Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Roubini Global Economics, Nouriel Roubini’s research and advisory firm, plans to hire about 17 people to expand a new team that advises investors on stocks, bonds, interest-rate products, commodities and currencies.

RGE’s market research and strategy group will grow to about 20 people from three currently, said Arnab Das, who joined RGE last month to lead the team from London. The strategists will provide recommendations on broad asset classes and analyze “systemically important” companies such as banks and utilities, Das said. RGE will build the group gradually and will be “flexible” on the final number of strategists, he said.

“We want to be comprehensive in our approach,” Das, the former head of emerging-markets strategy at Dresdner Kleinwort, said in an interview today. “We’re aiming to have unrivaled access to policy makers.”

Roubini, a former member of Bill Clinton’s White House Council of Economic Advisers and senior adviser to Timothy Geithner, predicted the financial crisis that spurred more than $1.6 trillion of credit losses and asset writedowns at global financial companies. As chairman of RGE, Roubini advises institutions and individual investors through a Web-based subscription service. RGE has a team of 25 economists, Das said.

Prior to Dresdner, Das worked as an emerging-market strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from 1992 to 2001, according to a statement from RGE announcing his hiring last month. He has degrees from Princeton University and the London School of Economics.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 11:49 EST