Kayle Watson

Ex Seal Platoon Commander at US Navy

Speaker

Kayle Watson is the Head of Business Development for ClearingBid - a proprietary pricing and allocation platform that opens the IPO market to millions of new investors in a transparent and democratic fashion.

Prior to joining Wall St., Kayle served 9 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy – beginning his career as the MPA aboard the USS William V Pratt (DDG -44), he then transferred to the Basic Underwater Demolition school (BUDs) to qualify for the elite Navy SEALs, where he was Class Leader. Kayle then served two tours as a Platoon Commander for SEAL Teams Eight and Two.

After the Navy, he embarked on a 25+ year career on Wall Street, starting in Institutional Equity Research sales at Bear Stearns, servicing long only and hedge fund clients. He worked in a similar capacity at Guggenheim Partners, and was recruited by BlackRock to focus on the institutional adoption of ETFs, where he helped grow iShares from $800B to $4.5T in AUM.

Kayle thrives in client-facing roles where he can leverage his team-building skills – coordinating with colleagues to provide clients with the full spectrum of the firm’s offerings and ultimately driving his clients’ overall success.

Kayle earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. He has served on several Veteran related charity organizations that focus on helping injured Veterans as well as K-9 service dogs.