NEW YORK, Feb. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill Lynch today announced that
Deepak Raj will join Margo Vignola as co-director of U.S. Fundamental Equity
Research, effective March 6. Mr. Raj will replace Stanley Rubin, who is
retiring after a 25-year career with Merrill Lynch.
Mr. Raj, a managing director, returns to Merrill Lynch's research
operations, following two years as head of the firm's 30-strong Global
Consumer Group in investment banking. He has been instrumental in building a
global practice focused on companies in the food, beverage, tobacco,
household, personal care, leisure, housewares and related industries.
In reflecting on Mr. Rubin's retirement, Andy Melnick and Rosemary
Berkery, directors of the Global Securities Research and Economics Group,
said: "Stan will be sorely missed. His wisdom and counsel helped us become a
major force in research. Now, by combining the management talents of Deepak
Raj and Margo Vignola, Merrill Lynch will further strengthen and deepen the
firm's position as the leading firm in U.S. fundamental equity research."
Prior to joining investment banking, Mr. Raj was a senior member of the
Global Securities Research & Economics Group, responsible for coverage of
cosmetics, household products and diversified-consumer companies. He was
elected as a member of the Institutional Investor All-Star team in cosmetics
for 17 years and in household products for 8 years. Mr. Raj built a
broad-based consumer products research franchise with eight professionals
covering 60 to 70 companies before moving to investment banking in 1997.
Mr. Raj earned a Bachelor of Technology in electrical engineering from the
Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India; and an MBA from Northeastern
University. He is also Certified Financial Analyst.
Ms. Vignola joined Merrill Lynch in 1995 as First Vice President and the
senior industry analyst for hospital management, long-term care, HMOs and
other major health care providers. In 1997, she was named to her current role
as Co-Director, US Fundamental Equity Research. She was a member of the
Institutional Investor All-Star team at Merrill Lynch and at Salomon Brothers
where she was a Managing Director and health-care services analyst from 1987
to 1995. Ms. Vignola received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the
University of California and a master's degree in economics from Ohio State
University.
With Mr. Raj's move to research, investment banking's Global Consumer
Group will be co-headed by managing directors Brit Bartter and Federico
Aliboni.
Mr. Bartter, based in Chicago, is currently co-head of Merrill Lynch's
Food, Beverage and Agribusiness Industry Group, and is senior relationship
banker for a large number of the firm's food clients. Mr. Aliboni, head of
Merrill Lynch's European Consumer Products and Retail Group, based in London,
works with a wide range of companies across several continents, advising on
merger and acquisitions activity.
Mr. Rubin, who began his career at Merrill Lynch in 1975, was originally
hired to help build the firm's institutional research effort. He covered the
electrical equipment industry and was a ranked analyst on the Institutional
Investor All-America Research team until 1994 when he became manager of
Merrill Lynch's U.S. Fundamental Equity Research Group.
Since 1997, Mr. Rubin has managed the group of more than 200 analysts with
Ms. Vignola. During that period, Merrill Lynch's U.S. Equity Research has
been ranked number one in the Institutional Investor All-America Research team
survey every year. Mr. Rubin, a CFA, received an master's in business
administration from New York University after receiving his undergraduate
degree at Long Island University.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and
advisory companies with offices in 43 countries and total client assets
exceeding $1.7 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global
underwriter and market maker of debt and equity securities and a leading
strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals
worldwide. Through its Asset Management Group, the company is one of the
world's largest managers of financial assets, which total approximately
$557 billion.
SOURCE Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.merrilllynch.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/555800.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 555800
CONTACT:
Joanne Tutschek, Research Communications,
212-449-7278, joanne_tutschek@ml.com, or Jonathan Humphreys,
Investment Banking, 212-449-2107, jonathan_humphreys@ml.com, both
of Merrill Lynch
|
