Aggressive UBS builds leveraged finance team

UBS Warburg keeps driving the expansion of its leveraged finance division. The investment bank has poached senior bankers Brian McBride and Steve Conway, both of whom previously worked for rival JP Morgan.

McBride, who quit JP Morgan last week, will join UBS as co-head of European leveraged finance and work closely with fellow co-heads Michael Grayer and Ian Hardington. The trio will report to global chief of leveraged finance, Art Penn.

Conway will join Michael Kershaw to look after the bank’s European financial sponsors group. His new home is part of the global financial sponsors team lead by Simon Canning.

“Their appointment emphasises the commitment that UBS Warburg has to leveraged finance and to financial sponsor clients,” said Penn. Both he and Hardington joined UBS Warburg in 2000, as did Jeff Lubin, a senior high yield specialist who was lured from Deutsche Banc Alex Brown in the US.