Auriga USA has boosted its fixed-income U.S. sales and trading operations with various new product lines.
In the past year, the U.S. subsidiary has opened four locations and hired nine traders and salespeople
Most recently, Brad Harris, previously from UBS and with 15 years experience as an agency trader, and Jon Devirian, formerly from Cohen Brothers with a decade as a CMBS trader under his belt, joined the firm.
"These individuals, along with our other recent additions allow us the opportunity to enhance and expand our relationships with our customer base," said Jason Adams, co-head of trading.
The firm's fully staffed trading desk currently has five mortgage product specialists with a specific area of expertise. "Each of our traders has extensive experience in mortgage-related products and our 15-person sales force is 100% dedicated to mortgage and asset backed products. This focus avails us the opportunity to provide relevancy to our customers," Adams added.
The firm is an institutional broker/dealer specializing in RMBS and CMBS and other ABS. Auriga USA's New York office was launched nearly four years ago, focusing on non-agency RMBS. In 2011, the office expanded operations and hired professionals on staff to handle ABS, agency CMOs and CMBS.
Auriga USA opened four new sales offices in 2011 across the U.S. They are headed by industry veterans George Fondren, Dallas; Charles Kapp, Chicago; Luke Fry, Los Angeles; and Shannon Smith, San Francisco.
"Consolidation continues across Wall Street. We are in a position to hire some of the highest quality people in the industry," said Alex Hendrickson, head of sales. This is an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue build a powerful team."
"We're excited by the opportunities here and the confidence Auriga SA has in our success. A recent infusion of capital from our partners is allowing us to aggressively pursue new products and the right people to service them," CEO Rich Winter said.
The firm is a privately owned U.S. unit of Auriga Securities, Sociedad de Vlores that has home offices in Madrid, Spain.
