Securitization People and Markets

Abbey National Asset Management, which manages £5 billion in fixed-income, is looking to add a corporate bond manager to its fund management team in Glasgow, Scotland, according to a spokeswoman. This is the first step toward expanding the team, which could eventually branch out into high-yield and international bonds. The new hire is being made because corporate bonds are a becoming more important with the new pension accounting rule FRS 17 on the horizon. Abbey intends to intensify its marketing efforts on the corporate bond side for both retail and institutional clients. The new hire will report to Alan Wilde, head of the bond desk.

Bear Stearns was marketing a $1.1 billion conduit deal last week, ushering in a heavy month of issuance that is expected to top $10 billion, according to BW sister publication Real Estate Finance & Investment. The offering, which was followed by an approximately $992 million conduit from the team of Credit Suisse First Boston, PNC Bank and Key Bank, was being eagerly received by investors, who have seen little new issuance this year. Chris Hoeffel, managing director at Bear Stearns, said he expected the securitization to be completed by Friday afternoon.

Marc Seidner is Director of Domestic Taxable Fixed Income at Standish Mellon. In this capacity he oversee the management of about $24 billion of Core High-Grade and Core Plus portfolios.

Standard & Poor's has recently completed a reorganiztion of its structured products division in New York, creating three new groups, according to BW sister publication Derivatives Week. The new groups are fixed income, equity and an operating vehicle group, according to Richard Gugliada, head of the global CDO group in New York. The three new groups report to Gugliada.

Stephen Smithruns the $1.8 billion global bond fund at Wilmington, Del.-based Brandywine Asset Management. While the fund is global in scope, Smith says it can invest in corporate credits, mortgage- and asset-backed bonds and government bonds with no rating or country specific allocation issues. An 11-year veteran of Brandywine, Smith has been in the portfolio management business since 1967.

UBS Warburg has hired Jeff Keith, a senior high-yield salesman. Keith will report to Steve Chronert, head of high-yield sales based in New York. Keith was released in December from Merrill Lynch, which has made severe cutbacks to its high-yield effort in recent months (BW, 12/16).

The bondholder committee of financially distressed Dutch cable operator United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC) has tapped Greenhill & Co. as a financial advisor in its negotiations with the company. A member of the committee says Greenhill has been searching for a strategic investor to pay down a E1 billion exchangeable loan held by UPC parent UnitedGlobalCom (UGC). The committee member has expressed concern that UGC intends to use the loan to gain a disproportionate equity stake in the restructured company (BW, 2/11). He says several potential investors have expressed interest in paying down the loan. However, he would not name the investors. Michael Kramer, a partner in Greenhill's New York office working with the committee, did not return calls.

Russell Hurst, formerly head of collateralized debt obligation research at Wachovia Securities, has jumped ship and will assume the same function at Banc One Capital Markets, says Alessandro Pagani, asset backed-securities analyst with Banc One. Hurst will start next Monday. He will report to Alex Roever, managing director and head of structured debt research, who did not return calls.

Last week was a strong one for high-yield, as even the beleaguered wireline telecom sector bounced significantly after testing new lows a week earlier. Here is other notable action: