Moody's Investors Service is beefing up its synthetic collateralized debt obligation ratings team in New York, according to Isaac Efrat, managing director. The firm plans to add two professionals to its 17 member team in the coming weeks. The new hires will report to Efrat and William May, senior v.p. in the structured finance group.
The move is prompted by an increase in end users looking to use both credit derivatives and invest in synthetic CDOs. Stephanie Chen, a member of Moody's risk management services team, will join the structured finance group's CDO ratings team in April along with an external hire. Chen, who reports to Andrew Kimball, head of the risk management group, is out of the office until next month and could not be reached for comment.
