Company Broadens Securitization Expertise in CMO Business, Expands into ABS
 

Austin, TX – February 11, 2009 – Amherst Securities Group LP, a broker-dealer specializing in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), today announced it has hired four seasoned executives to expand its reach in securitized products. Joining the firm are Daniel Farrell, Senior Managing Director, Structured Products Group; Mark J. Castiglione, Managing Director, Structured Products Group; Andrew Beal, Managing Director, Agency CMO trading; and Kenneth Dinovo, Senior Vice President, Agency CMO structuring and trading. These additions to the Amherst team will allow the firm to increase its reach in the mortgage space and expand its securitized product offerings to include asset-backed securities (ABS) and structured transactions.

 

Sean Dobson, Chief Executive Officer of Amherst Securities Group, said: “I am very excited to welcome such a seasoned group of executives to Amherst, which continues to gain market share on the strength of its superior analytics and talented professionals. Dan, Mark, Andy and Ken bring a unique combination of skills that will help Amherst remain ahead of the competition. These moves will enable us to better serve our existing customers and enter new securitization markets.”

 

Mr. Farrell will serve as Senior Managing Director at Amherst and help develop Amherst’s non-mortgage asset-backed securities (ABS) and structured finance business, expanding Amherst’s existing platform. A founding partner of MatchPoint Capital Partners, a firm focused on venture capital opportunities, Mr. Farrell brings an extensive background in structured finance. Prior to forming MatchPoint, Mr. Farrell was Managing Director and Group Head of the Structured Asset Finance Group at Wachovia Securities. The group focused on all banking, trading, sales and investment activities related to a variety of non-commodity ABS and structured financings.  Previously, he was the President and co-founder of BluePoint Re, a financial guaranty insurer wholly owned by Wachovia. Prior to that, Mr. Farrell worked for Financial Security Assurance (FSA) for 13 years. He holds an MBA from Fordham University.  

 

Mr. Castiglione will work closely with Mr. Farrell to develop Amherst’s non-mortgage ABS and structure finance business. He previously served as Managing Director at R3 Capital Management, a multi-strategy credit focused hedge fund, where he managed a portfolio of "off the run" asset-backed securities. He was formerly a Managing Director in the Global Principal Strategies Group at Lehman Brothers. Prior to joining Lehman, Mr. Castiglione spent 13 years at FSA, where he was a Managing Director involved with the origination and structuring a broad range of both domestic and international ABS transactions.  He holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

Mr. Beal joins Amherst as a Managing Director in Agency CMO trading, an area he has worked in for almost 20 years. He specializes in secondary and new issue CMOs. Mr. Beal previously worked at Merrill Lynch for 12 years, where he traded CMOs with a focus on secondary and new issue Fixed and Derivatives. Prior to that, he traded CMO Agency Derivatives at UBS Securities. He graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Economics.

 

Mr. Dinovo joins as a Senior Vice President and will work with Mr. Beal to build up Amherst’s CMO business. Specifically, Mr. Dinovo will be responsible for structuring and trading CMOs. He previously worked at Merrill Lynch in Agency CMO Trading and as Head Structurer. While there, he traded new issue CMOs and ran the new issue business. Prior to that, Mr. Dinovo worked at Bear Stearns for three years in Agency CMO Trading. He received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

 

Amherst Securities Group LP is a privately-held, specialized broker-dealer with more than 15 years experience analyzing and trading residential mortgage-backed securities. Our 75 experienced professionals, utilizing our proprietary analytics, develop and provide actionable intelligence that helps clients understand the complexities and inherent risks of the world’s largest debt market and identify trading opportunities that help minimize risk and meet their objectives throughout different economic cycles. More information about Amherst can be found on the firm’s Web site at www.amherstsecurities.com.

 

Tom Johnson/Amy Robinson

The Abernathy MacGregor Group

(212) 371-5999