Helen Keegan, managing director and co-team leader in dealer sales at Piper Jaffray in New York, has left the firm, according to fixed-income market participants familiar with the departure. Keegan did not return a call.
Keegan's departure comes as a result of the firm's implementation of Limitrade and TradeWeb as electronic trading platforms, which eliminated the need for as large of a sales force, said a market participant.
Mike Effron, head of taxable trading at Piper, and Barry Nordstrand, head of fixed income, were traveling and did not return calls. The firm has also recently exited the collateralized mortgage obligation structuring business, but is looking to beef up in other areas where it believes it can add value, such as in aircraft asset-backeds (BW, 1/10). Susan Beatty, spokeswoman, could not comment by press time.