Alexandra & James Inc., the new broker-dealer outfit of the Lebenthal family, has brought back two of its former employees to fill the senior management spots in its public finance and trading operations.
Greg Anderson, a banker who counts some of the larger New York issuers as his clients, will become Alexandra & James’ new head of public finance. Duncan Smith, former head of trading at Lebenthal, will be in charge of the firm’s municipal trading operations.
Alexandra Lebenthal and her father, Jim Lebenthal, announced in October that they were reentering the muni business by taking the reins at Israel Discount Bank of New York’s broker-dealer arm. The elder Lebenthal, famous for his radio ads urging people to buy muni bonds, was put in charge of establishing the new brand.
When Merrill Lynch & Co. bought Lebenthal as part of an acquisition of Advest Group Inc. in December 2005, the Lebenthals left their old firm, and Merrill kept the rights to use the Lebenthal name. Many of the other Advest employees parted ways for different firms.
Anderson, like several others who left Advest, ended up at New Jersey-based Ryan Beck & Co. But when Ryan Beck announced on Dec. 1 that it was shuttering its municipal practice, the Lebenthals began to court him again.
Lebenthal added that Anderson had already worked more than eight years for her family’s muni bonds firm.
Smith spent about a year with Stone & Youngberg LLC before returning to work with the Lebenthals. He was formerly a member of the Lebenthal board and a senior investor, according to Alexandra Lebenthal.
The new Lebenthal shop has begun pitching for a co-manager position on underwriting syndicates, though they have not yet been awarded a spot. Unlike the family’s previous line of business, which focused largely on retail sales, the new broker-dealer outfit will seek out underwriting jobs.
