David Reilly and Ujjaval Desai, managing directors and global co-heads of CLOs, CSOs and CDOs at JPMorgan in London, have quit to launch an asset management business. Reilly did not return a message left on his cell and Desai could not be reached.
Market watchers say the structured credit bigwigs are close friends and resigned Friday with plans to start up a credit business based in London. Both joined JPMorgan from Goldman Sachs and reported to Brian Zeitlin, global head of structured credit in New York, who did not return a message by press time. Reilly was responsible for product origination while Desai looked after structuring and execution.
The duo has a first-rate reputation in the structured credit arena and credit officials say they have a good chance of making their venture successful. "They are good across origination and distribution and Reilly in particular has a good network of asset managers and hedge funds to draw on," said one. Further details of the start-up, including seed investors, could not be determined.
Sarah Oppler, spokeswoman at JPMorgan, said the pair will be replaced internally by three v.p.s. Ben Peletier and Peter Jasko will lead structuring of CDO and CLO products, while Peter Meiher will look after the CSO business. All will report to Zeitlin.
