Credit Suisse Asset Management in London is ramping up its investments in asset-backed securities and has hired Ope Agbaje, director in the corporate and infrastructure team at Fitch Ratings in London, as its first dedicated ABS credit analyst. "The asset-backed market has grown and matured considerably, and now warrants more attention," said Garland Hansmann, European head of credit research and Agbaje's new boss.
Agbaje estimated securitized bonds currently represent less than 15% of CSAM's £30 billion in fixed income run from London, but neither she nor Hansmann would quantify how this might increase. To date, CSAM has limited its ABS investments mainly to sterling fixed-rate securitizations, such as those in the U.K. pub sector, according to Agbaje. Going forward, she will expand the team's focus to euro-denominated fixed- and floating-rate bonds, and will also look at participating in U.S. sales.
At Fitch, Agbaje reported to Philip Walsh, head of the corporate and infrastructure group. Walsh said four professionals have recently been hired for the group (see preceding story).