TimesSquare Capital Management has hired Ron Bringewatt as a managing director and portfolio manager. Bringewatt, who joins from American General Investment Management, will manage and expand TimeSquare's high-yield presence. He notes that high-yield assets now total some $2.3 billion of TimesSquare's $44 billion under management. He fills a position that had essentially been vacant for several months after the departure of high-profile junk manager Alan Petersen. Amy Kennedy and Carlton Taylor, who had overseen the firm's high-yield assets on an interim basis, now report to Bringewatt, who in turn reports to Bob Moore, president and ceo. Moore did not return calls. Bringewatt will seek to hire between two and four senior credit analysts in the next three months, and has already begun interviews. He says another critical reason he was brought on is to improve the performance record of collateralized bond obligations that have not fared well since the departure of Petersen.
Bringewatt has experience managing CBOs at American General, where he was a senior investment-grade portfolio manager. Bringewatt says he also has experience in high-yield, particularly during a five-year stint as head of both high-yield and investment-grade credit research at American General. American General's fixed-income division has undergone management changes of its own (see story, page 1), but Bringewatt says he chose to leave in order to have a bigger impact on a smaller, more growth-oriented firm. He also notes that as a result of American General's acquisition by AIG, his stock awards and other deferred compensation immediately vested, making it easier to leave. TimesSquare Capital is the money management arm of insurance giant CIGNA.