-- Olivia Thetgyi
The Seaport Group has hired a senior salesman for a new distressed asset-backed securities and residential mortgage-backed securities trading desk, which may roughly double in size to eight to 10 traders and salesmen over the next 12-18 months, depending on the market. Thomas Silberstein joined this week as a managing director and senior salesman for the effort. “This is a very interesting time in the market to join a group like this where it can have an effective impact in providing liquidity to its clients,” he said.
The New York-based firm focuses on distressed securities such as corporate debt, high yield and trade receivables, and only recently started the ABS/MBS desk with the hires of traders Sean Kirk and Evan Kestenberg and analyst Jeffrey Humphrey from United Capital Markets in August. Silberstein reports to Kirk, head ABS/MBS trader. Before joining he was a senior v.p. in institutional sales at Countrywide and reported to Kim Campbell and Kevin Clare, co-heads of institutional sales. He left in September, part of a round of layoffs. A call to Countrywide officials was not immediately returned.