Amherst Securities Group Hires Mike McSweeney, Strengthening Its Pass-Through Trading and CMO Expertise

Business Wire, April 24, 2009

AUSTIN, Texas -- Amherst Securities Group, L.P., a broker-dealer specializing in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), today announced that Michael McSweeney has joined the firm as an Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Pass-Through Trader focused on the specified pool markets. Mr. McSweeney will be a Managing Director based in Amherst’s New York City office. In addition to his efforts trading pass-through products, Mr. McSweeney will also be an integral part of the company’s expanding agency collateralized mortgage obligation (CMO) business, helping source collateral for deals. He joins Amherst after 11 years at UBS/Paine Webber, where he supervised the specified pool book while working as a member of the agency pass-through desk.

Sean Dobson, CEO of Amherst Securities Group, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Mike to Amherst, who will play an important role broadening our efforts in the pool trading and CMO space. Mike’s vast experience with and knowledge of specified pool trading will be a tremendous asset to our firm as we continue to add securitization expertise across our platform to help clients successfully take advantage of current trends in the bond market.”

During his tenure at UBS/Paine Webber, Mr. McSweeney worked on the pass-through desk and traded all agency products there, including 15-year and 30-year conventional mortgages and Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) securities. He graduated from Lehigh University with a BS in Finance.

About Amherst Securities Group, L.P.

Amherst Securities Group, L.P. is a privately-held, specialized broker-dealer with more than 15 years experience analyzing and trading residential mortgage-backed securities. Our experienced professionals, utilizing our proprietary analytics, develop and provide actionable intelligence that helps clients understand the complexities and inherent risks of the world’s largest debt market and identify trading opportunities that help minimize risk and meet their objectives throughout different economic cycles. More information about Amherst can be found on the firm’s Web site at www.amherstsecurities.com.