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Despite its many advantages, the newly-launched index on asset-backed securities so far has limited usefulness for trading single names.

Panelists expect ABX index tranching to begin within months.

President Lula Inácio da Silva of Brazil is considering scrapping the 15% withholding tax foreign investors have to pay on the country's domestic government bonds, opening the gates to what could be a flood of overseas investment in Brazilian securities.

Early in the new year, we saw that one of the most highly regarded money managers in the US had reshuffled the largest equity holdings in his portfolio. Out went some hallowed names including Microsoft and Dell and in came a more adventurous selection, including Nomura — yes, Nomura! While this didn't exactly stop us dead in our tracks, because we have always had a soft spot for the bank, the popular conception is that Nomura is one of yesterday's stock selections and not an automatic choice for a modern growth portfolio.

Malik Chaabouni, co-head of synthetic credit structuring at Merrill Lynch in London, has reportedly left the firm.

Ross Williams, a former managing director in proprietary credit trading at Bear Stearns in London, has resurfaced at Peloton Partners, an investment fund set up by ex-Goldman Sachs partners Geoff Grant and Ron Beller last year. Williams said he will be based in London and focus on trading sub-investment grade credits for the group's global-macro and relative-value hedge fund. He resigned from Bear Stearns earlier this month (DW, 2/3). Beller declined comment.

Lehman Brothers in London has hired Dominic Nys, an equity derivative salesman formerly at TD Securities. Nys did not return a message but he is believed to be covering the Benelux region and reporting in to Axel Kilian, head of European derivative sales in London. Kilian was traveling and could not be reached.

Some credit houses are holding off adding third-party managers to synthetic collateralized debt obligations referencing asset-backed securities because there is not enough juice in the underlying assets to make the play economically viable. "To cover manager fees and risk management costs, it's very difficult to get the numbers to work," said an official at a top-tier bank in London. "We have taken a step back on these deals."

Banque AIG has hired Maria Levanti, a former structured products marketer at TD Securities in London, to sell into Greece and Portugal. Levanti, reached on her cell, said she will start at the Canadian firm later this month, marketing structures across asset classes, including equity and rates. She will be based in London and report to Paolo Russo, head of southern European sales, who could not be reached by press time.

Mark Gold, managing director and portfolio manager at Trust Company of the West, will be leaving the firm in early March to set up his own shop.

Fund-wrapped and insurance-wrapped structured investments are leading the growth in U.S. structured products. They are becoming increasingly popular with mutual funds and closed-end funds looking to outperform benchmark indices.

A London-based hedge fund with USD2 billion under management has hired an equity derivatives trader from Goldman.