Reuters – Jefferies Group Inc. is making a push into one of the most coveted money-making franchises on Wall Street in offering prime brokerage services to hedge funds, senior executives of the investment bank said.
The New York-based brokerage is slated to formally launch a new suite of hedge fund services next week aimed at the legions of small and mid-sized hedge funds that continue to sprout in a $1.2 trillion industry.
“We’re starting fresh, using best-of-breed technology to build out our platform,” said Glen Dailey, managing director and head of Jefferies prime brokerage operations. He said he expects to have 25 hedge funds signed up by year-end and add another five to ten each month next year.
Prime brokers offer essential day-to-day hedge fund services including loans for stock trades, stock lending for short sales, cash management, reporting services and others. Every hedge fund employs at least one prime broker and larger firms often use three or four.
