Wachovia Securities has hired three traders and sales professionals to kick-start a listed options/exchange traded fund (ETF) business in the U.S., and is hunting an additional three sales staffers for the operation. Todd Steinberg, managing director and head of equity linked products in New York, said the products will be structured with over-the-counter options and settled through the exchange.
The firm is starting the desk in order to capture the listed options/ETF business already executed by Wachovia's institutional client base. Steinberg said the firm is already strong in the areas of convertible bonds and equity swaps and the new activity will enable Wachovia to extend its institutional relationships from these businesses to include listed options and ETF trading.
Josh Penner, former co-head of index options trading at Salomon Smith Barney, has joined Wachovia in the head role. Penner left SSB late last year (DW, 12/1). Tony Mazzei, a director in equity derivatives sales has also joined from Merrill Lynch, as a senior salesperson, in addition to Mark Kohn, a former equity derivatives associate from Morgan Stanley (DW, 2/16). Michael DuVally, spokesman at Merrill Lynch in New York, declined comment on Mazzei's replacement. Steinberg expects to name two more senior and one mid-level sales staffers for the division in the coming month.
