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Jim Kochan, R.W. Baird's fixed-income strategist since 1991, has left the firm to join Strong Capital Management in Milwaukee in the new position of senior v.p. in the client services group. Kochan will be responsible for developing investment strategies for the firms fixed-income customers. He will report to Larry Zuntz, group chief, who is based in Chicago. Strong Capital Management has approximately $50 billion under fixed-income management. Prior to his tenure at R.W. Baird, Kochan was Merrill Lynch's chief fixed-income strategist, and was the first bond strategist picked for the Institutional Investor fixed-income research all-star team in 1989.

Salomon Smith Barney is prepping its third trust-preferred capital securities collateralized debt obligation deal for October according to Street syndicate officials. Pricing should take place in late October with the deal closing in early November, they say. The targeted size for the deal is $500 million. TRUPS CDOs are backed by a pool of securities issued by U.S. commercial banks at the holding company level, and were initially structured and brought to market by SSB in September 2000.

Trust Company of the West is in the process of buying a first portion of the collateral for its own TCW Global Project Fund, says Art Carlson, portfolio manager with a Los Angeles division of TCW, the asset manager that created and closed this CDO June 27. Carlson mentions that his firm plans on buying $75 million of the collateral between now and December. The total CDO size is slated to be $500 million.

The dust appears to have settled on Washington Group's debt, as the recent plummet of levels has reversed to a positive trend. Meanwhile, dealers note increasing comfort surrounding the company's financial issues and confidence that its core business--construction--is in demand and profitable. Dealers reported a series of small trades in the 82-83 context early last week. The Boise, Id.-based company is one of the country's largest construction and engineering firms. Calls to Washington Group were referred to a spokeswoman, who said the company plans to pull out of Chapter 11 in the fall.

Kansas City, Mo.-based American Italian Pasta switched from Deutsche Bank to Bank of America for a new $300 million, five-year revolver backing the acquisition of seven pasta brands from Borden Foods. Wendy Coffey, director of investor relations, said "B of A is the number one syndicator out there. Deutsche Bank is closer to number ten. We knew that B of A could get the job done and they did." A spokesman for Deutsche Bank rejoined, "in arranger league tables Deutsche Bank is between four and six placed on any given day and Bank of America is third."

The "B" paper for American Tower hit 99 1/4 in a $10 million trade last week, improving on the 98 3/4 bid on the name. Dealers have been divided on whether tower credits seem to tumble with the telecom sector. Some have said towers follow--albeit sometimes months behind--downgrades in levels on telecom credits. Still, overall tower credits have remained fairly resilient in a rocky market. Calls to the company were not returned.

Arch Wireless' bank debt continues to fall on sector problems, last week sliding to 23 from 26. Dealers reported a series of small trades last week. No buyers and sellers could be determined, but one trader said "a lot of desks have an axe in it." The paper plummeted 20 points in late July after the company announced it may default on its credit facility (LMW, 7/29). Dealers continue to note a sagging paging industry. "The pager is an item people can do without. With cell phones it's not really necessary," said a dealer.

BANK ONE has reportedly closed a $333 million balance sheet collateralized loan obligation--BOSS 2001-1-- last week. Bankers said the vehicle enables BANK ONE to move senior secured bank loans off its balance sheet, reducing the amount of allocated capital the bank needs to hold against the loans. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment on the transaction, but said, "it is consistent with what they have done in the past."

Barclays Capital is in the process of planning and structuring its first U.S.-based collateralized loan obligation, a cash flow deal with an asset base of at least $400 million in leveraged loans. Elliot Asarnow, global head of research and credit portfolio, said the bank hired Hans Christensen to start up a U.S. leveraged loan investment management business at the end of last month to start structuring the vehicle. Christensen was formerly a portfolio manager at Citigroup. "The first fund will come as an arbitrage cash flow CLO. If you're a manager focused on the U.S. leveraged loan market, that's been the vehicle of choice the last few years," he said.

Tower Holdings (Australia) helped cement the expanding high grade sector of Australian bonds when it launched only the second ever triple-B rated bond to firm investor interest last Friday. The $100m two year transaction was sole lead managed by National Australia Bank (NAB) and was priced at par, with a coupon of 69bp over BBSW. Tower Holdings (Australia) is the Australian arm of the New Zealand insurance company.

Ford Credit Australia Ltd is preparing to launch its second securitisation in Australia backed by auto loan receivables. The Australian arm of the US auto firm hopes to raise A$400m from investors in a four tranche deal through Ford Credit Receivables Trust 2001-1 (FCR Trust).

Swiss commodities group Glencore this week agreed a price range for its forthcoming A$2bn IPO. As reported two weeks ago in EuroWeek, the deal is priced attractively for fund managers and the public alike, featuring low multiples and a high yield. "With global markets in disarray, this is a great defensive stock," said one banker close to the deal. Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank are arranging the transaction.