Securitization People and Markets

Lombard Odier, the Geneva-based bank, has added three credit specialists to its offices in London and Amsterdam, says Paul Osborne, head of marketing and client relations in London. Osborne says Lombard Odier plans to hire two more credit analysts to add to its team of five based in Geneva, to help manage the work load generated by the increasing interest in European credit.

AIG Global Investment Corp. has brought American General's investment-grade fixed income operations from Houston to New York, while moving the bulk of its own high-yield operations from its SunAmerica affiliate in Los Angeles to Houston, according to senior AIG officials. As a result of AIG's acquisition of American General, the combined firm now manages some $180 billion in (mostly fixed-income) assets domestically. A senior AIG official says management of high-yield was given to Gordon Massie, who had served in that role at American General, because American General's high-yield group had outperformed that of SunAmerica. An AIG official declined to provide performance numbers, and attempts to procure them elsewhere were unsuccessful as of press time. American General's high-yield group did not oversee mutual funds, whose performance is published daily, but were in charge of "managed funds," which traditionally do not release their performance. Massie declined comment. Scott Richland, formerly head of high-yield bonds and leveraged bank loans, is now only head of bank loans, according to Sonia Fiorenza, a SunAmerica spokeswoman to whom he referred calls. Richland reports to Scott, according to a senior company official.

Macquarie Corporate Finance has hired John Daly from J.P. Morgan Securities as division director for the U.S. private placement and structured finance market, says Tom Capasse, division director for principal transactions. Daly, who will report to Oliver Yates, ceo, will be in charge of origination, structuring and distribution of senior and subordinated debt to U.S. institutional investors. Daly says he made the move because he was attracted by the entrepreneurial aspect of the position, as it involves starting a new group. He worked with J.P. Morgan for 14 years and was most recently a v.p. in structured finance, in charge of private placement. He reported to Joel Glansky, managing director. Adam Castellani, a spokesman for J.P. Morgan, declined to indicate whether Daly's position would be filled.

Stephen Creaturo has joined Barclays Capital in New York as a director in its interest rates sales group, specializing in non-dollar denominated fixed-income accounts. He joins from Commerzbank Securities, where he ran its New York-based fixed-income trading operations. His slot is a new one, and is part of the firm's year-long growth strategy. He is reporting to the New York head of fixed-income sales, John Connor. Creaturo had worked at Barclays from 1994-1999 in its London office, where he had become head of non-dollar interest-rate product trading before he left to join Commerzbank Securities.

Andrew Stotland has left Amroc Investments for Samco Capital Markets to source bank debt and bonds. Samco opened an office near Penn Station last year, and is a brokerage house based out of Dallas. It focuses on bank debt and bonds but also does some work in equities. Stotland reports to Scott Siemers, senior managing director.

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.

Deutsche Bank has added two new functions to its DBIQ platform, its online fixed-income analytical tool, which it plans to link into its trading system next year. The goal is to permit clients to analyze potential trades vis-à-vis their current portfolios and then execute the trade online, according to Fergus Lynch, global head of index development in London. He says the link should be completed some time next year.

Mike Cassidy, a senior high-yield trader, has joined Stanfield Capital as a v.p. of fixed-income trading. He joins from OppenheimerFunds, where he was an assistant V.P on the high-yield trading desk. Cassidy says he made the move because the position at Stanfield will give him an opportunity to work with structured products, including collateralized debt and loan obligations, which he did not have at Oppenheimer. It could not be determined whether Cassidy is filling a new or previously vacant position. He reports to Dan Baldwin, a partner at Stanfield, a New York firm managing some $5 billion in taxable fixed income. Baldwin did not return calls.

Todd Sycoff, the head high-yield trader at Merrill Lynch, accepted a compensation package and resigned last Thursday morning, according to several senior high-yield officials on the buy- and sell-sides. Jessica Oppenheim, a Merrill Lynch spokeswoman, was unable to confirm Sycoff's resignation at press time. Several buy-side high-yield managers say they were told by Merrill junk pros last Thursday that Sycoff, whose principal focus was on telecom credits, has decided to take some time off. He reported to Dow Kim, the head of Merrill's fixed-income group. Sycoff could not be reached, and did not respond to a phone message left with a family member.