George K. Baum & Company Expands its Taxable Fixed Income Division

KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- George K. Baum & Company ("GKB") expands their Taxable Fixed Income Division with the addition of offices in New York, NY and Bethesda, MD. The new Taxable Fixed Income Division offices will trade primarily in structured products including agency and non-agency MBS, CMBS, CDOs and CLOs.

Ted Kallina is the Executive Vice President and Head of the Structured Products Group.  Mr. Kallina joined George K. Baum & Company in 2013 to expand the national Taxable Fixed Income Division.  He opened offices in the New York and Washington, DC markets during the latter part of 2013, and has since hired six professionals for the Structured Products Group.  Prior to joining George K. Baum & Company, Mr. Kallina served as Chief Operating Officer of Institutional Financial Markets, Inc.  Mr. Kallina holds both a BA and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Joining George K. Baum & Company are Senior Vice Presidents, Clayton Brasher, Christopher Drabin, Brendan Fry, Thomas Murray, John Rosa and Miguel Vazquez. 

Mr. Brasher joined George K. Baum & Company in February of 2014. Mr. Brasher is responsible for trading Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs), Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) and esoteric asset classes.  Previously, Mr. Brasher worked for Advisors Asset Management, Inc. as the CDO, CLO and Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) trader.  Mr. Brasher holds a BS from Birmingham-Southern College and an MS in finance from The University of Alabama.

Mr. Drabin joined George K. Baum and Company in February of 2014.  Mr. Drabin has 24 years of experience in the sales and trading of a variety of mortgage securities and U.S. Treasuries, and brings with him a highly respected expertise in both Agency and Non-Agency Adjustable Rate Mortgage Backed Securities.  Prior to joining GKB, Mr. Drabin held a sales and trading position with Advisors Asset Management, Inc.  Mr. Drabin holds a BA from Colgate University.

Mr. Fry joined George K. Baum & Company at the end of 2013.  Mr. Fry brings more than 17 years of institutional fixed income sales experience with major financial firms, most recently Raymond James. Mr. Fry has coverage responsibilities for a wide range of financial institutions including money center banks, insurance companies, money managers and hedge funds.  Over the past decade, he has developed an expertise in the secondary trading of residential mortgage securities, Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs) and Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs).  Mr. Fry holds a BA from Loyola University Maryland.

Mr. Murray joined George K. Baum & Company in February of 2014 and brings more than 20 years of fixed income sales experience with an emphasis on residential and commercial mortgage securities and various other securitized structured products.  Before joining GKB, he held senior level institutional fixed income sales and sales management positions at Advisors Asset Management, Inc. Mr. Murray holds a BA from Hartwick College.

Mr. Rosa joined George K. Baum & Company in October of 2013 and is responsible for trading Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) and other related asset classes (notably CRE CDOs and real estate loans).  Mr. Rosa brings more than 17 years of buy-and-sell-side experience in the CMBS arena to GKB.  In addition, Mr. Rosa has trading and analytical experience in Residential Mortgage Backed Securities and various ABS products. Prior to joining GKB, Mr. Rosa was the CMBS credit trader at Gleacher & Company.  Mr. Rosa holds a BS from Indiana University. 

Mr. Vazquez joined George K. Baum & Company in February of 2014 and is responsible for trading Non-Agency Residential Mortgage Backed Securities.  Mr. Vazquez brings more than 18 years of experience in the mortgage securities market, most recently having held trading and capital market related positions at Knight Capital.  Mr. Vazquez holds a BS in Finance from New York University and is a CFA Charter holder.

"We're excited to add highly qualified professionals to our Taxable Fixed Income team," said George K. Baum & Company Chairman and CEO Jonathan E. Baum. "Ted is a perfect fit to lead our growing Taxable Fixed Income practice in New York and Bethesda.  Clay, John, Chris, Miguel, Tom and Brendan will be tremendous assets to George K. Baum & Company", said Baum.

­Overview of Taxable Fixed Income Division: George K. Baum & Company maintains Taxable Fixed Income offices in Kansas City, MO, Portland, OR, Salt Lake City, UT, New York, NY and Bethesda, MD. The group focuses on institutional clients, has generated an average of $9.5 million in revenue over the past five years and traded more than $10.0 billion annually for the past four years. Structured products will add CDOs, CLOs, CMBS and Non-Agency Mortgage Backed Securities to the existing product line featured by GKB which includes U.S. government bills, notes and bonds, federal agency securities, mortgage-backed securities, asset backed securities, CMOs, and corporate notes and bonds.

About George K. Baum & Company: George K. Baum & Company has long been recognized as an industry leader in the structuring, underwriting and marketing of taxable and tax-exempt securities, and is one of the nation's most experienced privately held investment banking firms. Founded in 1928, GKB maintains a well-established presence—staffed with more than 200 professionals—with offices in 18 cities across the United States, including sales operations in five major cities. GKB is uniquely positioned to provide issuers of, and investors in, taxable and tax-exempt securities with the highest level of service.

SOURCE George K. Baum & Company