Robert Spector, head Canadian economist and chief strategist at Merrill Lynch in Toronto, plans to leave the firm and join McLean Budden, a Canadian asset manager with C$12 billion in fixed income. Spector says he will take on the role of chief economist and will report to Peter Kotsopoulos, executive v.p. Kotsopoulos recently took over as head of fixed income after the previous head retired in January. Spector's position is a new one that Kotsopoulos said is being created to give the asset management team access to in-house economic commentary and market strategy. Spector starts in his new role next month.
Spector has been at Merrill since 2000 and reports to David Rosenberg, chief North American economist. Rosenberg did not return calls.