Mesirow Financial boosts on trading, underwriting

Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc., the largest independent financial services firm based in Chicago, is hiring as growth in its global markets business increased revenue 13 percent, Chief Executive Officer James Tyree said in an interview.

Mesirow added a dozen people in the past two weeks to its staff of 1,200, Tyree said. He disclosed the closely held company's revenue rose to $526 million from $467 million in the year ended March 31. Mesirow will release more numbers within the next two weeks.

The firm is expanding even as the comeback of Wall Street securities firms makes it more difficult to attract top talent, Tyree said. Mesirow, which manages investments, sells insurance and develops real estate, also is looking for municipal-bond analysts for to advise investors.

"We were able to bring in a whole lot of people -- and great people -- during the time when the world was in effect melting," Tyree, 52, said in his office at the firm's new headquarters in Chicago's River North neighborhood. With markets stabilizing, "it's more and more difficult to grab folks."

Revenue from global markets, including institutional sales, trading and fixed income, is up about 50 percent in the last two years, Tyree said. It accounts for about 40 percent of revenue. Insurance, about 20 percent of the firm's income, was little changed, he said.

Some of Mesirow's growth came as the worst upheaval in more than 70 years forced financial firms to eliminate 346,000 jobs worldwide since June 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

As of a year ago, 60 percent of those who found jobs had landed at midsize companies such as Mesirow, said Jason Kennedy, chief executive officer of Kennedy Associates, an executive recruiter for Wall Street and the City of London.