US institutional broker Concept Capital has hired Rich Parker, former head of sales and trading at policy analysis firm Washington Research Group (WRG), as its head of equities.
Concept has also hired WRG’s principals and its affiliated institutional sales and trading teams.
The move adds policy analysts, sector analysts, traders, salesmen and sales trading staff to Concept Capital’s institutional sales and trading business. Concept said the hires will “greatly enrich” its proprietary research offering and broaden its institutional sales and trading effort. The firm plans more expansion of its equities and fixed income businesses later this year.
WRG’s 15-strong team of analysts provides institutional investors with insight about the impact of federal policy on their investment decisions. Its clients include the largest mutual funds and hedge funds in the US.
“Concept Capital has made growing its institutional sales and trading business a top priority in 2009 as we see tremendous opportunity to grow our business and fill the institutional service gap created by the collapse in a number of the bulge bracket firms,” said Robert E. Moore, Managing Director at Concept Capital. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring on this well-established and well-respected institutional trading and research team.”
Parker added, “Concept Capital has shown a huge commitment to this platform by bringing aboard the sales and trading team to support it. This is a premiere institutional research and sales product, and providing that, backed by the staff that understands how our clients use it, is vital.”