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Apr-28-2008Montag Joins Merrill Lynch(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- Montag would be responsible for the entire firm's global sales and trading activities across debt and equities, and would report directly to John Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch. (More...)
- Recently, the hiring ran in the other direction as two of Merrill's bankers in London'head of rates sales Atanas Bostandjiev and head of credit sales Antonio Esteves'joined Goldman. (More...)
- Goldman Sachs has taken advantage of the upheaval in Merrill Lynch's fixed income business by hiring two of its most senior London bankers. (More...)
- Montag will report directly to John Thain, Merrill chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the firm said. (More...)
- Merrill rose 5 cents to $49.69 at 10:54 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. (More...)
- Improved performance in the company's Global Wealth Management division was more than offset by worse results in Global Markets and Investment Banking division, as the challenging market conditions resulted in net losses in Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities, and weaker revenues in Equity Markets and Investment Banking. (More...)
- Merrill, the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, is a passive, 20 percent investor in Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News. (More...)
SOURCES
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Montag would be responsible for the entire firm's global sales and trading activities across debt and equities, and would report directly to John Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch. Before joining Merrill Lynch, Montag served with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as a co-head of the global securities business and a member of the company's management committee when he left the company in December 2007. [1] In his role, Mr. Montag will be responsible for all the firm ' s global sales and trading activities across debt and equities. Most recently, Mr. Montag was with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for over 22 years where he was co-head of the global securities business and a member of the company ' s management committee when he left the company in December, 2007. Prior to being co-head of the global securities business he was co-president of Goldman Sachs ' Japanese operations since 2001 and before that ran the firm ' s global derivatives business.[2]
BOSTON (Thomson Financial) - Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Monday named Thomas K. Montag as head of global sales and trading. Montag most recently served as co-head of the global securities business at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Prior to that, he was co-president of Goldman Sachs' Japanese operations.[3] Thomas Montag, who retired as co-head of global securities business at Goldman Sachs in December, has been appointed head of global sales and trading at Merrill Lynch after several months of being wooed by chief executive John Thain.[4] NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research ) said it hired Thomas Montag, former co-head of global securities trading at Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research ), as Chief Executive John Thain looks to new talent to turn around the largest brokerage in the world.[5]
April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Thain, assembling his own management team after the departure of more than 20 executives, hired former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. colleague Thomas Montag to head trading worldwide.[6]
The company has been struggling recently, reporting a significant first quarter loss in mid-April. 'I am very pleased that Tom Montag, a proven leader with extensive industry knowledge and experience, is joining the senior management team of Merrill Lynch in this very important role,' John Thain, chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch said in a statement. Before joining Merrill Lynch, Montag served with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) as a co-head of the global securities business and a member of the company's management committee before he left the company in December 2007.[7] The two were former colleagues at Goldman, where Thain was president. Prior to becoming co-head of the global securities at Goldman, Montag was co-president of Goldman's Japanese businesses since 2001, and previously he was in charge of the bank's global derivatives business. He was with Goldman a total of 22 years. He comes to Merrill Lynch during a time of upheaval, especially in the bank's fixed income business, as Thain continues to assemble his management team since he took over from Stan O'Neal last November.[4]
The bank could soon be looking to appoint a head of global fixed income, as David Sobotka is poised to step down. New York-based Sobotka, who was appointed six months ago to replace Osman Semerci, could leave as Merrill's new chief John Thain plans to bring in his own team. In January Thain said he was trying to recruit former Goldman Sachs colleague Thomas Montag as a senior deputy.[8]
