Wachovia Securities will not be making an offer to Jim Kelligrew following his departure from local rival Banc of America Securities as head of investment-grade syndicate, sales, trading and research. A couple local market players told BondWeek they had received calls from Wachovia officials asking what they thought of Kelligrew, fueling rumors that had already existed based on the fact that he would be a logical hire for Wachovia since both are in Charlotte.
But Curtis Arledge, deputy head of fixed income at Wachovia, nixed the notion. "I have not given any consideration to hiring him," he asserted, though he said that he considers it logical that speculation would emerge. "First Charlotte Citibank doesn't have a trading floor," he added, dryly.
Arledge said he is concerned that such rumors will cause fixed-income officials there to wrongly believe their jobs may be in jeopardy. He said he would consider making it clear internally that Kelligrew will not be joining, but wondered whether it makes sense to rock the boat unnecessarily.
Kelligrew did not return a call to his home in Charlotte.