# Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group is an Asset Manager based in New York, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 520 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022, United States
- **Founded:** 1962
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** jefferies.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/jefferies

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Jefferies Financial Group was founded in 1962 and reincorporated in its modern form under the leadership of CEO Richard Handler and President Brian Friedman. Handler, who joined the firm via its 2000 merger with his prior employer, recapitalized the business after its parent company's distress and later merged it with Leucadia National in 2013 to create a permanent capital base. Today the firm operates as a diversified holding company whose primary operating subsidiary, Jefferies Group LLC, provides investment banking, capital markets, and asset management services. The firm deploys capital across public equities, private credit, real estate, and direct merchant banking investments. Jefferies' asset management division runs a longstanding internal hedge fund platform alongside external managed accounts, and its merchant banking arm makes proprietary direct investments in energy, infrastructure, and special situations. Confirmed positions include Vitesse Energy and legacy real estate holdings carried on the balance sheet from the Leucadia era. The firm maintains a global footprint, with major trading and investment banking hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, and increasing activity in Mumbai. With roughly 7,500 professionals globally, Jefferies is meaningfully smaller than bulge-bracket banks but larger than boutique advisory shops — a scale that defines its strategy of competing for mid-market and growth-company mandates that larger competitors overlook. In September 2023 the firm expanded its asset management footprint by integrating the remaining Leucadia-branded merchant banking operations more tightly under the Jefferies brand (per the firm, September 2023). Jefferies does not operate an affiliated philanthropic foundation or club-like co-investment platform in the style of single-family offices. Jefferies is structurally distinct from both traditional broker-dealers and pure asset managers because the majority of its revenue still comes from investment banking and trading, yet its leadership team operates the firm with the concentrated, personally invested posture of a family office. Handler and Friedman together own a significant equity stake, aligning their incentives with long-term asset growth rather than quarterly banking fees. This permanent capital structure — born from the Leucadia merger — gives Jefferies the ability to hold investments indefinitely, a freedom most publicly traded financial firms do not share.

## Sectors

- Hedge Funds
- Private Credit
- Real Estate
- Energy Transition & Renewables

## Offices

- London, United Kingdom
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo, Japan
- Mumbai, India

## People

- Richard Handler — Chief Executive Officer
- Brian Friedman — President

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Jefferies' asset management and merchant banking arms?

Richard Handler has ultimate authority over major balance sheet investments, with Brian Friedman overseeing strategic transactions. Each investment vertical — including the hedge fund platform, merchant banking, and real estate — operates with its own portfolio managers who report into the firm's executive committee. Handler's personal stake in the firm's equity means material proprietary investments receive his direct attention.

### How does Jefferies structure its proprietary investment activities?

The firm invests directly from its corporate balance sheet rather than through blind-pool funds that require external LP commitments. This merchant banking model traces back to the 2013 Leucadia merger, which gave Jefferies a permanent capital base. The firm can hold positions for years without redemption pressure, a structure that more closely resembles a family office or holding company than a conventional third-party asset manager.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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