Fixed income: Jefferies goes gangbusters in fixed income

Jefferies, historically a high-yield house, has been slowly expanding its fixed income offering since establishing itself in 1990. Over the early 2000s, that started to broaden out into corporate bonds and some rates, and municipals and mortgages. Over the past 18 months, though, the firm has stepped up the pace, adding more than 100 employees to its 300-strong fixed-income business through acquisitions, team recruitment and one-off hires.

In June, Jefferies became a primary dealer – yet another step in the firm’s strategy to increase its product offering in fixed income. Tim Cronin, head of the group at Jefferies, says that the decision to become a primary dealer was made in 2008. "It was clear by looking at the dislocations in credit and mortgages last year that volatility in Treasuries was going to start to increase dramatically. Add to...