Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Research has declared the hire of Ethan Harris as head of North America Economics and David Bianco as head of U.S. Equity Strategy. Ethan Harris will be responsible for formulating and communicating the North America economic outlook and the Fed interest rate call, and will work in partnership with the Rates Strategy Research team on longer term yield curve forecasts. He will start in September. Bianco’s key responsibilities will include the delivery of U.S. Equity Strategy recommendations, including sector, industry, and size and style, forecasting the S&P500 earnings outlook and authoring thematic research. Bianco will start in July.
It has also announced that two strategists Michael Widmer and Tanapoom Damraks lead the research coverage effort in metals markets and commodities respectively. Additionally, Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Research also hired Michael Hartnett as chairman of the Research Investment Committee (RIC), making a strategic leadership changes in the structure of the Global Macro group.
Adam Quinton, Head of Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Global Macro Research, said: All three professionals bring extensive knowledge of the markets and economy and will instill the appropriate levels of investment discipline, intellectual drive and client focus necessary to ensure we create innovative investment ideas that meet the desire of both individual and institutional clients to diversify their portfolios and invest locally or globally.
