Securitization People and Markets

Robert McDonald is the finance director at Burton-upon-Trent-based Punch Taverns. The company is one of the U.K.'s leading operators of leased and tenanted pubs, with a nationwide portfolio of over 4,500 pubs. Punch Taverns has two securitizations outstanding, Punch Taverns and Punch Funding II.

Jeff Schumacher joined The Royal Bank of Scotland last week as a v.p. in its loan syndications group. Schumacher is coming from The Royal Bank of Canada, where he was a director in RBC's leveraged capital group managing middle-market syndication efforts. Schumacher affirmed that the new position was on the same level as his previous position at RBC, despite the title switch from director to v.p. Before RBC, Schumacher was at Heller Financial, where he also worked in the leveraged loan department.

KBC Financial Products has hired three senior high-yield professionals who were recently let go as part of large scale cutbacks at DrKW Grantchester (BW, 12/5). The New York-based dealer, a unit of Belgium's KBC Bank, hopes to make several more hires in high-yield sales, trading and research to take advantage of cutbacks and closures at other high-yield dealers, according to Joe Garofoli, a managing director who is one of the firm's founders.

CRT Capital Group, a research and brokerage firm based in Stamford, Conn., is actively seeking a trader and three or four salespeople this year to ramp up its presence as a specialized brokerage firm in the loan market. The salespeople will cover banks, insurance companies, and other primary lenders that are looking to sell pieces of specific credits, said Michael Vaughn Jr., managing member of CRT.

Credit Suisse First Boston has hired Jerry Wood, managing director in fixed income and 20-year veteran of Morgan Stanley in New York, to work in a senior position in the firm's bond division, according to BW sister publication Derivatives Week. Officials familiar with the situation noted that Wood is close to CSFB's CEO, John Mack, having worked with him at Morgan Stanley, arguing that the hire reflects Mack's continuing effort to fill senior positions with loyal lieutenants. Wood didn't return calls. Mack's secretary referred calls to Cristina von Bargen, spokeswoman, who declined comment.

Barclays Capital wants to beef up its U.S.-based securitization research effort by adding a home equity analyst by the end of the first quarter, according to a firm insider. The analyst would report to London-based William Lloyd, head of securitization research. Lloyd declined to comment.

Kevin Wilson is v.p. and treasurer of Solutia Inc., an applied chemistry company and high-yield issuer based in St. Louis.

Before joining Deerfield, Roberts was Chief Investment Officer at Liberty Hampshire and several Zurich Insurance Company subsidiaries including Scudder Kemper Investments, Zurich Investment Management and Centre Re.

Bram Smith, head of loan syndications at Morgan Stanley, is leaving the securities firm seven years after he joined to start a loan syndication business. Smith declined comment, but a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirmed that he was scheduled to depart the firm. His last day on the desk was Friday and he officially leaves the firm at the end of the month. Bankers said Smith's role at Morgan Stanley had diminished some over the past few years, surmising his reasons for departure. Smith left his spot as co-head of the syndications group at Bankers Trust to join Morgan Stanley in 1996, when investment banks were raiding commercial banks for seasoned pros that could get lending efforts off the ground. Lucy Galbraith, a managing director at Morgan Stanley, is reportedly filling Smith's shoes upon exit, but the spokeswoman could not confirm this. Galbraith did not return calls for comment.