PHILADELPHIA and NEW YORK, June 3, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Institutional Financial Markets, Inc. (NYSE MKT:IFMI) ("IFMI"), a financial services firm specializing in credit-related fixed income investments, today announced that it has appointed Lester Brafman as President, effective immediately.
During an 11-year tenure at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Brafman served as Chief Operating Officer of Credit and Mortgage Trading, and as Head of High Yield and Distressed Trading. Mr. Brafman most recently served as a Managing Director of Leveraged Finance Sales at Goldman Sachs, covering accounts for leveraged loans, bonds, and CDs.
Daniel G. Cohen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IFMI said, "Lester is a great addition to IFMI's management team, and we look forward to benefiting from his significant financial industry and capital markets expertise as we continue to execute on our growth strategies and take advantage of improving market conditions to increase shareholder value."
Mr. Brafman said, "IFMI has a unique and valuable platform and I look forward to working with the team of talented professionals to build on the Company's many strengths, enhance operations, and drive value for all IFMI stakeholders."
About Lester Brafman
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2001, Mr. Brafman, 50, spent over six years at Credit Suisse First Boston, holding numerous roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Head of High Yield Trading, and previously Head of Emerging Market and Sovereign Trading. He also spent several years at Wasserstein Perella & Co. and Lehman Brothers, respectively. Mr. Brafman received a B.A. at Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College.
About IFMI
IFMI is a financial services company specializing in credit-related fixed income investments. IFMI was founded in 1999 as an investment firm focused on small-cap banking institutions, but has grown to provide an expanding range of asset management, capital markets, and investment banking solutions to institutional investors and corporations. IFMI's primary operating segments are Capital Markets and Asset Management. The Capital Markets segment consists of credit-related fixed income sales, trading, and financing as well as new issue placements in corporate and securitized products and advisory services, operating primarily through IFMI's subsidiaries, C&Co/PrinceRidge Holdings LP and JVB Financial Holdings, LLC in the United States, and Cohen & Company Financial Limited in Europe. The Asset Management segment manages assets through collateralized debt obligations, permanent capital vehicles, and managed accounts. As of March 31, 2013, IFMI managed approximately $6.2 billion in credit-related fixed income assets in a variety of asset classes including U.S. trust preferred securities, European hybrid capital securities, Asian commercial real estate debt, and mortgage- and asset-backed securities. For more information, please visit www.IFMI.com.
Forward-looking Statements
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