Highland Capital Management has brought on board Dansby White, formerly of Merrill Lynch, to develop the Dallas-based firm’s expertise in collateralized debt obligations and credit products. “We are in the process of expanding beyond the loan asset class,” White noted. At Merrill, White was managing director and head of structured finance and CDOs until he left the firm two years ago.
Highland manages $10 billion, mostly in leveraged loans and is the world’s second largest leveraged loan manager. In hiring White, who will be based in New York, Highland wants to expand its role as a CDO collateral manager. The new products would have a particular focus on public securities. These could include corporate bonds and derivative products. White said new funds would invest in credit products and structured products, including asset-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities.
White will be managing the Highland CDO Opportunity Fund that takes long positions in CDO equity pieces and CDO mezzanine assets. The firm also wants to launch new hedge funds that would take long positions in CDOs. In joining Highland, White is teaming up with two ex-Merrill colleagues. Last year Jack Yang and Harold Siegel joined the asset management giant.