Credit Suisse First Boston has laid off a number of junior high-yield analysts, according to a senior fixed-income official at the firm. The official would not elaborate, but several research and trading officials at rival firms independently place the number at between two and five, and say the focus is on the telecom group, which is led by co-head of junk research Mark Grotevant. Analysts from that group had been querying rival firms several weeks ago amid concerns that layoffs were imminent, according to one high-yield head of research. A buy-side analyst says cuts to the telecom group make sense, since Grotevant assumed wireless coverage after analyst Drew Hanson left for Morgan Stanley (BW, 9/10), and the wireline sector has been so dismal that it may make sense to essentially drop coverage in that area. Nonetheless, the buy-side analyst says the layoffs are striking, given that CSFB was arguably the top telecom high-yield player only a short time ago. Repeated calls to Grotevant and Tom Klamka, the other co-head of research, were not returned.
CSFB Lays Off High-Yield Telecom Analysts