UBS merges quant group

UBS has merged its fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) and equity quantitative analysis teams, bringing them under the umbrella of the newly created investment banking (IB) quantitative analysis group, according to a leaked internal memo.

Tom Hyer will take the role of head of IB quantitative analysis, and will report directly to Carsten Kengeter and Alex Wilmot-Sitwell, co-chief executives of the investment banking division of UBS. Hyer was formerly head of FICC quants at UBS, which he joined in 2001. His past achievements include leading the development of the 'Broil' analytics library and the 'common analytics library'.

Hyer will co-manage quant library development across all asset classes with Paul Barden, who remains head of equities quants. Barden - who will report to Hyer - will also be responsible for integrating the equities and FICC libraries. Having joined UBS in 1994, Barden has managed equities quantitative strategies supporting flow and structured business since 2003.

Although he has yet to receive an official job title, Laurence Lee will be responsible for desk quants across all asset classes, and is also thought to be in line to become head of FICC quants, reporting to Hyer. Lee joined UBS in 1998, and was most recently head of asset-backed security/debt capital markets quants and co-head of FICC quants.

Hyer and Barden have hitherto been based in London, while Lee has been stationed in New York. It remains unclear whether they will change location in their new roles.

An official for the bank confirmed the moves, but declined to comment further.

See also: Misra joins UBS as global head of credit