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Syndication pros say selling subordinated tranches of collateralized debt obligations has become more challenging recently as insurance companies, historically the primary investors in the tranches, have become more cautious in the wake of increased volatility and new accounting standards. Bankers say triple-B and double-B tranches on deals have become a challenging part of filling out the capital structure on CDOs, much like the equity piece. Filling the void -- for now -- are managers of CDOs of CDOs that are buying new issues and impaired assets in the secondary market from insurers looking for a way out.

J.P. Morgan Securities has expanded the scope of responsibilities for three of its asset-backed securities bankers:David Howard, managing director, Brad Dansker, v.p., and Matt Whallen, v.p., according to Andrew Dym and Scott Davidson, the two co-heads of North American ABS. They say the move was done to allow them to spend more time focusing on long-term strategy.

Lombard Odier, the Geneva-based bank, has added three credit specialists to its offices in London and Amsterdam, says Paul Osborne, head of marketing and client relations in London. Osborne says Lombard Odier plans to hire two more credit analysts to add to its team of five based in Geneva, to help manage the work load generated by the increasing interest in European credit.

Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston have just finished a series of one-on-one preliminary discussions with key lenders of Northwest Natural Gas for the $2.1 billion loan financing the acquisition of Enron's Portland General Electric utility and CSFB is also preparing to launch a $600 million loan for TECO Power. A banker said the Teco deal is expected to go into primary syndication by year-end, and will be used to refinance the acquisition of Frontera and fund the construction of two plants in Arkansas and Mississippi.

AIG Global Investment Corp. has brought American General's investment-grade fixed income operations from Houston to New York, while moving the bulk of its own high-yield operations from its SunAmerica affiliate in Los Angeles to Houston, according to senior AIG officials. As a result of AIG's acquisition of American General, the combined firm now manages some $180 billion in (mostly fixed-income) assets domestically. A senior AIG official says management of high-yield was given to Gordon Massie, who had served in that role at American General, because American General's high-yield group had outperformed that of SunAmerica. An AIG official declined to provide performance numbers, and attempts to procure them elsewhere were unsuccessful as of press time. American General's high-yield group did not oversee mutual funds, whose performance is published daily, but were in charge of "managed funds," which traditionally do not release their performance. Massie declined comment. Scott Richland, formerly head of high-yield bonds and leveraged bank loans, is now only head of bank loans, according to Sonia Fiorenza, a SunAmerica spokeswoman to whom he referred calls. Richland reports to Scott, according to a senior company official.

American Tower's levels took a hit following a disappointing third-quarter earnings release that indicated demand for cell tower use will diminish in the coming year. The "B" paper dropped down a point to 91 immediately after the release, then landed in the 89 range. American Tower is based in Boston. Calls to Joseph Winn, cfo, were not returned by press time. Calls to spokeswoman Ann Alter also were not returned.

Macquarie Corporate Finance has hired John Daly from J.P. Morgan Securities as division director for the U.S. private placement and structured finance market, says Tom Capasse, division director for principal transactions. Daly, who will report to Oliver Yates, ceo, will be in charge of origination, structuring and distribution of senior and subordinated debt to U.S. institutional investors. Daly says he made the move because he was attracted by the entrepreneurial aspect of the position, as it involves starting a new group. He worked with J.P. Morgan for 14 years and was most recently a v.p. in structured finance, in charge of private placement. He reported to Joel Glansky, managing director. Adam Castellani, a spokesman for J.P. Morgan, declined to indicate whether Daly's position would be filled.

Stephen Creaturo has joined Barclays Capital in New York as a director in its interest rates sales group, specializing in non-dollar denominated fixed-income accounts. He joins from Commerzbank Securities, where he ran its New York-based fixed-income trading operations. His slot is a new one, and is part of the firm's year-long growth strategy. He is reporting to the New York head of fixed-income sales, John Connor. Creaturo had worked at Barclays from 1994-1999 in its London office, where he had become head of non-dollar interest-rate product trading before he left to join Commerzbank Securities.

Dealers seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief last Wednesday evening following Allied Waste's third-quarter earnings release as fears of more credit defaults in a soft economy had the market bracing for bad news. Dealers noted that Allied's earnings loss was not as bad as they had expected, and that overall the credit still appears relatively strong. Bids for the paper promptly notched up to 96 1/8-7/8 from the 96 range earlier in the day. An estimated $10 million had traded by late Wednesday. The trash-hauling company is based in Scottsdale, Ariz. Calls to Mike Burnett, head of investor relations, were not returned.

Crédit Agricole Indosuez is looking to rebuild its merchant banking and asset management division after the defection of Dan Smith, Ken Kencel and a handful of other key staff and administrative personnel to RBC Dominion Securities last month. Paul Travers, the newly appointed managing director and co-head of Indosuez Capital, said the firm is looking to reassure investors that it is committed to the loan market. Travers arrives from Bear Stearns, where he was a senior managing director of the leveraged loan group responsible for leveraged loan origination and structuring. Smith and Kencel, who established a strong reputation managing CDO funds combining loans and bonds, will oversee RBCs New York-based leveraged finance and asset management unit.

Credit Suisse First Boston has stepped up to join Deutsche Bank to fully underwrite the $5.5 billion bridge loan to EchoStar Communications to finance the Hughes Electronics acquisition from General Motors for $24.6 billion in cash and stock, after market players were mystified as to why Echostar's advisor, UBS Warburg, was not on the roster. CSFB advised Hughes on the deal.

Market players rallied together Thursday night in a benefit auction for the family of Mike Lynch, a bank debt broker at Cantor Fitzgerald who died on Sept. 11. Traders throughout the market planned and donated items for the event, which raised $27,000. The auction was held at Hurley's Bar and items such as autographed sports memorabilia and game tickets were auctioned off. Proceeds from the auction will go to Lynch's wife and nine-month-old daughter. Besides traders, salespeople, clients and rescue workers were in attendance Thursday night.