Jefferies Appoints Chief Financial Economist

Jefferies today announced the appointment of Ward McCarthy, PhD, as a Managing Director and Chief Financial Economist within the Firm’s Fixed Income Group. As part of this new role, Dr. McCarthy will be responsible for analyzing and predicting trends within the government debt and broader fixed income markets globally.

"As we continue to extend our firm globally, and broaden and deepen our capabilities, Ward McCarthy’s knowledge, relationships and experience will help support Jefferies’ ongoing success,” said Richard Handler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jefferies. "His hiring also further demonstrates Jefferies’ commitment to providing our clients with valuable market insights to complement our leading execution capabilities.”

Tim Cronin, Head of Jefferies Fixed Income, also commented, "We are very pleased to have someone of Ward McCarthy’s experience join our global fixed income platform. His in-depth knowledge of the markets and strong relationships uniquely qualify him for this value-added role at Jefferies.”

Dr. McCarthy added, "I am excited to join Jefferies’ Fixed Income platform, which continues to develop as a leading player in the sales and trading of fixed income products globally."

This announcement further demonstrates Jefferies' growing strength in fixed income, where the Firm now has more than 300 professionals globally who are focused on the sales and trading of investment grade corporate bonds, government and agency securities, repo finance, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, municipal bonds, whole loans and emerging markets debt. Jefferies was also designated as a Primary Dealer by The Federal Reserve Bank of New York in June of this year.

Dr. McCarthy joins Jefferies after 20 years at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, a firm he co-founded in 1989. Previously, Dr. McCarthy was Chief Financial Economist and Manager of Government Debt Research at Merrill Lynch. Prior to that, he was a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He received a PhD in Economics from Rutgers University, an MA in Economics from the University of Toledo, and a BA in Economics from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Additionally, Thomas Simons has joined Jefferies as a Vice President and Money Market Economist in Fixed Income. He will work closely with Dr. McCarthy, as he did previously at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates. Mr. Simons received a BA in Finance at The College of New Jersey.

About Jefferies

Jefferies, a major global securities and investment banking group, has served companies and their investors for more than 45 years. Headquartered in New York City, with offices in more than 25 cities around the world, Jefferies provides clients with capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research and asset management. Jefferies & Company, Inc. is the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF) (www.jefferies.com).