Albany Business Review: Pioneer launches new bond-trading business

"Pioneer has launched a municipal bond trading desk, another example of the Colonie-based community bank's efforts to diversify its income streams.

The newly established broker-dealer subsidiary, Pioneer Capital Markets, will be led by Peter Brandel, a veteran trader and Siena University alumnus based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Pioneer (Nasdaq: PBFS) has also hired Robert Kursar as senior vice president and Gary Galarpe as chief compliance officer for the bond-trading unit. Brandel's title is president. All will be based in North Carolina.

The group will focus on investment-grade municipal securities, aiming to buy and sell them for profit, acting as a kind of trading account for Pioneer, Brandel said."

Read the full story covered by Luke Nathan in the Albany Business Review here.