UBS Warburg has hired Troy Dixon, a veteran pass-through trader fromCredit Suisse First Boston to fill some of the gaps created by the departures of collateral traders Dave Brown andJohn Morris, according to pass-through trading chiefBrian Cohane. Dixon, who left CSFB approximately two weeks ago and will join the firm on June 17 after his "garden leave" non-compete expires, will trade the 30-year Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac sectors and report to Cohane. Dixon had been at CSFB since July 2000, coming from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, which he joined in May of that year. Prior to that, he was trading MBS at Nomura Securities International.
Cohane says he had been handling the 30-year sector trading duties in the wake of the recent departures and that Dixon was chosen because of his popularity with some of UBSW's larger accounts. In addition to his sales trading duties, Cohane says Dixon will also trade the MBS-swaps and MBS-agency "basis." He says the UBSW desk is now one of the largest desks on the Street, and with Dixon's hire, the firm is done with its staffing drive. Brown's former assistant Mike McSweeney, fills the 15-year, or "dwarf," seat vacated by Brown.
Cohane says mortgage options will be handled by Alan "Ace" Chalek and Rafe Chierchio, who will trade Ginnie Mae series I, withMike Marsallo trading Ginnie dollar-rolls and series II bonds. Sammi Boustany will trade ARMS and Shayan Norasteh is handling balloons and hybrid ARMS.
Matt Ruppell, head of MBS at CSFB, says the firm will not be in the market to replace Dixon given that it was "fully staffed" prior to his departure. He says the desk now consists of Mark Tecotzky, who runs pass-through trading, Stefan D'annibale and John Beaver, responsible for 30-year trading, Jack Quinn trading Ginnie Mae's and Rob Huntington trading 15-year bonds.