Leadership. Collaboration. Trust.

Michael Rafferty is president and CEO of Rafferty Holdings. Prior to joining the firm in 1999, he was a senior Bond trader at Merill Lynch in New York.

Michael is owner, founder, and manager of several operating businesses. He and the firm are also investors in adjunct capital markets businesses in addition to having stakes in several Fintech companies.  

He is an active board member of several outside business interests including Ampliforce, AgentSmyth, Marstone, and Next Level Derivatives.  

Michael is also engaged with a number of nonprofit enterprises including NYU Langone Hospital System, NYU Langone Long Island, (Chairman), Little Flower Family and Children’s Services (President Emeritus), Chaminade High School (executive committee), Nassau County CrimeStoppers, and several other philanthropic organizations.  

Michael is a graduate of Chaminade High School ‘87 and Boston College ‘91 (B.A. in history) where he was captain of the men’s tennis team.

William Curley is a seasoned banking professional with more than 30 years of advisory, M&A, managerial, and cross-border experience. 

Before joining Rafferty Holdings, Curley served as Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank, where he led the Washington, D.C. regulatory practice within the bank’s Financial Institutions Group (FIG). He was also responsible for maintaining long-term relationships with the FDIC, Treasury, FNMA, and FHLMC. 

Prior to his tenure at Deutsche Bank, Curley’s leadership roles included Managing Director and Head of the Special Finance Group at Lehman Brothers and President, CEO, and Founding Member of Cohane Rafferty Securities, LLC.

Curley received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Fairfield University.

Barbara Martens is Chief Operating Officer for Rafferty Holdings. She was integral in the company's formation and currently oversees all areas of regulatory compliance. Prior to Rafferty Holdings, Martens was employed by Glass Capital Management and Glass, Sanders, Smith & Miller, both branches of Royal Alliance Associates. Martens is a graduate of Iona College with a B.S. in Political Science.

Henry Mulholland brings 30+ years of experience in financial services, mainly in equity sales and trading, to the Rafferty Team. Before joining Rafferty Holdings in January 2023, Mulholland served as a Trustee for Direxion Funds.

After beginning his career at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Mulholland moved to Merrill Lynch, where he enjoyed a 25 year career in several senior roles, notably as Head of Americas Equities for BAML.

Henry serves on the board of Student Sponsor Partners, a charitable organization dedicated to helping low-income NYC youth through financial sponsorship and mentorship.

Prior to joining Rafferty Holdings O’Neill forged a 20-year track record leading businesses on the sell side of the industry. At Rafferty Capital Markets he oversaw Institutional Equity Research, Sales, and Trading, and later opened their highly successful Prime Brokerage business. Earlier in his career, O’Neill worked his way up from Equity Option Trader to Partner and Senior Market Maker and Risk Manager for top option specialist firm CDM (an American Stock Exchange member). O’Neill graduated from Hobart College with a B.S. in Economics.

Kate joined Rafferty Holdings in April of 2018 and is Chief Administrator Officer and Executive Assistant to CEO Michael Rafferty. Before joining Rafferty, Kate worked at Stoli Group USA for 5 years as Executive Assistant to the Marketing team. Prior to Stoli Kate worked at Ralph Lauren for 6 years as Executive Assistant to the President of Rugby Ralph Lauren. Crowley graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in Communications.

Kate DeAngelo is Controller & HR Director at Rafferty Holdings. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. degree in Economics. Ms. DeAngelo started at Lebenthal & Co., LLC as a sales and trading assistant. She has completed a Management Program at Chemical Bank. DeAngelo was a Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Chase.

Lance Friedler is the General Counsel for Rafferty Holdings. Friedler has over 20 years of experience advising on regulatory and compliance matters for investment managers and broker-dealers. Friedler joined Rafferty Holdings after 20 years of practicing law in several law firms and acting as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of a large hedge fund. Friedler has significant experience advising on the formation, structuring, management, and operation of registered investment advisers and broker-dealers. Friedler regularly advised investment managers, broker-dealers, commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors on registration and ongoing compliance issues with all applicable regulators. Friedler is also an expert in structuring and forming private investment funds of all types and strategies (including hedge funds, private equity funds, and venture capital funds), as well as separately managed accounts. Friedler received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Oneonta State College and his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from New York Law School. He is admitted to the State Bar of New York.

Jack Grady joined Rafferty Holdings in May 2024 as an Investment Associate. Before joining Rafferty, he was an Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Citigroup Investment Banking Division, focusing on in-depth financial analyses and leading due diligence processes. At Citigroup, Jack played a key role in sell-side and buy-side advisory roles, involving complex financial modeling and strategic deal execution. He also contributed as a mentor in the Citi / Boston College recruiting initiative and is an active member in the NYC Boston College Alumni Chapter. Jack graduated from Boston College's Wallace E. Carroll School of Management with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.

Shari James is the Chief Financial Officer for Rafferty Holdings. She has held senior finance and accounting positions in both the public and private sectors. James most recently served as the Chief Deputy Comptroller of Nassau County. Her prior experience includes roles at J.P. Morgan Chase, City of Long Beach, Bloomberg L.P. and PricewaterhouseCoopers. James graduated from St. John's University with a B.S. in Finance.

Sean Martens joined Rafferty Holdings from technology solutions company SMPL Technologies, where he served as President and CEO. Under Marten’s leadership, SMPL expanded its service offerings to include a wide range of IT engineering and support to various businesses nationwide. He also acted as CIO/CTO for Rafferty Capital Markets, Direxion Investments, and Hilton Capital Management.

Prior to working at SMPL Technologies, Martens was a Cisco Practice Manager at TekConnect and as the Garden City School District IT Manager.

Martens is active in the community, where he serves on several boards, including the Garden City Chamber of Commerce and the Garden City Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Martens attended Hofstra University, earning a degree in Business Computer Information Systems.