NEW YORK & HONG KONG & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a further expansion of the firm’s global equities business, Jefferies announced today the addition of six Managing Directors in Asia. The following professionals have recently joined the firm: Paul Krake as Head of Hedge Fund Sales, Lydia Leung for Hong Kong / China Equity Sales, Stephen Nichols as Head of Asia Trading, Adam Putterill as Head of Hong Kong and China Sales Trading, James Young as Head of Regional Sales, and David Welch as a Regional Sales Trader. All are based in Jefferies’ Hong Kong office.

"We are very pleased that these veteran professionals have joined our growing equities platform in Asia and believe their extensive experience and strong relationships will make an immediate contribution in serving our institutional clients," commented Michael Alexander, CEO of Jefferies Asia. “These hires are part of Jefferies’ strategy to provide our clients with high quality ideas and insight coupled with first class execution and distribution globally."

Mr. Krake brings nearly 18 years of experience to Jefferies and has 11 years of asset management experience, primarily in the hedge fund arena. Paul joined the firm from Creighton Capital Management where he oversaw a socially responsible investment vehicle known as Tatanka Asset Management. He was the Managing Partner at Corus Capital Management LLC, an Asia-focused macro hedge fund, and previously held a variety of portfolio manager and macro trading positions with Caxton Corporation and Moore Capital Management. Previously, he held sales roles at Goldman Sachs and Macquarie Bank. He received a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Ms. Leung has nearly 20 years of industry experience and joins the firm from CICC, where she spent seven years and was a Managing Director for Hong Kong / China sales. Previously, she was a Director at DBS Vickers, and before that spent five years at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. She received an MBA from the University of Exeter, UK and a BA from National Chengchi University in Taipei.

Mr. Nichols joins the firm from Citigroup, where he spent a total of 20 years in various Asian Equity trading roles in the UK, Hong Kong and Japan. In addition, he spent three years during his time in Tokyo working for Merrill Lynch. Most recently, he ran the cash equity trading desk at Citigroup in Hong Kong. He received a BA (Honours) from The University of Sheffield.

Mr. Putterill brings more than 14 years of experience to Jefferies, and joins the firm from JP Morgan, where he was an Executive Director for Hong Kong and China Sales Trading. Previously, he spent two years at Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong in China Sales and Trading, and prior to that, four years at Peregrine Brokerage.

Mr. Young joins the firm from UBS where he had worked since 1996, most recently as Head of Japan into APAC Sales, based in Hong Kong. Previously, he worked for that firm in Singapore, Tokyo and London. He received a BA (Honours) from The University of Sheffield.

Mr. Welch brings more than 15 years of experience in sales and trading to Jefferies, and joins from HSBC, where he was most recently a Director for Global Banking and Markets in Hong Kong. Previously, he spent three years as a Principal at Banc of America Securities and prior to that spent eight years in a variety of equities roles at Goldman Sachs. He received a BS from Georgetown University, US.

Jefferies is establishing a full-service equity sales, trading, and research platform in Asia with focus on Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, India, Korea and Taiwan. As part of this build-out, Jefferies recently announced the appointment of Christie Ju, ranked #1 in the Conglomerate and Real Estate sectors in the 2010 AsiaMoney Analyst Poll, as Head of Hong Kong and China Equity Research, and Cynthia Meng, ranked #4 in the Institutional Investor 2010 All-China Equity Research Team, as Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Equity Research for Hong Kong and China. These additions follow the recent appointments of Mr. Alexander as CEO of Jefferies Asia, Nilesh Jasani as Head of Asia-Pacific Research and Chris Shute as Head of Asian Sales and Sales Trading.

Jefferies recently initiated equity research coverage in Hong Kong, adding nearly 50 Chinese companies to its global equity research coverage. These include companies within the Property, Conglomerate, Consumer and Telecommunications sectors in China.

As part of the firm’s ongoing build-out in Asia, Jefferies plans to continue to add equities professionals and expand research coverage accordingly.

Jefferies’ global equities group consists of more than 700 professionals globally, including over 200 outside the U.S. The firm offers sales and trading services in a full range of equity products, including cash equities, electronic trading, equity derivatives, exchange traded funds, convertibles, prime brokerage and securities finance.

Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF), a global securities and investment banking firm, has served companies and investors for nearly 50 years.

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