NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Feb 2, 2016) - Mizuho Securities USA (MSUSA) (NYSE: MFG), the U.S. investment banking subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, has appointed Salim Syed as Managing Director and Head of Biotechnology Research. He joins the firm with more than twelve years on Wall Street and will report to Sheryl Skolnick, Ph.D., Managing Director and Head of Equity Research. 

"We continue to build a premier U.S. equity research franchise that is a leader in actionable value-added investment idea generation and analysis," said John Koudounis, MSUSA President & CEO. "Salim comes to us with great depth of expertise in the biotech sector and will be a great addition to the firm." 

Syed joins MSUSA from Evercore ISI, where he spent the previous six years as Director, Biotech/Pharma Equity Research. Prior to Evercore, he was an investment banker working on M & A and capital market transactions at Morgan Stanley, where he began his career. Syed earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the University of Michigan.

"The expansion of research coverage with such an experienced and highly-regarded analyst as Salim further demonstrates our commitment to providing clients with a seasoned team of professionals and a first-rate research product," said Matt DeSalvo, Executive Managing Director and Head of MSUSA's Equity Division.

About Mizuho Securities USA
 Mizuho Securities USA Inc. is a U.S. registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City, with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hoboken (NJ), Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London (UK). MSUSA provides a wide range of fixed income and equity securities products and investment banking services to institutional clients. MSUSA is one of only 22 firms designated as a Primary Dealer in U.S. Government and Agency securities. MSUSA also is a U.S. registered futures commission merchant ("FCM") and a member of most international futures exchanges. MSUSA's parent company, Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd., is a top-tier, full-service, Japanese securities firm and a core member of the Mizuho Financial Group. http://www.mizuhosecurities.com

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: MFG), based in Japan, is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, offering a broad range of financial services including banking, securities, trust and asset management, credit card, private banking services, and venture capital through its group companies. The group has approximately 55,000 staff working in more than 880 offices in over 39 countries and territories and total assets of over $1.6 trillion as of September 30, 2015. Its core global corporate banking entity, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., has offices throughout Japan, the U.S., the Americas, and the world, providing financial and strategic solutions to major corporations, financial institutions and public sector entities. For more information, please visit http://www.mizuho-fg.co.jp/english/