UBS Principal Finance, a proprietary fund owned by UBS Warburg, continues to add seasoned credit veterans to its lineup. The latest hires are Joe Mullally, formerly a senior emerging markets trader from Citicorp Financial, and Chris Melendes, former executive director and high-grade utility analyst at Morgan Stanley. Jim Switzer, head corporate bond trader at BNP Paribas, was also widely rumored to be joining the group, though he could not be reached. Mark Wisniewski, spokesman for BNP Paribas, would not confirm Switzer's reported move. Calls to Peter Abramenko, managing director and head of the credit team at UBS Principal Finance, were referred to Kris Kagel, a firm spokesman, who would not confirm any of the hires.
Mullally declined comment when reached at UBSW last week. He reported to Denny Voss, head of fixed-income trading at Citicorp Financial, who did not return calls. Melendes, whose last day at Morgan Stanley was last Friday, says he chose to make the move because "this is something I always wanted to try."
UBS Principal Finance has been staffing up its credit team with some high-priced talent, including Ed Oppedisano, an investment-grade telecom analyst, who joined from Deutsche Bank (BW, 4/14).