BLACKROCK
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| Ron D'Vari |
BlackRock uses synthetic technology to build innovative deals, most notably this year Valleriite CDO 1, a corporate CDO consisting of U.S. dollar- and euro-denominated notes backed by separate collateral and independent asset portfolios. Led by portfolio managers Andrew Yorks and Ron D'Vari, the firm is viewed as a global player and credit sales officials said a BlackRock deal sells as well in Europe as in the U.S. Valleriite's dual currency design was a reflection of this. In addition, the firm was among the first in the U.S. to manage a constant proportion debt obligation. The MAVEN CPDO, structured by UBS, runs a curve trade strategy by investing in different maturities of the credit derivative indices. The deal was novel in that it also allows the manager to short the high-volatility sub-indices, so that in a widening spread environment mark-to-market gains on the more volatile short leg of the strategy would offset losses on the long leg.
BlackRock also was first out of the gate to use derivatives to manage commercial mortgage backed securities. It has issued a string of CMBS deals dubbed Kimberlite which allowed the manager to replace credit-default swaps within the structure with total-return swaps during the reinvestment period.
Other Nominees:
* Babson Capital * Cheyne Capital * Cairn Capital
