KBC Financial Products has hired three senior high-yield professionals who were recently let go as part of large scale cutbacks at DrKW Grantchester (BW, 12/5). The New York-based dealer, a unit of Belgium's KBC Bank, hopes to make several more hires in high-yield sales, trading and research to take advantage of cutbacks and closures at other high-yield dealers, according to Joe Garofoli, a managing director who is one of the firm's founders.
Among the hires are two senior salesmen who will co-head the high-yield business: Eric Needleman and Dan McAloon. Dan Lerner also joins as a senior trader. Garofoli says KBC had been studying the high-yield market since last summer, and had already made a few hires. KBC now has four analysts, three salesmen and two traders dedicated exclusively to high-yield.