The sources were unable to pinpoint a specific reason for LeeÆs departure from Citi, except that he has spent the past 11 years in fixed-income analysis. A move to the credit buy-side is believed to allow him to take advantage of emerging regional opportunities after the markets stabilise in 2009 and 2010.
LeeÆs next position is not yet known, however, his current good standing with Citi leaves open the possibility of him continuing to work with the bank in his new buy-side role.
Sohn So-yon, head of credit sector specialists under Lee, will take over as head of the team when Lee leaves. Citi currently has a team of nine Asian fixed-income strategy analysts, including six focused on credit sector analysis and three focused on emerging market analysis.
An analyst at a rival investment bank said Lee's departure was surprising, especially since he was quite well settled at Citi. He said the loss was Citi's as Lee was highly regarded for his fixed-income research. Indeed, Lee was voted the top fixed-income analyst in Asia in FinanceAsia's 2008 poll of fixed-income investors û for the second year running.
The source added that he doesn't see much movement among fixed-income analysts at the moment, mainly due to the current market turmoil.
Mukul Munish contributed to this article.
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