Goldman Sachs has hired Jonathan Meltzer, a senior corporate bond salesman, according to several buy-siders and sell-side salespeople. Meltzer joins from Lehman Brothers, where he had several top accounts, including Citigroup's Travelers Inc. unit.
Investors and rivals say it is extremely unusual for Goldman to hire senior salespeople from outside the firm, as Goldman typically promotes people internally for senior-level positions. The move is being interpreted as an effort by the firm to put renewed emphasis on its secondary cash business. Goldman reportedly interviewed a number of people for the post, and made an offer to a person at Merrill Lynch, who turned it down. Calls to Mike Troy, head of North American credit sales at Goldman, and Tom Humphrey, his counterpart at Lehman, were not returned, and Meltzer declined comment when reached on his mobile phone.
