Jonathan Savas, a wireline telecom analyst and a runner-up in Institutional Investor's 2001 All-America Fixed-Income Research Team, will join Alliance Capital in New York later this month as a v.p., according toAndy Aran, senior v.p. and director of credit research at Alliance. He will report to Katalin Kutasi, head of high-yield research. Savas' last position was as a director at Merrill Lynch. He had recently been reassigned from high-yield research to another department that could not be determined (BW, 12/16). A message at Merrill Lynch says that his number is no longer valid at the firm.
Aran says Savas fills a void created by the departure of Betsy Hill. Hill was recently dismissed along with Jim Ferguson, an investment-grade utilities analyst (BW, 1/21). Aran says he plans no other new hires, and that Ferguson's duties have been turned over to a junior analyst, Michael Sedoy. Savas' primary responsibilities will be to maintain coverage of U.S. wireline telecom credits, although Aran says that he may cover European credits and other sectors as well.