Securitization People and Markets

European fund managers say they are not interested in buying asset-backed bonds because single-A and triple-B rated corporate paper offers more upside. "If you're bullish on credit, it makes sense to buy lower-rated corporate paper which has more juice," says Davide Cataldo, Milan-based head of credit at Pioneer Investments. Even though ABS paper has become more liquid, Cataldo says he would rather buy riskier, more liquid corporate paper that allows for better trading flexibility. Lately, analysts have been warning investors to take a good look at ABS deals to see if companies are over-leveraging themselves, but investors are not interested in triple-A securitized paper.

Fitch Ratings is looking to add a handful of analysts to its London office to bulk up its European structured finance group and to keep up with the amount of new business, says a firm official. Specifically, Fitch is looking for two commercial property analysts, a whole business securitization analyst and a surveillance analyst to keep tabs on commercial mortgage-backed transactions. Moody's Investors Service is also beefing up its structured finance team and aims to have over 100 analysts covering European structured finance by year-end (BW, 2/11).

Goldman Sachs has made several changes to the uppermost levels of its credit business. David Solomon, managing director and head of the firm's fixed-income credit business, will run equity capital markets, according to a Bloomberg message a high-yield salesperson at Goldman sent out to several clients on the buy-side. Currently, the co-heads of global equity capital markets are Mike Evans and Mark Tercek. Ed Forst, managing director and chief of staff, global fixed-income, currency and commodities division, has been promoted, along with Don Mullen, managing director and former head of leveraged finance, to co-heads of the credit business replacing Solomon. Mullen's position will not be filled, according to senior Goldman officials, and it could not be determined whom, if anyone, will replace Forst.

Ron Consiglio, wireline telecom analyst at Lehman Brothers, has resigned to move to Loeb Partners, a hedge fund, according to Mike Guarnieri, head of research at Lehman. Ryan Langdon, his counterpart at ABN AMRO, was let go amid rumors of a larger reorganization there, says an official at the firm. Mark Rose, a second-teamer on the 2001 Institutional Investor All-America Fixed-Income Team at Goldman Sachs, is looking to move internally, according to analysts close to him. The job changes among sell-side high-yield wireline telecom analysts come as underwriting activity has come to a halt and secondary issues are trading at distressed levels. Langdon and Consiglio could not be reached, though Langdon, in a recent interview with BW, had questioned his future at ABN AMRO. Rose declined comment. Langdon reported to Ray Stottlemeyer, London-based global head of high-yield research. He could not be reached at press time.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), as part of its efforts to grow its global fixed-income team, is looking to hire an experienced corporate bond trader for its London office, according to an official familiar with the plans. The new hire will work with senior portfolio managers as well as credit and market analysts to develop analytical tools and give analysis on the primary and secondary fixed-income markets. GIC, which manages $100 billion, has offices in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and San Francisco. Calls to Walter Schabel, head of the London office, were not returned.

Last week saw softness overall in the high-yield market. Junk desks even handled investment-grade names such as WorldComand Ford Motor Co.Here was other action.

Joe Bencivenga, former global head of high-yield at Barclays Capital, has joined Chela Technology Partners, a New York-based firm that advises technology and emerging telecom companies on restructuring and mergers and acquisitions. Bencivenga becomes the third partner at the six-person firm. Afsaneh Naimollah, managing partner who founded the firm two years ago, and Gilles Gade, partner, are also Barclays alumni. Bencivenga says he joined the firm because "a lot of these technology and telecom firms have fallen on hard times and the market abounds with restructuring opportunities."

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.

CDC IXIS Capital Markets, the investment-banking arm of France's CDC IXIS Group, is laying the groundwork for a London-based asset-backed securities business, several ABS bankers say. The firm is looking to hire marketers and structurers, according to the bankers who say they were contacted by executive recruiters. Calls to Ana Diaz, newly appointed head of ABS origination, were not returned. It could not be determined where Diaz had been employed prior to joining CDC, but she was co-head of origination at Commerzbank Securities in London two years ago, according to a Commerzbank spokesman. Crédit Agricole Indosuez, another large French bank, recently established a London-based ABS business (BW, 2/4).