Jefferies Hires 10 For MBS Trading and Sales

Zigging while others zag, Jefferies & Co. said it expects 10 mortgage-backed securities specialists to join the firm over the next several weeks. They include two people who recently worked for RBS Greenwich Capital, who will become co-heads of mortgage trading.

Johan Eveland co-led Greenwich Capital's agency and non-agency MBS trading. Before that, he co-founded a mortgage REIT jointly owned by Pacific National Bank and Lehman Brothers.

The other Jefferies MBS co-head, William H. Jennings, II, is expected to join the firm in June. He was Greenwich Capital's top mortgage salesperson in 2007, and previously worked in the same capacity at Lehman Brothers.

The other eight newcomers weren't named within Jefferies' announcement. Four will focus on mortgage sales, and the others will specialize in trading of non-agency adjustable rate mortgages, credit, derivatives, and other rate products.

"This expansion is consistent with Jefferies' ongoing and broad desire to take advantage of market dislocations and the occasional availability of exceptional individuals to join our platform," Chief Executive Richard B. Handler said in a statement.

Earlier in April, Jefferies hired Thomas Thees, who was chief operating officer at MarketAxess Corp. and previously worked 17 years at Morgan Stanley, as a managing director in the fixed-income division.