Merrill Lynch has filled a collateralized mortgage obligation trading slot by bringing CMO analyst Mike McCarthy onto the desk from its research area, according to Ken Haeckel, the firm's U.S. fixed-income strategist. McCarthy confirmed the move but declined further comment. He will report to CMO chief and residential mortgage-backed securities department head Andy Beal. Haeckel says no decision has been made about picking a replacement for McCarthy yet, or who would fill his research duties in the interim.
The trading slot opened up when veteran CMO trader Andy O'Fee left Merrill for Morgan Keegan (BW, 3/10). McCarthy has been at the firm since 2000, when he joined from ABN-AMRO's shuttered MBS unit. The firm's CMO group ranks 10th in the Bloomberg league tables for issuance this quarter, with $9.6 billion in deals sold.