BB&T Capital Markets has hired the bulk of the high-yield team from Fieldstone Capital Group, a New York broker-dealer, to open a new high-yield office in New York, said Mark Lichtman, managing director and head of high-yield at BB&T. In all, nine Fieldstone professionals have recently joined BB&T, which has its commercial bank headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C. "We're the ninth largest bank and nobody's ever heard of us," quipped Lichtman, referring to the broker-dealer's parent, Branch Banking and Trust.
The hires include Jonathan Blatt, managing partner at Fieldstone, who joins as managing director and head of BB&T's New York branch. BB&T opened up a high-yield office in Red Bank, N.J. a year ago, which covers the cross-over and high-yield areas, and is now opening a similar office in the Big Apple. "The new hires complement our existing team; they provide the missing piece to our puzzle by bringing expertise in distressed debt," stated Lichtman. Other members of the team are David Kranich, director of trading at Fieldstone, and John Krasnoff, director of research. BB&T is also building up other areas of its capital markets arm and recently completed its first term securitization in which it acted as sole lead manager (BW, 7/5).
Mark Field, managing partner at Fieldstone, said the firm will continue its high-yield activities, albeit with a smaller group, and is currently looking to hire senior and mid-level salesmen to focus on high-yield, distressed and related products.
