Jefferies Group Adds Jim Magidson to Institutional Sales

Jefferies Group continues to expand the public finance underwriting business it bought from Depfa Bank last year, most recently adding Jim Magidson to the firm’s institutional sales group.

Magidson has worked in municipals for nearly 20 years. He joins Jefferies from Mesirow Financial, where he was a managing director in institutional sales. He previously worked in sales for JPMorgan, and before that at the firm that is now Prager, Sealy & Co.

“Jim is a significant salesman, a valuable addition,” said Kenneth Gibbs, president of Jefferies’ municipal securities group. “We have been committed to carrying a large, deep sales team to make sure we continue to fully penetrate the market. Jim is a very seasoned, very strong talent. We’re at a place right now where some real quality talent on the street is interested in joining us. We think it’s just another strong addition that asserts our presence in the marketplace.”

Magidson will report to Drew Levinson, head of municipal sales.

Jefferies broke into the muni business in March 2009 when it purchased Depfa First Albany. Since then, the team has grown to more than 100 people from fewer than 75.

Just a few weeks after buying Depfa First Albany, Jefferies hired Roy Carlberg to run the muni underwriting desk.

Last month, the firm added Todd Carnevale from Barclays Capital to head municipal yield trading, and Kurt Ahrens from JPMorgan as head of muni trading. In June, Jefferies snagged James McGinley from Barclays, to run the markets group.

Jefferies has vaulted up the municipal underwriting league tables since the financial crisis.

The firm has underwritten $3.5 billion of municipal debt this year, already the second-highest annual total for the firm, based on Thomson Reuters’ “true economics” classification, which apportions credit based on how much of a deal was allocated to each underwriter by the syndicate. Jefferies underwrote $4 billion in 2005.

In 2006, the firm was the 32nd-biggest municipal underwriter, and in 2007 was the 33rd-biggest. Jefferies notched a rank of 16th in 2008, 19th in 2009, and is ranked 17th so far this year.

Jefferies has worked on some of the biggest municipal deals this year, including the $3.4 billion California Build America Bonds sale and $2.5 billion tax-exempt sale in March.

BABs have played a role in the firm’s growth. Jefferies is the 21st-ranked underwriter of BABs this year, underwriting 21 deals with $567.6 million in par value, based on true economics.

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