Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) hired Garret Rowan as head of its leveraged loan trading group and Mike Macchia as a salesperson in leveraged finance sales. Both will be based in New York.

“Leveraged finance is one of our key focus areas for MUFG and is crucial to the sustainable success of our firm,” Kevin Cronin, regional executive and CEO for the Americas for MUFG, said. “Our ambition is for MUFG to become a top corporate banking debt house in the Americas across the credit spectrum through our full-lifecycle business model, from origination to distribution and secondary trading.”

Rowan will report to Steven Feinberg, head of credit trading at MUFG, and will work with both MUFG’s debt capital markets group as well as the CLO origination and trading teams as the bank continues to expand its leveraged loan footprint.

Macchia will focus primarily on leveraged loans and building out MUFG’s distribution platform for both primary and secondary sales. He will report to Tim Fischer, head of U.S. sales for leveraged finance at MUFG.

“Mike and Garret bring a complementary mix of background and expertise, and we are excited to welcome them to our team,” John Karabelas, head of institutional investor sales for the Americas at MUFG, said. “This continued strategic expansion of our leveraged finance platform solidifies our commitment to growing in the secondary trading space and to serving our clients. We will continue expanding our leveraged finance capabilities, which is a critical part of our growth strategy.”

Both Rowan and Macchia joined MUFG from UBS. Rowan was a director in the par loan trading group and was responsible for market making and driving client relationships. Before UBS, he was a loan trader at both Deutsche Bank and US Bancorp.

Macchia has more than 20 years of professional experience as both an investor and as a salesperson on the sell side. At UBS, he oversaw loan accounts and distressed and high-yield investors. Earlier in his career, Macchia held positions at Deutsche Bank, Nomura and GE Capital Americas.