In February, The MFWire reported that Chris Parisi, most recently MainStay Investments' head of national sales, joined Claymore Securities as national sales manager. On Tuesday Claymore, which was purchased by Guggenheim Partners late last year, formally announced Parisi's appointment as well as the recent hirings of six others, including three Van Kampen Investments alums.

Claymore plans to continue making additions to its team, according to Steve Baffico, senior managing director and head of U.S. retail distribution at Claymore.

"As we continue to integrate Claymore with Guggenheim, we are aggressively building out our distribution and servicing capabilities," Baffico said in a news release.

Guggenheim, meanwhile, is in the midst of another acquisition. It is in the process of acquiring Security Benefit Corporation, parent of SGI|Security Global Investors and Rydex|SGI.

Besides Parisi, the other recent hires are:

Lee Personeni, who serves as director in the strategic relations group. She is tasked with business development and relationship management with partner firms such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Personeni previously worked at Merrill in various roles including head of strategic initiatives and campaigns in the Americas distribution group. She also was a transition team specialist during Merrill's purchase by BofA.

Jennica Ross, who joined as director in the strategic relations group. She manages Claymore's ties with UBS, as well as other partner relationships, and is responsible for business development with counterparty firms. Ross previously worked at UBS, in both the wealth management group and equity capital markets division.

Brian Carlisle, who joined as a wholesaler covering the Ohio territory. He previously worked in a similar role for Van Kampen Investments, which was acquired by Invesco in a deal that closed at the beginning of this month.

Mark Vernon, who serves as a wholesaler covering the Michigan territory. Like Carlisle, he was formerly with Van Kampen.

John Browning, who joined Claymore as managing director of portfolio supervision. Browning, another Van Kampen alum, is responsible for portfolio construction and oversight of trade exeucution for Claymore's Unit Trust business.

Fran Jacobs III, who joined as a wholesaler covering Nothern California. He was previously a wholesaler covering California and Hawaii for MainStay Investments. 

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