Knight Capital Group Inc. has hired a team of five traders and relationship managers from Morgan Stanley (MS) to provide fixed income sales, trading and research to the investment advisor community through a new entity called Knight Advisor Services, the firm announced Wednesday, June 30.
Joshua Zucker, who built MS's special situations group, will lead credit trading and sales for Knight Advisor Services. Bohn Vergari will serve as a director in RIA sales after having spent a dozen years in dealer and RIA fixed income sales at MS. Joseph Miller, who provided fixed income sales coverage to the top advisors within the MS retail brokerage force, will be responsible for credit sales. Patrick Moore, a veteran in fixed income sales at MS, will oversee broker/dealer sales. And John Browning will lead business development, after having led a similar effort at MS for the RIA fixed income sales desk.
"Investment advisors have been left to develop their own networks of trading partners and research providers," Gary Katcher, head of global institutional fixed income at Knight Capital Group, said in the statement. "Knight Advisor Services addresses the coverage gap by serving sophisticated investment advisors who seek competitive pricing, deep inventory and service, but who are less active or execute in smaller trade sizes than the average portfolio manager."
Knight Advisor Services clients include RIAs and broker/dealers who serve high-net-worth investors, endowments and foundations. The team trades investment-grade corporates, municipals and Certificates of Deposit, among other fixed income securities in demand by investment advisors, according to the statement.
