Global Hunter Adds to High Yield Sales & Trading with the Addition of Seasoned Veterans Matt Gourlay & Jonathan Blatt

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global Hunter Securities (GHS), a full-service investment bank with focus on the Energy, China, Healthcare and Metals & Mining sectors, announced today that fixed income securities professionals Jonathan Blatt and Matthew Gourlay have joined the firm and will oversee its high yield bond sales and trading operation in New York, NY. The GHS High Yield Desk continues to expand, and is still seeking additional sales and trading professionals.

“I am really excited to be teaming up with him, Rich Goldenberg and Ravi Kamath. Our combined strengths will give us the best team of any I’ve seen.”

Mr. Gourlay started on Wall Street in 1980 and has spent his entire career focused on debt-oriented transactions. He has been a managing director for firms including Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette, CRT Capital, LLC and UBS Warburg and was a founding member of the high-yield operations of both Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Gourlay was the Vice Chairman of Gleacher Partners, where he established an asset management business with more than $1 billion under management, before joining UBS Warburg, where he headed the Leveraged Finance Group for three years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Princeton University.

Mr. Blatt joins GHS from Stone Tower Capital, a $30-billion alternative asset manager where he was responsible for trading all bond positions as well as half of the bank loan positions in their multibillion dollar hedge fund. His combined annual bond and loan trading volume exceeded $7 billion. Mr. Blatt has been trading fixed income securities since 1984, when he started with Bear Stearns. He was a founding member of Chase Bank’s high yield desk and opened the New York office of BB&T Capital, doubling its high yield business. He also founded Fieldstone’s sales, trading and research business, which continues as a successful enterprise today.

Before his entry into the financial services industry, Mr. Blatt was an Attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington DC. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a Juris Doctorate from The Washington College of Law, American University.

Combined, Blatt and Gourlay bring more than a half-century of high yield sales and trading experience to GHS, where they will work in concert with other well-known experts Rich Goldenberg, GHS’ Head of Global Debt Capital Markets, and Ravi Kamath, GHS’ Head of High Yield Research and a three-time Wall Street Journal All-Star Analyst, to offer investors and issuers alike comprehensive debt financing and high-yield solutions.

“Matt Gourlay and Jonathan Blatt are experienced fixed-income veterans who bring decades of experience to our firm,” said Daniel O. Conwill IV, Chairman and CEO of Global Hunter Securities. “By combining their decades of experience and knowledge with the talents of Rich Goldenberg and Ravi Kamath, we have a full-spectrum offering of high-yield services.”

“Matt Gourlay and I have known each other personally for over a decade and by reputation for twice as long,” said Blatt. “I am really excited to be teaming up with him, Rich Goldenberg and Ravi Kamath. Our combined strengths will give us the best team of any I’ve seen.

“When I heard Jonathan Blatt was joining a new high-yield trading operation, I had to be a part of it,” said Gourlay. “Getting to work alongside a leader in our business -- with the support and momentum of a fast-growing firm like Global Hunter behind us -- makes this a perfect opportunity.”

About Global Hunter Securities

Global Hunter Securities, LLC (GHS) is a full-service investment bank focusing on the Energy, China, Healthcare and Metals & Mining sectors. In 2010, the firm completed 33 transactions totaling some $4.7 billion in aggregate value. GHS provides insightful research, innovative capital raising and financial advisory and restructuring services supported by a sales and trading staff with world-wide reach. Global Hunter has offices in four states and six cities, including New Orleans, New York, Newport Beach, Houston, Ft. Worth, and San Francisco, as well as a strong presence and reputation in mainland China. For more information about Global Hunter, please visit http://www.ghsecurities.com.