Schwab quits Barclays to return to AIG

AIG Financial Products, the derivatives arm of the American International Group, has hired Matthew Schwab as managing director in its investor coverage group.

The group focuses on structuring and marketing over-the-counter derivatives and structured products to investment managers, pension funds, foundations and endowments. Schwab will focus primarily on commodity linked investments, particularly those linked to the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index and its sub-indexes, as well as single commodities.

Reporting to Robert Leary, head of the investor group, Schwab returns to AIG after five years at Barclays Capital, where he was joint head of commodities investor products. He has also held positions as a trader of precious and base metal derivatives at the bank. During the 1990s, he worked for AIG as a metals trader.

Schwab was part of the Barclays Capital team at that developed a collateralised commodity obligation (CCO) in November last year. The CCO used commodity trigger swaps instead of the usual credit default swaps referenced in collateralised debt obligations.