Merrill Lynch in London has hired Stephen Burns as a collateralized debt obligation portfolio manager. He was a senior portfolio manager investing in asset-backed securities for Commerzbank's own book and for the bank's multi-seller Kaiserplatz Funding conduit. He will report to Cyrus Korat, managing director and head of asset-backed securitization and collateralized debt obligation trading. Burns is on gardening leave and could not be reached for comment; Korat did not return calls.
At Commerzbank, he reported to Mark Gheerbrant, head of structured credit and portfolio risk for the banking book. Gheerbrant declined comment.