Janet Showers, an Institutional Investor-ranked treasury bond strategist in 1999 and 2000, has left Salomon Smith Barney for "personal reasons," according to executives in the firm's quantitative fixed-income research group. Showers, who was co-head of the quantitative research group, the firm's main non-corporates research effort, along with Lakhbir Hayre, did not inform colleagues of her future plans, according to insiders. Hayre, who also runs SSB's mortgage research group, would not comment on the departure, other than to confirm that he is now sole head of the quant group. Showers' duties as chief treasury analyst will be picked up by government bond analyst Bulent Baygun, who also will continue his analysis of derivatives, Hayre adds. Repeated calls to Showers' office and home were not returned as of press time.
Showers' departure coincides with the creation of the interest rate product research group within the quantitative research group. The team, to be headed by agency analyst Michael Schumacher, will concentrate on agency and government bond analysis, as well as their related derivatives. According to one SSB agency pro, this was done because "all our customers evaluate and trade swaps, govvies and agencies against each other all the time." Schumacher will coordinate the day-to-day efforts of the team, and report to Hayre.