Guggenheim Securities announced the hiring of an eight member investment banking team led by Senior Managing Director James D. Decker. This addition affirms Guggenheim's commitment to the middle market and broadens the firm's existing capabilities in M&A, financial restructuring and financing.

In addition to Decker, the team includes Managing Directors Alex Fisch and Jay Jacquin and Vice President James Hadfield. Working together for the past decade, the team has completed more than 100 company and creditor assignments and restructured approximately $30 billion of debt pursuant to both in-court and out-of-court transactions.

"The breadth of the team's skills, especially their ability to provide clients with high quality and actionable advice in special situations, is unique and impressed us," said Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman of Guggenheim Partners and head of Guggenheim Securities.  "This group is well known and respected, particularly in the world of middle market M&A, financial restructuring and financing, and should accelerate our platform's rapidly expanding presence in investment banking."

"We felt that Guggenheim is truly unique in what it offers our practice.  By joining a global firm with unsurpassed breadth and depth, we are greatly enhancing our ability to bring capital and solutions to a broader array of middle market clients and relationships," added Decker.

Guggenheim Partners, LLC is a privately held global financial services firm with more than $180 billion in assets under management.  The firm provides asset management, investment banking and capital markets services, insurance, institutional finance and investment advisory solutions to institutions, governments and agencies, corporations, investment advisors, family offices and individuals.