Merrill Lynch has hired Alan Galishoff, head of CMO trading and origination at JPMorgan in New York, in what is thought to be a new position as a proprietary mortgage arbitrageur. An official familiar with the move said Galishoff had been looking to shift from the client side to proprietary trading for several months. Galishoff, who was responsible for interest only/principal only (IO/PO) mortgage derivatives and collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) at JPMorgan, did not return calls.
Michael DuVally, spokesman at Merrill Lynch in New York, said Galishoff is due to start next Monday. He declined further comment. Merrill recently ended statistical arbitrage prop trading, and scaled back its proprietary volatility and convertible arbitrage operations (DW, 1/12).
Officials familiar with the appointment anticipate Merrill will make additional hires to work with Galishoff. The new hire reports to Barry Wittlin and Paul Thomas, co-heads of the global rates group at Merrill Lynch, who did not return calls.
At JPMorgan, Galishoff reported to Kevin Finnerty, head of residential MBS, who did not return calls.