Mr. Montag, 51, retired from Goldman in December after a 22-year run at the firm. Mr. Thain had sought to recruit him since at least January, both Reuters and Bloomberg reported. The appointment marks yet another fresh face at Merrill, which has seen its top executive ranks thin out as people appointed by former chief executive E. Stanley O'Neal were forced out or retired. Among those have been Dow Kim, Mr. Montag's predecessor as head of sales and trading at Merrill. The investment bank has been among the hardest hit by the credit squeeze: It reported a $1.97 billion loss for its first quarter earlier this month on losses in subprime mortgages and other risky debt instruments. It has already reported billions of write-downs, necessitating capital-raises from both foreign investors and the issue of new bonds and preferred shares.[9] Montag, 51, retired from Goldman Sachs in December after working at the firm for 22 years. Merrill Lynch posted a $2 billion first-quarter loss earlier this month amid losses in subprime mortgages, collateralized debt obligations, and other risky instruments. It has recorded more than $30 billion of write-downs since the third quarter.[5]
Prior to that co-head position, Montag was co-president of Goldman Sachs' Japanese operations since 2001 and before that ran the firm's global derivatives business. On April 17, Merrill reported a $1.96 billion loss in its first quarter, compared to a $2.16 billion profit last year.[7]
The securities firm said on Monday that it has hired Thomas Montag, the former co-head of global securities trading at Goldman Sachs, to run its global sales and trading operations for equities and debt.[9] Merrill Lynch & Co. named former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive Thomas K. Montag as head of global sales and trading, giving him responsibility in those areas for both debt and equities.[10] Montag will be responsible for all the firm's global sales and trading activities across debt and equities. He was a long-time Goldman Sachs (GS) employee, until he left that firm in December 2007.[11]
Montag will report directly to Thain and will be responsible for Merrill's sales and trading activities across debt equities, according to a statement. Thain admitted in January that he was actively pursuing Montag following Montag's retirement in December.[4]
Montag, 51, who retired last year as Goldman's head of sales and trading in the Americas, will report directly to Thain, New York-based Merrill said today in a statement. He will start Aug. 4, company spokeswoman Jessica Oppenheim said.[6] Montag, who worked at New York-based Goldman for 22 years, takes over Merrill's trading business after more than $30 billion of writedowns on subprime mortgages and bonds saddled the 84-year-old firm with record losses and led to O'Neal's ouster.[6] The firm's two trading divisions -- fixed-income and stocks -- had combined revenue of $14.3 billion in 2006, or 42 percent of Merrill's total. That was before last year's writedowns in the fixed-income division overwhelmed profits from stock-trading and resulted in negative overall trading revenue of $7.59 billion. When Kim left, O'Neal did away with his post, promoted Greg Fleming and Ahmass Fakahany to newly created positions as co- presidents of Merrill Lynch and made the heads of the two trading divisions report to the co-presidents. Montag may have leeway to build his own team from scratch.[6]
Investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. said Monday it named Thomas Montag head of global sales and trading.[12] NEW YORK--( BUSINESS WIRE )--Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. ( NYSE: MER ) today announced that Thomas K. Montag, 51, has been appointed head of global sales and trading.[2]
Recently, the hiring ran in the other direction as two of Merrill's bankers in London'head of rates sales Atanas Bostandjiev and head of credit sales Antonio Esteves'joined Goldman. The departures come as Merrill prepares to suspend its UK mortgage activities after last week when it began to make job cuts in its European fixed-income and debt capital markets groups. This is part of its plans to reduce global staff by 4,000 this year. The bank is understood to have cut about 80 staff from its 1,000-strong fixed income, commodities and currencies division. [4] Goldman Sachs declined to comment. The departures come as Merrill prepares to suspend its UK mortgage activities after last week when it began to make job cuts in its European fixed income and debt capital markets groups. This is part of its plans to reduce global staff by 4,000 this year. The bank is understood to have cut about 80 staff from its 1,000-strong fixed income, commodities and currencies division. This week, Merrill is set to announce it is 'temporarily suspending' two of its UK sub-prime mortgage origination businesses, Wave and Mortgages PLC, with the loss of around 200 jobs.[8]
Goldman Sachs has taken advantage of the upheaval in Merrill Lynch's fixed income business by hiring two of its most senior London bankers. [8]
Thain himself was a 24-year veteran of Goldman Sachs, and headed NYSE Euronext before moving to Merrill Lynch.[5]
