The Seaport Group, a New York-based trader and broker of distressed securities, has hired Ron Bringewatt as managing director in the firm's research group. "It was an opportunity to do something new with people I like," says Bringewatt, who is a former client of Seaport. Marc Baum, managing director and coo, says Seaport has been expanding its research capabilities to meet continued strong demand for insights into stressed and distressed companies. "This is a bigger distressed market than we've ever seen and the economy hasn't revived with enough speed to make other parts of the capital markets attractive," Baum says. No further hires are planned, though that could change if the right person becomes available, he says.
Other recent additions to the firm's research group include Karen Naber, also a managing director, and Rafe Leeman, a more junior person who picks up research duties while continuing to work on the sales desk. The firm also recently parted company with Frank Colombo, who had been its head of research. Baum declined to comment on the reason for Colombo's departure, and Colombo could not be reached. Baum says that though Bringewatt is now the most senior member of the research group, it will not have an official head.
Bringewatt left a high-yield portfolio management position at TimesSquare Capital Management in April, as Cigna Retirement & Investment Services, TimesSquare's parent, retooled its fixed-income operations (BW, 4/13). Prior to joining TimesSquare in New York, Bringewatt spent several years in Houston as a portfolio manager and research chief at American General Investment Management.