Mr. Edwards is the CEO and Co-founder of First Ballantyne, LLC. His background is in trading investment grade and high yield corporate debt including medium term notes, floaters, and structured products since 1995. Mr. Edwards completed the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program in 2003.

Mr. Ford is the President and Managing Partner of First Ballantyne, LLC. James’s responsibilities include trading and sales with a focus on corporate and municipal high yield/distressed securities as well as proprietary positioning and risk management. Mr. Ford joined First Ballantyne in 2008 from the fixed income buy-side in Charlotte. His career on the buy-side was as a trader, analyst, and portfolio manager. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2002.

Fixed Income Trading and Sales – Mr. Anderson joined First Ballantyne, LLC in 2003 from a Charlotte-based investment management company. With decades of experience in trading and managing fixed-income portfolios, he assists the firm’s clients in the investment selection and management process.

Fixed Income Trading and Sales – Mr. Alexander joined the firm in 2003 and has decades of experience working in the brokerage industry. He currently maintains relationships with our broker/dealer counterparts and the relationships with our institutional customers.

CFO/FINOP/CCO. Mr. Team joined the firm in 2012. He has over 25 years’ experience in financial services, most recently with a major Charlotte financial institution. He has an extensive background in accounting, finance, regulatory compliance, and financial operations.

Fixed Income Trading – Mr. Baumann joined First Ballantyne in 2020. He specializes in investment grade debt, floaters, and origination of medium term notes. Prior to joining First Ballantyne, Mr. Baumann was the Global Head of Interest Rate Structured Notes at Barclays Capital. Mr. Baumann joined Barclays in 2008 after the fall of Lehman Brothers. He has been working with structured investments and interest rate derivatives his entire career, and he started as an analyst as part of the Lehman Brothers “START” program in 2001. Mr. Baumann has 20+ years of trading and risk management experience and arranged or supervised the execution of primary market bond transactions.

Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) & CMO Trading – Mr. Buzanowski, or “Buzz” as he is known by his trading partners, joined the firm in 2005. He has worked with the founding partners of FBLT for over ten years in a past trading position at a major Charlotte-based investment bank. Don offers our clients over 30 years’ experience in CMO trading.

HY/Crossover Corporate Bond Trading, MBS Trading – Mr. Simons joined the firm in 2013. He worked in the mortgage/asset-backed trading business for over 15 years before changing focus to corporate bonds. Prior to joining FBLT, Mr. Simons worked for several of the largest securities firms in the U.S.

Fixed Income Trading – Mr. Team joined First Ballantyne in 2019 and is currently responsible for trading front-end high yield corporate securities, non-investment grade securitized products, and non-investment grade municipal bonds. He graduated from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill with a degree in Economics in 2017. While attending UNC, he worked as an intern for First Ballantyne from 2015 to 2017. After graduating, Mr. Team was employed for two years as a fixed income trader with a regional Broker Dealer in Charlotte trading corporate securities and investment grade asset backed securities.

Fixed Income Trading – Municipals – Mr. Hassell joined First Ballantyne in 2016 as part of a high grade municipal team. He brings 7 years of muni trading experience to the firm, with familiarity in a wide range of the market and a focus on providing best execution for First Ballantyne’s institutional clients.

Fixed Income Trading – Municipals. Mr. Gilboy Joined First Ballantyne, LLC in 2016 along with the rest of the municipal team from another Charlotte based municipal fixed income firm. With decades of experience in municipals, “Mike” has traded a wide array of municipal products with a focus on the best execution for First Ballantyne’s, LLC customers.

Fixed Income Sales – Municipals. Mr. Perry Joined First Ballantyne, LLC in 2016 along with the rest of the municipal team from another Charlotte based municipal bond firm. With decades of experience in the brokerage industry, Doug maintains relationships with our institutional municipal customers.

Director, Research Analyst – Mr. Johnson is a Research Analyst covering a wide range of high yield and distressed companies and municipal issuers. Prior to joining First Ballantyne, Mr. Johnson was the Chief Market Strategist for M.S. Howells concentrating in capital structure arbitrage. Prior to M.S. Howells, Mr. Johnson worked as a banker at Financial Security Assurance Inc (FSA) concentrating in sub-prime auto origination and exotic securitizations. Prior to FSA, he ran BNP Paribas’ North American Corporate bond and CDS Credit Strategy Group. Mr. Johnson was a founding member of Banc of America Securities’ High Grade Credit Strategy Group and was responsible for developing a suit of research products and an analytical bond index platform. Mr. Johnson, CFA, received his Bachelor’s and MBA Degree from the University of Buffalo and decades of fixed income experience. Mr. Johnson joined First Ballantyne LLC in 2015.

Fixed Income Trading – Municipals – Rob joined First Ballantyne in 2023. He trades municipal bonds with a focus on Southeastern states. Rob graduated from UNC-Charlotte in 2012 and began his career at a Charlotte-based broker/dealer from 2012-2017. He then was a trader for a large multinational investment bank and wealth management firm for 6 years until joining the team at First Ballantyne. designation and has successfully completed Level I.

Trade Support Analyst – Mr. Caropreso joined First Ballantyne, LLC in 2016 from a Charlotte-based bank. He has decades of experience in the securities industry. His background in different areas within operations, and trade support he is able to support the firm’s clients in all areas of the trading process. His responsibilities are to make sure the procedures are up to date, think of process improvements that meet the needs of the firm, and assist with all the functions of operations.

Trade Support Analyst – Mr. Fetty joined First Ballantyne in 2014. His primary responsibilities are those of operations which include balancing inventories, working on trade problems, ensuring that trades are booked and settled in a timely manner and support Traders on daily functions.