Sterne Agee Continues Growth Trend with Expansion of Middle Markets Distribution

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc., one of the oldest and largest privately-owned investment banking and brokerage firms in the country, recently announced the addition of a number of highly experienced sales professionals to the Sterne Agee sales force.

Edward LaScala, Chris Sanford, Paul Cappelli, Cindy Hellman, Mike Maresca, Kevin Maxwell and Robert Dudley bring a wealth of fixed income experience to Sterne Agee, focusing primarily on Investment Grade and High Yield bonds. In addition, they will transact in Rates, Asset-Backed Securities, Collateralized Loan Obligation, and Municipals. The addition of this group will boost Sterne Agee's middle markets credit distribution.

"We believe the expertise and efficiency of this group will be immediately accretive to our investment grade platform. The depth of their individual experience will be a great benefit to our company as well as our existing and future clientele." said Jon P. Walker, Senior Managing Director.

Edward A. LaScala began his career at Salomon Brothers in 1984 in the firm's Medium Term Note origination and trading area. After leaving Salomon in 1990, Mr. LaScala worked at various firms such as CS First Boston, DLJ, and Societe Generale in credit trading, capital markets origination, and syndicate. Mr. LaScala joined Citigroup in 2007 in Institutional Fixed Income Credit Sales and remained in that area until his recent departure.

Christopher R. Sanford began his career in 2008 on the buy-side at Delaware Investments in Philadelphia. While at Delaware Mr. Sanford was responsible for trading Industrials as well as the Bank and Finance positions of the fund. After almost 4 years at Delaware, he left to join Citi as an Institutional Fixed Income Credit Salesman where he has worked until his recent departure.

Paul Cappelli began his career at HSBC in 2004 where he worked as an analyst in Foreign Exchange. Mr. Cappelli joined Citigroup in late 2005 to work on the Finance Desk as an Institutional Salesman. In 2012 he joined the Institutional Fixed Income Credit Sales Team where he worked until his recent departure from the bank.

Cindy Hellman's career has been at Smith Barney/Shearson/Salomon/CITI. She started her career as a corporate bond liaison and was instrumental in the establishment of the Taxable Fixed Income High Net Worth desk. Cindy then became a tier one sales person on the Preferred Desk also selling some HG credit. When Smith Barney merged with Solomon in 1999 she became a generalist selling all fixed income products to a diverse account base.

Mike Maresca will be focusing on general fixed income sales working with partner Cindy Hellman. Prior to joining Sterne he worked in ICG Middle Market Sales at Citigroup for 14 years.

Kevin Maxwell joins us from Oppenheimer & Co. where he worked since November 2008. Kevin joined Oppenheimer as a fixed income salesperson and also spent most of the last 4 years as a taxable fixed income sales manager. Prior to joining Oppenheimer, Kevin spent 24 years at Lehman Brothers in various roles but primarily in High Grade Credit, including a stint as a preferred stock/hybrid specialist.

Robert Dudley began his career at Barclays Capital in 2008 as a Junior Loan Trader then Salesman on the High Yield/Leveraged Loan desk. Robert left Barclays and joined Gleacher & Co Securities in early 2011 as a Vice President, Loan & HY Salesman. In early 2012 he expanded his responsibilities at Gleacher into the IG/HY/Loan/EM asset classes which he currently covers.

About Sterne Agee

Founded in 1901, Birmingham, Alabama-based Sterne Agee is one of the oldest and largest privately-owned investment banks in the nation. The firm offers comprehensive financial services to a diverse client base, including corporations, municipalities and high-net worth individuals. Through its family of wholly-owned subsidiaries, Sterne Agee custodies over $21 billion in client assets, and has more than 1,500 employees in 59 offices across 22 states. The Sterne Agee family of companies has prospered for more than 100 years by always putting client interests first and consistently delivering excellent financial services. Sterne Agee is the trade name used by Sterne Agee Group, Inc. and affiliates, including Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc., member of NYSE, FINRA and SIPC. Visit www.sterneagee.com.

SOURCE Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc.