(Bloomberg) — Jefferies Group, the investment bank owned by Leucadia National Corp., hiredGoldman Sachs Group Inc.s Joe Femenia to run distressed-debt trading, people familiar with the move said.
Femenia, 39, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Navy SEAL, will take on many of the duties of former distressed-debt head Drew Doscher, who left Jefferies in December, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel. Femenia, head of U.S. leveraged-loan trading at Goldman Sachs, was named a managing director in 2013. He declined to comment when reached by phone, as did Tiffany Galvin, a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman.
Revenue from trading stocks and bonds tumbled 82 percent at Jefferies in the three months ended Feb. 29. The bank posted a $166.8 million loss in the fiscal first quarter as fixed-income and equity trading revenue dropped to $58.5 million. Chief Executive Officer Richard Handler said he was humbled” by the results and vowed to do better.
Femenia, who also has an MBA from Columbia University, served on the board of the Navy SEAL Foundation, a group that hehelpedfound. He started at Goldman Sachs in 2007, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Doscher, 46, joined Jefferies in 2013 from Seaport Group LLC. Before that, he ran distressed debt at UBS Group AG and Barclays Plc.
Distressed-debt trading at banks including Jefferies suffered after a decline in the prices of risky corporate debt intensified last year. Moodys Investors Servicesaidlast month that the number of U.S. companies at the highest risk of default had approached levels not seen since the worst of the financial crisis, creating opportunities for money managers who invest in distressed securities.
Jefferieslostabout $90 million over nine months trading bonds of distressed energy borrowers, the company said in September.
