Arsenal Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, has partnered with fixed income industry veterans Levent Kahraman and Dan Goldman to launch KGS-Alpha Capital Markets.
KGS-Alpha is a New York-based institutional fixed income broker-dealer, focusing on mortgage-backed, asset-backed, and agency debt securities.
Kahraman’s expertise includes 15 years at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup and Barclays, where he focused on trading agency mortgage-backed securities.
Goldman brings 25 years’ experience at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup, where he was head of North American fixed income sales and co-head of US rates.
KGS-Alpha is focused on delivering mortgage-backed, asset-backed and agency debt securities trading and product structuring services to the institutional market. It has already begun executing and structuring fixed income products on behalf of its client base.
Kahraman says: "We are excited about the formation of KGS-Alpha and partnering with Arsenal in the mortgage-backed securities space, the largest and most liquid financial market in the world. Today’s capital markets are primarily dominated by large banks, many of which continue to face significant challenges. We believe there is a unique opportunity to quickly become a leading provider to meet the evolving and increasingly complex needs of institutional customers."
Carty Chock (pictured), a partner at Arsenal Capital Partners and co-head of the firm’s financial services practice, says: "We are pleased about the formation of KGS-Alpha and partnering with such an exceptional team. Levent, Dan and their team understand the complexities of trading fixed income products, and have complementary skill sets, which include running successful and profitable trading operations as well as building powerful organizations. We look forward to helping them build an industry-leading, relationship-driven franchise and capitalise on a dislocated and fragmented market."
