Meet the Team

Chief Executive Officer

Lugene Forte has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry covering end-to-end solutions in electronic trading. Before joining Lime Financial, Lugene held multiple senior management positions including COO, CFO and CAO for FinTech companies such as Investment Technology Group and Liquidnet. She also built and managed teams at BNY Brokerage and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (CSFB) where she focused on agency-only trading services for investment managers, pension plans and broker dealers. Lugene lives in New York City with her son.

Chief Technology Officer

Tim Larason brings more than 20 years of FinTech experience to his role as CTO at Lime. His background includes leadership positions at industry powerhouses like Barclays Capital, E*Trade and Lehman Brothers. During his time at E*Trade, Tim revolutionized the company’s server-side ecosystem. Previously, he spent eight years guiding Barclays’ Electronic Trading Technology division. He is also one of the founders of FuturesMedia. Tim is a firm believer in continuing education. When he is not at work or spending time with his wife and three girls, Tim can be found hiking, baking, skiing, paddle tennis, gardening and drawing.

Head of Institutional Business Development

With over 20 years of Wall Street experience, Johan Sandblom is the Head of Institutional Business Development for Lime’s institutional offering. Prior to joining Lime Financial, Johan was with Lime Brokerage and also served as Head of U.S. Execution for Neonet Securities, Inc. Johan received his BA degree in Marketing, an MBA in Finance, and an MSIS degree from Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu. Johan was an All-American tennis player for the University where he achieved national rankings. He lives with his wife and two daughters enjoying all types of outdoor activities.

Managing Director, Retail Strategy

Mr. Michael Earlywine spent his early career in Fintech startups and has over 25 years in the financial industry both as a buy-side and sell-side trader specializing in international equities and options. His prior experience includes working as the head trader for a $5bil AUM hedge fund specializing in green energy.

His expertise in micro market structure, portfolio construction, automated trading along with his recent work in trade analytics and best execution empowers him with a unique skill set that will be well utilized as he builds a digital wealth program.

Managing Director, Product Development

Alex Scott has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, primarily in product management. Alex most recently oversaw the StreetSmart Edge platform at Charles Schwab. Prior to that, he led options product management at Schwab and performed various roles at CyberTrader and Schwab. Alex holds a BA in Music Performance and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Alex lives with his family in Austin, Texas, enjoys traveling and is an avid double bass player.

Head of Institutional Sales

With over 25 years of financial and related technology services industry experience, Mike Beaver serves as the Head of Institutional Sales at Lime Financial. His background encompasses equity trading and technology sales, including a position as a Managing Director at NASDAQ, where he cultivated relationships with some of the largest quantitative firms across the globe. Mike earned his BS degree in Accounting and Finance from Penn State University and currently resides in Connecticut with his wife, 2 boys and 2 stepchildren. His hobbies include golf, fishing, tennis, snowboarding and attending live country music events. Mike can be reached directly at [email protected].

Chief Compliance Officer

Ari Wasilever has been with Lime Financial as the CCO since 2021. He started his career making markets, trading at VIRTU and other market makers. For the last 15 years, Ari has been on the compliance side of the industry, working with firms such as Bloomberg, Nomura, and UBS. His experience with these firms spans a variety of compliance roles and exposures, including head of trading surveillance and trade desk work with ATS and institutional clients. With this experience, Ari has been responsible for overseeing policies, procedures, regulatory responses, and reg reporting.

Financial and Operational Principal

Dennis A. Young is a CPA and financial professional with over 40 years of experience in public accounting and the securities brokerage industry. He is a skilled manager with substantial knowledge of accounting and information systems, compliance and back-office operations, and has experience in both self-clearing and fully-disclosed broker-dealer environments, equity and municipal underwriting, trading and regulatory and tax reporting. He currently holds securities licenses 7, 24, 27 and 63.