CastleOak Securities Continues Aggressive Growth With Strategic Hires in Fixed Income and Equities Divisions

NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CastleOak Securities, L.P., a leading New York-based boutique investment banking firm, today announced the hires of Gregory Hughes and Dana Brett-Levy to its Fixed Income Division, and Patricia Koetzner and Mitchell Ginsberg to its Equity Sales & Trading Division. CastleOak has grown steadily since its inception in 2006 and the appointments of Mr. Hughes, Ms. Brett-Levy, Ms. Koetzner and Mr. Ginsberg represent the continuing strategic expansion of CastleOak's U.S. fixed income and equities sales and trading businesses. These additions follow the firm's recent announcement that it had grown substantially year-over-year, driven primarily by its Fixed Income Division, as CastleOak continues to strengthen its ability to serve clients across key practice groups.

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"I am proud to announce that CastleOak is continuing to attract talented professionals in both the fixed income and equities sales and trading groups and is thriving while current economic conditions are impacting other investment banking firms on Wall Street" said David R. Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of CastleOak Securities. "CastleOak's business is growing steadily and aggressively, not only within our fixed income and equities sales and trading divisions, but across our entire sales and trading and capital markets groups. The addition of seasoned professionals such as Greg, Dana, Patty and Mitch further cements CastleOak's strength as a leading boutique investment banking firm."

FIXED INCOME SALES HIRES

Mr. Hughes joins as Director covering a diverse account base for credit, structured credit and all fixed income products. Prior to joining CastleOak, Mr. Hughes developed credit trading and sales platforms at Ropemaker Capital. He covered an account base for cash credit products, as well as risk transfer transactions. Earlier, Mr. Hughes held senior roles in Credit and Structured Credit Sales at Commerzbank AG and HSBC, and served on Deutsche Bank's Global Credit Trading Platform. Mr. Hughes has a B.A. degree from the University of Scranton.

Ms. Brett-Levy joins as Director covering fixed income institutional accounts both domestically and internationally. Ms. Brett-Levy joins CastleOak with 25 years of Wall Street experience. In her previous role as Director at Coldwell Banker Commercial, she managed the distressed asset division, working with institutional clients in complex transactions involving real estate loans and assets. Ms. Brett-Levy also has held senior positions at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Deutsche Bank. She has a B.S. from the State University of New York at Albany.

Mr. Hughes and Ms. Brett-Levy report to Patrick de Catalogne, Senior Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Sales & Trading.

EQUITY TRADING HIRES

Ms. Koetzner joins as Managing Director and Head Equity Trader focusing on new business generation. Ms. Koetzner previously served as Vice President of Barclays Capital where she was responsible for revenue growth, expanding revenue generating relationships and facilitating equity trading. Ms. Koetzner's equity trading functions included traditional long/short sales trading coverage, implementation of algorithmic trading strategies, share repurchase trading and program trading while hedging with futures.  Earlier she served as a NASDAQ market maker for Neuberger Berman LLC, Gruntal & Co., and Dominick and Dominick, Inc. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Maine.

Mr. Ginsberg joins as Managing Director and Equity Trader covering institutional accounts. Mr. Ginsberg brings to CastleOak over 20 years of experience in the securities industry.  Prior to joining CastleOak, Mr. Ginsberg was Vice President of Equity Research Sales and Trading at Rodman & Renshaw.  Mr. Ginsberg was also a principal market maker on the Citigroup Global Markets distressed equity desk, specializing in micro, small and mid-cap stocks, and at TD Waterhouse Capital Markets where he specialized in trading mid and large cap securities, and earlier at Neuberger Berman LLC.  He holds a B.S. in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego. 

Ms. Koetzner and Mr. Ginsberg report to Donna Sims Wilson, Executive Vice President and Head of Equity Sales & Trading.

About CastleOak Securities

CastleOak is a New York based boutique investment bank with regional offices throughout the U.S. It is managed by a team of seasoned bankers with an average of over 20 years of experience. CastleOak provides sales and trading, capital markets, and financial advisory services. The company offers expertise in primary and secondary market transactions, and is structured to effectively advise its clients on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, valuations and general strategic assessments.

CastleOak is in a strategic partnership with Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., a leading global financial services provider to the institutional equity and fixed income capital markets.

SOURCE CastleOak Securities, L.P.