New Piper Jaffray convertible team sees opportunity as a regional player

By Ronda Fears

Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 17 - U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray's expanded convertible team leaders see an opportunity as a regional player in the current turbulent, chaotic market.

"I think the view in the market of Piper Jaffray was that it's really not a player in this market," said co-leader of the team, Brendan Dyson, in an interview with Prospect News.

"There's a lot of opportunity here, to do things for our clients."

The team of 14 investment banking, sales and trading personnel join Piper Jaffray's existing convertible securities team in San Francisco, which has been led by Eddie O'Rourke, who will remain a senior member of the team. Those added were formerly with Robertson Stephens in San Francisco.

The team will be co-led by Dyson, 43, and Daniel White, 40, who have worked together for the past 18 years. Dyson will lead the origination and restructuring team, with White overseeing the sales and trading group.

Several members of Dyson and White's group visited with some of the larger investment banks and firms in New York, Dyson said, but the group was impressed with the clean-cut, Midwestern reputation of Piper Jaffray.

"Not to take anything away from the big shops," Dyson said, "but Piper Jaffray is highly regarded by our clients."

Convertible securities are an important financing vehicle for many growth company clients and represent a strategic growth area for Piper Jaffray.

"We've always used down markets to gain share," said Erin Freeman, a spokeswoman for Piper Jaffray.

"Three years ago, it would have been more difficult to put together a team like this, this level of talent."

Goals for the group, Dyson said, are to focus on providing value to clients.

"Our sales and trading desk is completely focused on providing an opportunity for our clients to make money, which is more than providing liquidity," Dyson said.

"On the banking side, the point is more than winning deals. Our clients don't want 'deals,' they want to solve financial and capital structure problems."

Cohesion is one of the group's biggest strengths, he said, not only in having worked together for many years but as a unit with an integrated approach to the convertible market.

"Our team has a huge stake in the success in the convertible market. This is what we do," Dyson said.

"I think it's going to be easy for us to make money in this market."

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