FIG Partners, an employee-owned broker/dealer specialising in bank and thrift stocks, has launched a fixed income business.

The business will focus on the sales and trading of US treasury, agency debt and residential mortgage backed securities, small business administration loans and pools, commercial mortgage backed securities, corporate debt, municipal bonds and other structured products with existing and new clients of FIG Partners.

The fixed income team at FIG Partners will provide its clients with valuation advisory and risk management services that will allow for detailed evaluation of complex loans and securities. This capability will differentiate the fixed income business at FIG Partners from a pure agency broker-dealer model.

The team will be led by Ricardo Diaz and Brian Zwerner. Diaz and Zwerner were founding partners in Vertical Capital Solutions, a structured products advisory firm with offices in New York, Atlanta and Chicago.

Also joining FIG’s fixed income team is Christopher Wood, formerly a principal with Vertical Capital Solutions.

The fixed income team will be based in Atlanta.

“Today is an ideal time to launch a fixed income platform at FIG,” says Adam Desmond (pictured), managing principal of FIG Partners. “Our bank clients have an increasing need for quality investment securities and unbiased advice on their portfolios. This new fixed income team gives us the ability to deliver ideas and execution for our clients, to grow our footprint, and to deepen our bank research and intelligence.”