managing Director: Compliance ~ Finance ~ Operations
Ms. Turley brings over 18 years of experience on Wall Street. She has spent her career running the compliance and finance divisions of several independent broker dealers. Her knowledge and ethics have caused her to be perceived as a leader in the brokerage community.
Ms. Turley received her BS in Accounting from Western International University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She holds the Series 4, 7, 24, 27, 63, 66 and 87 registrations.