Cantor Fitzgerald has hired David Goldman, formerly of Banc of America Securities, to start up its newly formed research department. He joined the firm on Jan. 3 as the global head of fixed-income research working with a staff of about six. "Right now it's a pure start up," Goldman said. He will report to Irvin Goldman, president and ceo of the Debt Capital Markets Group.
"We're not trying to re-invent the flat wheel here," David Goldman said. "This is not going to be built like an old school research department. This is something completely different." He said the group will be selling the research product directly to the customer, eliminating the trading desk. Before joining Cantor, David Goldman had planned on starting his own independent research firm, however, a prior relationship with Irvin Goldman led him to Cantor. "Irv said, why don't you do [the research] here?," he said. "It was the chance to do something new and it's almost like being in business for yourself but with the backing of Cantor. It's very tough to stay in the loop doing purely independent research."
He said the group will proceed cautiously at first. "We have to feel out the customers and get used to it. We're going to begin with weekly strategies and quantitative analysis and broaden out as we perceive market demand."
Goldman left B of A in June. At B of A he helped develop several quantitative credit models, including the Credit Option Adjusted Spread, which examines the options market and assesses the possibilities of risk in specific companies. Prior to joining B of A, he held the positions of global credit strategist at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was a part of the development of CUSP, a model that predicts credit quality by looking at equity movement; was a co-manager of SG Capital, a derivatives hedge fund, and worked as a fixed-income strategist for Bear Stearns. Goldman was named as a member of Institutional Investor's All-American Fixed-Income Team in 2001.