3 Top Grain Traders Quit Drexel to Work for Elders

In the second round of defections from Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc.’s agricultural brokerage business in recent weeks, three top grain futures traders are quitting to work for Elders Futures Inc.

Elders Futures President Gene Donney said the traders had “a growing problem with the Drexel name.”

Stephen Gunning, Wayne Parman and Dennis Schmidt, senior Drexel traders at the Chicago Board of Trade, will be joined by an unspecified number of Drexel support staff, said Elders, a unit of Australia-based Elders IXL Ltd. The traders involved could not immediately be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Drexel; the head of its “junk bond” department, Michael Milken, and others, on civil allegations of insider trading and violating a range of other securities laws. Junk bonds are high-yield, high-risk securities, and the market in these is dominated by Drexel.

The departures follow the Aug. 25 defections of 20 employees from Drexel’s grain futures business after Drexel acquired the commodities operation of Staley Continental Inc. Those employees joined Chicago-based Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group Inc.

Drexel spokesman Steven Anreder said “there will not be any effect on our operations” because of the departures. He added that the traders provided brokerage services for Elders in the grain futures markets.

The three, especially Gunning and Parman, are longtime fixtures in the Chicago grain markets. Gunning, Schmidt and Parman were all vice presidents at Drexel. Schmidt spent a portion of his time as an analyst, Anreder said.