RCM Australian equities casualty Mark Jackson has been picked up by Lehman-owned Grange Securities (Grange) to head up its distribution in Australia.

The firm has also appointed Rod O'Dea from its fixed income sales team to the institutional side of the asset management division.

The firm said in a statement yesterday the appointments were part of its strategy to expand Grange to encompass a broader Lehman Brothers product offering.

Jackson was previously head of distribution for Allianz-owned Australian shares manager RCM.

It announced its withdrawal from the Australian equities market in late April with the closure of the Allianz RCM Australian Share Fund.

The decision was taken after its head of equities, Jakov Males, defected to UBS.

Grange, which was bought by US investment bank Lehman Brothers in March, has been on a hiring spree of late.

It poached Paul Davenport and John Weingarth from Deutsche Bank last month.

Davenport will head up the firm's equities hedge fund sales in Australia with Weingarth as his deputy.

"These key appointments will assist the firm in servicing the Asian hedge fund market with Australian dollar products," Grange said in a statement.

Davenport, who will service Asian clients, will report to Grange Securities chief operating officer Ben Harding.

Paul O'Halloran is chief executive of Grange's asset management division and reports, with Jackson and O'Dea, to Frank Sciarrone, managing director of the investment management division.

The Grange equities division was established seven years ago to provide institutional clients with a niche selection of mid cap stocks.

Grange has $500 million under management in Australia, while its parent Lehman Brothers has over US$225 billion ($274 million) invested on behalf of clients globally.