The statement from MER today that JT has hired former GS colleague Thomas Montag to head trading worldwide should come not come as a shock, nor should the whispers that he'''s rallying hard to bring in erstwhile Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine in some sort of capacity. Though, according to the rumors, the would be hire has less to do with turning Merrill into Goldman than Thain attempting to assuage his guilt about ousting his mentor back in the day, and also to bring Wall Street'''s greatest bear hugs back into his life, via payroll.[13]
Montag, 51, mostly recently served as co-head of the global securities business at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.[12] Prior to that co-head position, Montag was co-president of Goldman Sachs' Japanese operations since 2001 and before that ran the firm's global derivatives business.[1]
Montag will report directly to John Thain, Merrill chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the firm said. [11] The appointment of the highly regarded Wall Street veteran, who will report directly to Merrill Chairman and Chief Executive John A. Thain, represents Mr. Thain's most significant hire yet.[10]
Thain has brought aboard other senior executives since taking the reins at Merrill late last year, including Nelson Chai, NYSE Euronext's (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research ) chief financial officer, who was hired in December.[5]
" I am very pleased that Tom Montag, a proven leader with extensive industry knowledge and experience, is joining the senior management team of Merrill Lynch in this very important role, " said John Thain[2] Round of applause for John Thain and the enormous restraint he demonstrated in the five months since taking over Merrill Lynch. He could'''ve changed the letterhead, shaved his head and asked people to call him LB from Day One, but he resisted, pandered to the '''culture of Mother Merrill,''' and even ingratiated himself to the team with a few slipups reminiscent of their former CEO, just to make everyone feel at home.[13]
Atanas Bostandjiev, head of rates sales and Antonio Esteves, head of credit sales, resigned from Merrill Lynch last week.[8] Merrill hasn't had a global head of sales and trading since Dow Kim stepped down in May 2007 as co-president of global markets and investment-banking.[6]
Shares of New York-based Merrill Lynch rose 29 cents to $49.93 in early trading.[3] Shares of Merrill Lynch fell 38 cents to $49.44 in early morning trading Monday.[12]
Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management.[2] Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 40 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.6 trillion.[1]
Merrill rose 5 cents to $49.69 at 10:54 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. [6] Thain, who worked at Goldman for 25 years, overlapped with Montag until 2004, when Thain left to become CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. Thain had confirmed as far back as January that he was trying to recruit Montag.[6]
Improved performance in the company's Global Wealth Management division was more than offset by worse results in Global Markets and Investment Banking division, as the challenging market conditions resulted in net losses in Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities, and weaker revenues in Equity Markets and Investment Banking. [7] As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide.[2] The U.S. investment bank also said it intends to cut about 4,000 jobs from year-end levels, which will result in about $350 million restructuring charge in the second quarter.[7]
The company said the net loss for the three-month period ended March 31, 2008 narrowed to $9.1 million or a loss of $0.20 per share from a net loss of $13.2 million or a loss of $0.29 per share in the corresponding period last year.[1] On average, 7 analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial expected the company to incur a loss of $0.22 per share for the quarter.[1]
Merrill is currently trading up $0.10 on the day at $49.74 per share.[7]
In the newly created position, Montag will be in charge of all debt and equities trading.[12]
Merrill, the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, is a passive, 20 percent investor in Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News. [6]
SOURCES
1. RTTNews - Breaking News, financial breaking News, Positive EPS Surprises, Stock research .
2. Thomas K. Montag Appointed Head of Global Sales & Trading
3. Merrill Lynch name Thomas Montag as head of global sales, trading - Forbes.com
4. Financial News and Information from Financial News Online US
5. Merrill Lynch hires Montag to head global trading | Reuters
6. Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
7. RTTNews - Forex News top stories, Forex Trading, European Market Update, Currency Market Update, Forex trading.
8. Financial News and Information from Financial News Online US
9. Merrill Recruits Ex-Goldman Sales Head - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times
10. Free Preview - WSJ.com
11. Merrill Names Montag Head Of Global Sales & Trading
12. Merrill Lynch names Thomas Montag head of global trading - Forbes.com
13. Dealbreaker - A Wall Street Tabloid - Business News Headlines and Financial Gossip - Becoming Goldman Sachs
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