Jonathan Hatcher has left the Scottsdale, Ariz., offices of Strong Capital Management, where he was a senior high-yield analyst covering the cable and media sectors, according to an analyst with knowledge of the move. He will join former colleagues at Delaware Investment Advisors in Philadelphia later this month as a v.p. and senior analyst covering financial, high-yield and high-grade credits. The position is believed to be new, though the firm did release at least one analyst earlier this year. Hatcher declined comment, and Ward Tatge, senior v.p. and director of fixed-income research, did not return calls.
Hatcher was an analyst at Conseco Capital until troubles at Conseco's parent company some two years ago drove much of the fixed-income team to join other firms. While the majority went to Delaware, Hatcher left a month earlier to work at Strong. Jeff Koch, portfolio manager at Strong, says interviews are well underway to find a replacement.
Hatcher is the second analyst to join Delaware in the last month, following the hire of Greg Zappin, a telecom analyst (BW, 6/30). At the time of Zappin's hire, a firm spokeswoman had said that no further hires were planned.