J.P. Morgan Securities will seek to add 10-12 veteran sales pros over the next six months to expand its coverage of banks, says a senior fixed-income official. The move is in response to the recent hiring of fixed-income bank strategist Steve Rehm from Citigroup. Rehm was traveling last Friday and did not return a phone call seeking comment. The J.P. Morgan official says Rehm's close familiarity with the balance sheet issues of the top 100 banks makes it imperative to have a dedicated team of sales pros selling derivatives, mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries to these accounts. The official notes that while the firm currently does have sales relationships of varying degrees with these banks, the sales pros also cover other accounts. He says the costs of adding the sales staff will be borne equally among the firm's middle-markets, derivatives and MBS desks, nor does he anticipate any sales staff being laid off.
JPM To Build Bank Bond Sales Team