Morgan Stanley has hired William Ellsworth, head of proprietary convertibles trading at Wachovia Securities, to head its convertible trading desk. Ellsworth reports to Rohit D'Souza, managing director in New York, according to Melissa Stonberg, spokeswoman in New York. This position is expected to include convertible bond arbitrage because the discipline has become increasingly entwined with plain-vanilla convertible bond trading, according to an official.
Ellsworth is replacing Andrew Pipa, who moved to a proprietary role earlier in the year (DW, 1/25). Ellsworth declined comment and D'Souza did not return calls.
Ellsworth is not yet thought not have been replaced at Wachovia. Jim Pierpoint, spokesman in Charlotte, N.C., did not return calls.
