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Segall, Bryant & Hamill is seeking to add $50 million in 30-year Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac 6% and 6.5% pass-throughs with low gross weighted average coupons. Jim Dadura, portfolio manager of a $1.15 billion taxable fixed-income portfolio, believes a great deal of prepayment risk is already priced into the securities. To raise assets for the purchase, the money manager will sell Treasury and agency securities of less than five-years in maturity on the view that the short part of the Treasury curve will not appreciate further. Segall, Bryant has already bought close to $20 million of the bonds, using new cash, pay-downs and agency debentures.

Prescrott Crocker, high-yield portfolio manager at Boston-based Evergreen Investments, says he will increase the firm's defensive bond allocation by $250 million, or 10%, on the view that he does not expect a traditional cyclical recovery ahead but rather, a period of very slow growth. He says that in such an environment, his strategy will be "cautious" and centered on picks from the consumer non-durable, retail and service sectors. He will finance the bonds through the sale of cyclical names for the same amount. There is no trigger for this move.

Isaac Efrat, a high profile senior collateralized debt obligation senior at Moody's Investors Service, has announced his intention to leave the firm, says a Moody's analyst. His last day is today. Efrat was co-managing director of the derivatives team along with Bill May. Both specialize in esoteric CDOs and synthetic deals, reporting to Noel Kirnon, group managing director, who oversees the entire CDO business. As of last week, he was still in the process of negotiating the terms of his departure. Kirnon did not return calls seeking comment. Efrat did not return calls at home or at work. It remains unclear whether May will be the designated candidate to fill the vacant slot, says the analyst.

Agilis Partners, a new mortgage-backed securities hedge fund, will open in the first week of November. Austin Tilghman, general partner, says the new fund will focus on a relative value strategy within tranches of collateralized mortgage obligations. "We think that there is a number of opportunities to take advantage of mispricings, especially as they pertain to prepayment assumptions, within individual CMO tranches," says Tilghman. He says the fund is starting with $5-10 million in seed capital for track record development purposes. The capital goal of the fund is a maximum of $300 million he says, "because, with more than that, you lose your flexibility and mobility in these sectors." The launch of Agilis Partners comes not long after the recent high-profile blow up of Beacon Hill Asset Management, which also did MBS arbitrage (BW, 10/21). "I feel badly for those guys, but they prove our point for us: There are good opportunities out there for people who focus on mispriced assets and avoid duration bets," Tilghman says.

Nextel Communications' bank debt rallied last week as the company came out with promising earnings results. A trade was rumored to be completed as high as 89 1/2, but most traders quoted the paper in the 88 1/2 - 89 range. The paper had begun to inch up the day before earnings were released in anticipation of strong results. "Historically, they've always beat expectations," one dealer said of the early activity.

Chris Albanese, a high-grade corporate bond salesman, recently joined Nomura Securities International in New York. Albanese declined to comment other than to say that he had joined Nomura. It is believed he will report to Josh Edelson, national fixed-income sales manager at Nomura. Edelson referred calls to Susan Atran, a Nomura spokeswoman. She did not return calls by press time. Albanese's last position was in corporate bond sales at Barclays Capital. Walter Derish, head of Barclays U.S. corporate bond sales in New York, did not return calls. Prior to joining Barclays, Albanese worked at Credit Suisse First Boston and PaineWebber.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Panavision's $290 million in secured credit facilities from B3 to Caa1 in the wake of a failed recapitalization effort. With high leverage levels, cash flow constraints and performance below management projections, Moody's expects the Woodland Hills, Calif., company's liquidity to come under pressure by the end of this year. Panavision would need a substantial equity injection or a broader-based balance sheet restructuring in order to remain stable.

* "You probably should not forecast. But if you do forecast, never do it in writing. But if you do put it in writing, revise your forecast often."--Edward Altman, Max L. Heine professor of finance at New York University, referring to his belief that the default rate has peaked.

Standard & Poor's is looking to fill three senior analyst positions for its New York-based CDO group, says David Tesher, managing director in charge of cash flow transactions. One analyst would focus on collateralized fund obligations, or "CFOs," as well as private equity-backed CDOs and would report to Richard Gugliada, managing director who heads the entire CDO group. Another senior analyst would rate synthetic CDOs, also reporting to Gugliada. The third would be a quantitative analyst, reporting to Sten Bergman, director.

Moody's Investors Service believes the waterworks business will see continued demand--even in a tough economy--and therefore the rating agency has assigned a B1 rating to the proposed $325 million credit facility of National Waterworks, the largest distributor of water transmission products in the U.S. A $200 million senior subordinated note offering, which also is being used to fund J.P. Morgan Partners' and Thomas H. Lee Partners' $620 million acquisition of the business from United States Filter, has been assigned a B3 rating.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is in the market for a head of credit investments, say officials familiar with the search. It could not be determined if this position is pre-existing or newly created. Calls to Ayesha Shah, head of treasury, were not returned by press time last Thursday. The new hire will be responsible for fixed-income investment strategy and the bank's portfolio management team as well as for expanding the bank's investment opportunities.