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"It's fair to say that virtually every senior equity marketer covering Korea has moved in the last 12 months."--Mike Brennan, managing director at financial recruiter Alexander Mann in Hong Kong, on the high demand for equity derivatives professionals covering Korea on the back of market deregulation and growth. For complete story, click here.

New York-based hedge fund manager La Jolla Value Partners is considering selling covered calls in a bid to ramp up returns for its recently launched long/short equity hedge fund. Brian Pursley, fund manager in New York, explained that while the first focus of the fund is to up its assets under management, it currently has USD3 million, other over-the-counter instruments including calls will be considered where they present investment opportunities. Bear Stearns is the prime broker for the fund, but La Jolla will shop around to ensure best execution.

The Restructuring Debate Rumbles On The restructuring credit event is currently the most controversial issue in credit derivatives documentation as it can be much softer than failure to pay or bankruptcy. Soft credit events can expose the protection buyer to Cheapest-to-Deliver risk. In hard restructurings it is likely that same seniority debt will trade at a similar cash price irrespective of maturity or currency. However, in a soft scenario debt may still trade on a yield basis and cash prices may not converge. The protection buyer's Cheapest-to-Deliver (CTD) option is therefore of greater value in soft restructuring scenarios where the protection seller could be delivered an obligation trading substantially lower than the restructured obligation. The Conseco case led the U.S. market to adopt modified restructuring (mod-R) although this has not gained traction in Europe.

The price of Aussie dollar/U.S. dollar options spiked last week as traders snapped up positions on the Aussie currency. One-month implied volatility stood at 9% Wednesday, up from 8% where it had traded the previous week, according to one New York-based trader. The currency pair traded at USD0.5765 last Wednesday, up from USD0.5611 on Jan. 2.

This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.

Brandywine Asset Management will rotate $500 million, or 20% of the firm's global sovereign portfolio, out of 10-year European sovereign debt into one- to two-year sovereign bonds, in a strategy designed to shorten duration, says Stephen Smith, portfolio manager. The move, he adds, is likely to take place next month after the European Central Bank cuts interest rates, with Smith anticipating a 50 basis point cut. If his prediction is correct, sovereign bonds in Europe will appreciate, offering a good selling opportunity. Smith has not decided yet which sovereign credits he will purchase, as this choice will depend on currency rates at the time of the rotation.

First Source Corporation Investment Advisors Inc. is looking to add up to $100 million in spread product this quarter in a bid to add yield. Paul Gifford, portfolio manager of $650 million in taxable fixed-income, says the bulk of the purchases will be corporates, as stability in the equity and corporate bond markets over the past three months has convinced him that the downside risk is no longer as severe as it appeared last summer. Gifford sees no specific trigger for the trades. Rather, he says the firm will add incrementally throughout the first quarter.

In banking, ya gotta be tough if you want to land the big fish. That elbows-out mentality is coming to the fore in Fox's new reality TV show, Joe Millionaire. Heidi, a business banker and one of the ladies vying for the heart of the humble bachelor, relied on her banker instincts to weed out the competition. In one situation, where the 20 contestants had to pick from a room of 20 dresses, Heidi immediately snapped up two of the best dresses to ensure that she would be dazzling for the ball. She's advancing to the next round.

Lombard Odier, which has $9 billion in fixed-income assets under management, is looking to go underweight gilts and reinvest in European government bonds, but is waiting for gilts to outperform European government bonds by 20 basis points before selling them. Jonathan Cunlisse, a government bond portfolio manager in London, says he will make the move because he sees some further convergence between long-term gilt yields and long-term European government bond yields and a heavy supply of gilts could weigh on the market. As of last Tuesday, benchmark bunds were yielding 4.89% and benchmark gilts 4.56%.

Microcell's bank debt surged on increased speculation that Rogers Wireless would soon make a bid for the struggling company. In addition, Microcell has committed to a restructuring plan that is boosting the name. Pieces of the bank debt were said to have changed hands in the 58, 61 1/2, and 62 1/2 ranges after climbing up out of the 50s last week. About two months ago, the bank debt levels began to rise from the 20s as lenders anticipated a restructuring that would be favorable to bank debt holders.

Before joining Deerfield, Roberts was Chief Investment Officer at Liberty Hampshire and several Zurich Insurance Company subsidiaries including Scudder Kemper Investments, Zurich Investment Management and Centre Re.

Bram Smith, head of loan syndications at Morgan Stanley, is leaving the securities firm seven years after he joined to start a loan syndication business. Smith declined comment, but a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirmed that he was scheduled to depart the firm. His last day on the desk was Friday and he officially leaves the firm at the end of the month. Bankers said Smith's role at Morgan Stanley had diminished some over the past few years, surmising his reasons for departure. Smith left his spot as co-head of the syndications group at Bankers Trust to join Morgan Stanley in 1996, when investment banks were raiding commercial banks for seasoned pros that could get lending efforts off the ground. Lucy Galbraith, a managing director at Morgan Stanley, is reportedly filling Smith's shoes upon exit, but the spokeswoman could not confirm this. Galbraith did not return calls for comment.