Jefferies & Co. has hired Mark Peters to head the firm’s wealth management group and lead its expansion efforts.

The 51-year-old Peters previously spent three years at Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank, most recently as head of wealth management. Prior to that he was head of US private wealth management at Deutsche Bank. He also worked for 14 years in Goldman Sachs’ private client services division. Peters will begin his new role May 4.

“We see a terrific opportunity to grow Jefferies’ wealth management division given the reduction in the number of full service Wall Street firms serving this market,” said Richard Handler, chairman and chief executive of Jefferies, in a statement.

Jefferies currently provides wealth management services to executives, families and high-net-worth individuals and has advisors in New York, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.