Bonds Direct Securities, a trading platform for institutional and retail investors, is looking to add an unspecified number of sales professionals to its investment-grade corporate and mortgage-backed teams, according to Jim Ednie, senior v.p. and New York sales manager. The two-year old company, which acquired Mellon Future Shares at the end of last year, is a subsidiary of Jefferies & Co. and acts as principal by executing transactions for its real-time trading platform. He notes Bonds Direct complements Jefferies, which has its niche in distressed and junk bonds.
Ednie says that while most of the sales force from Mellon has joined the firm, it is still looking to add more sales pros. "We are in a state of growth," he says, noting the firm has doubled its personnel in the last four months. Ednie declined to reveal how many sales pros Bonds Direct will hire, but says the number will be based on the quality of candidates. "We continue to look for additional distribution capacity. We need people with significant relationships to work with others with significant relations to drive the business," he explains. Ednie joined roughly two months ago from a small broker-dealer in New Jersey. He had previously worked at Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston.
