12:44 PM
Cantor Fitzgerald Hires Execs to Head Structured Products Group
Cantor Fitzgerald, a leader in the fixed-income market, has launched a structured products group with the hire of two senior executives. The group will operate as part of Cantor's debt capital markets team.
Gina Hubbell, formerly managing director and head of the structured credit group at UBS, and Edward LaScala, formerly head of debt syndicate at HSBC, joined Cantor in February. Hubbell will lead the new group and report to Irvin Goldman, Cantor's CEO and president.
Hubbell says she plans to add two or three new people to the group by year-end. "We are the conquering force," she notes. "But we do plan to hire, primarily in the structuring and transaction execution areas."
Structured products are an essential part of fixed income, which is why Cantor created the group, according to Hubbell. "This is just such an intrinsic part of fixed income now," she says. "Clients definitely are otherwise participating in this type of market, and we want to supplement our existing business with structured concepts and products." Hubbell adds that the new product offerings also will help bring in new business.
The new hires' initial objective is to integrate the structuring capability into Cantor's fixed-income business and build on it, Hubbell explains. The goal is to create additional value for clients via structured trades in areas such as credit and mortgaged backs, as well as to introduce new issues, cross-asset-class securitization, collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), securitized portfolios and other products.
While there are many types of products that the group can offer, according to Hubbell, "We don't want to get into too much all at once," she cautions. Ultimately, she says, "We want to be strategic and creative -- and figure out how we can be different."