KBW Posts Loss, Shakes up Management

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- KBW (KBW), a niche investment bank focused on the financial services industry, posted a third quarter loss and announced a shakeup of top management, in the latest sign of weakness in the securities industry.

John Duffy, who had led the firm for more than a decade, will step down from the top job while staying on as vice chairman of the firm. He will be replaced by Tom Michaud, with Andrew Senchak taking over as Chairman of the Board.

KBW lost 51 cents per share in the third quarter, following a loss of 14 cents in the second quarter and an 11 cent gain in the third quarter of 2010.

"Our third quarter results were disappointing and were directly impacted by the significant decline in bank and financial stocks during the period. This share price movement led to realized and unrealized losses in our firm investments, trading and market making activities," said Michaud.

Duffy has been going through a messy divorce proceeding. One of Duffy's sons, Christopher, was one of 67 KBW employees who died during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2011.

Earnings have been disappointing across the board for securities firms, with Goldman Sachs (GS) posting a loss of $393 million, and Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC) relying on an accounting gain and one-off items to boost their results. Investment banking and trading results were also underwhelming at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C).

-- Written by Dan Freed in New York.

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