Jefferies & Co. last week hired Michael George, formerly a senior derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs, as senior v.p. of derivatives trading focusing on technology derivatives and index products. George is the third trader to join the nascent group, which formed last month when Jefferies hired Alex Wohl as head of the group and Benjamin Cohen, senior trader, focusing on industrial stocks'. Wohl and Cohen both joined from Goldman as well. Goldman officials declined comment.
Jefferies will bring on two or three more traders for the desk in the coming months, as well as salespeople. "Clients want to do more business in derivatives; this is one of the biggest growth areas in financial services," said Ross Stevens, co-head of equity products. Additionally, Mark O'Donnell, head of structured products, has joined from SG Corporate & Investment Banking.
