Raymond James & Associates has hired Catherine Mountjoy as an asset-backed securities banker, says Bennett Cole, managing director. She will originate and structure term ABS transactions, reporting to Cole who has headed the ABS effort for the bank since he joined from Wachovia Securities last March (BW, 4/1). Mountjoy also joins from Wachovia, where she was a collateralized debt obligation analyst, reporting to Curtis Arledge, deputy head of fixed income. So far, three staffers out of the four-unit team have joined from Wachovia, notes Cole. Arledge did not return calls.
The position is a newly created slot as Cole is building up his ABS effort focusing on esoteric and emerging market classes. Since March, Raymond James structured one deal, which was priced last month, the first residential mortgage-backed transaction to ever be priced using collateral from Costa Rica, says Cole.