Deutsche Bank has hired Dave Seaman, a senior salesman, as it looks to establish a presence in Chicago. Seaman joins from Merrill Lynch. While he was not the sales manager for Merrill in Chicago, the hire is seen as the significant coup by Deutsche Bank, as Seaman is said to be a top producer. He has reportedly made one additional hire, but that person's name could not be determined. Seaman declined to comment when reached on his mobile phone. Curtis Baker, regional head of debt and equity for Merrill, with responsibility for several cities, including Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta, declined comment. A call toHelen Doyle, New York-based investment-grade sales head for Deutsche, was not returned.
Tom Marthaler, director of fixed-income at ABN AMRO Asset Management in Chicago, says that Deutsche Bank has been very aggressive of late in how they bid and offer securities in the secondary market as they try to take business from other firms. "In terms of the secondary market they're one of the better firms to deal with. They're pretty consistent in providing liquidity, which unfortunately is not something we can say these days about everybody." He expects that ABN AMRO will continue to be covered out of New York for the foreseeable future, as the firm is comfortable with that relationship.