Amherst Securities Group is continuing its hiring spree by adding a new team of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and asset-backed securities (ABS) salespeople at its Chicago office. The firm appears to buck the trend that anything linked to the securitization trade is in a hiring quagmire. Recently, the Austin-based company started to pull talent from ailing or collapsing firms. Ryan Mullaney, a former Managing Director at RBS Greenwich Capital whose career in MBS sales spans 24 years, has been appointed to manage the Chicago office. Joining him are Michael Brunso, Michael Carothers and Ryan Clinton, all of whom will work in sales beginning today and who also previously worked at RBS Greenwich Capital. Sean Dobson, CEO of Amherst says of the new staff: “Their analytical approach, innovative ideas and existing relationships on Wall Street are a perfect fit for Amherst’s entrepreneurial culture and will add tremendous value to our customers.” A 15-year veteran, Mullaney will manage the new Chicago office, serving as the licensed General Securities Principal. Mullaney also knows his way around the CMBS, agencies, rates and derivatives space. Brunso is equally diverse, selling mortgage-backed, asset-backed and commercial MBS for the last 13 years. Prior to that, Brunso worked at Merrill Lynch for ten years in MBS and ABS sales. Mullaney shares history with Merrill Lynch as well. Carothers held the role of managing director in MBS and ABS Sales and covered top-tier money managers, commercial banks, FHLB’s, insurance companies and hedge funds at RBS Greenwich. Carothers, like Brunso and Mullaney, also worked for some time at Merrill. Write to Jacob Gaffney at [email protected].