Even in the midst of a scandalous law suit, Jeff Gundlach is making sure DoubleLine Capital is on the right track. After filing for three new bond funds with the SEC, DoubleLine revealed a slew of new hires on Tuesday.

To read the rest of the story of the fight between Gundlach and TCW, click here.

Bonnie Baha is the most recent portfolio manager to jump from TCW to Gundlach's new firm. At DoubleLine, Baha will serve as portfolio manager and head of global developed credit. Baha held a congruent position under Gundlach at TCW, where she worked on the TCW Core Fixed Income Fund.

Baha is also taking along most of her TCW team, includings six of the nine investment personnel who worked in the government/corporate group.

The additional staff included traders Ken Austin and Paul Kirste, and analysts Anil Lalchand and Monica Erickson. Gregory Whiteley has also joined DoubleLine as a Portfolio Manager responsible for managing and trading U.S. Government securities.

"With Bonnie and her corporate team, DoubleLine preserves and continues our Core Fixed Income deliverable to the client as well as our stand-alone strategies in investment grade corporate credit," Gundlach stated. "In addition, Greg Whiteley's experience in the Government sector will be invaluable in the management of our diversified portfolios. I am most happy to welcome all of them aboard."

Putting his grudge aside, Gundlach also made a hire from somewhere other than his old firm. Joseph Sullivan joins DoubleLine from Peconic Parners. He was named treasurer of DoubleLine Funds Trust and will report to Ron Redell, president of DoubleLine Funds.

"I am excited to be working with such a high-quality investment team dedicated to client service," Sullivan stated. "I look forward to helping my colleagues at DoubleLine Funds build a premier fixed income management platform."

Company Press Release #1

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12 -- Bonnie Baha, former head of the Corporate Bond Group and Corporate Credit Research at TCW, and five highly experienced members of TCW's Government/Corporate team have joined DoubleLine Capital LP, DoubleLine announced today.

Ms. Baha is Portfolio Manager and head of Global Developed Credit at DoubleLine. Her team members reprise their roles as corporate securities traders and credit analysts. In addition, Ms. Baha joins other sector-focused portfolio managers in supporting Mr. Jeffrey Gundlach, Chief Executive Officer of DoubleLine, in his management of the firm's Core Fixed Income and Asset Allocation strategies. Ms. Baha served in a similar capacity during Mr. Gundlach's management through December 4, 2009 of the Morningstar Five-Star rated TCW Core Fixed Income Fund (TGCFX).

Joining Ms. Baha are four members from her previous Corporate Investment Grade team at TCW: traders Ken Austin, 25 years of industry expertise, and Paul Kirste, 23 years, and analysts Anil Lalchand, 19 years, and Monica Erickson, 18 years. In addition, Gregory Whiteley, 26 years, has joined DoubleLine as a Portfolio Manager responsible for managing and trading U.S. Government securities. Together, Ms. Baha, Ms. Erickson and Messrs. Austin, Kirste, Lalchand and Whiteley represent six of the nine investment personnel who worked in the former Government/Corporate group at TCW.

"With Bonnie and her corporate team, DoubleLine preserves and continues our Core Fixed Income deliverable to the client as well as our stand-alone strategies in investment grade corporate credit," Mr. Gundlach said. "In addition, Greg Whiteley's experience in the Government sector will be invaluable in the management of our diversified portfolios. I am most happy to welcome all of them aboard."

Under Ms. Baha, the team compiled an outstanding track record for credit selection as measured by the corporate credit upgrades versus downgrades relative to the universe rated by the major rating agencies. Most members of the team have worked closely together during the past two decades. The team prides itself on a measured and circumspect approach to credit selection, a discipline which is focused on avoiding "credit disasters" and, notably, in contrast to most peers, generated a positive return during the credit crisis of 2008.

Ms. Baha has personally worked with Mr. Gundlach, DoubleLine President Philip Barach and DoubleLine Principal Joseph Galligan for nearly 20 years.

"I'm most pleased to be working again with my long-time friends and colleagues at DoubleLine," Ms. Baha said. "We have a long history of enjoying working together, and our approaches to risk management are complementary, because we honed those methods together for close to two decades. I also am proud to be working in an enterprise led by Jeffrey Gundlach. I have every confidence in his integrity and his ability to ensure DoubleLine's success."

Bonnie N. Baha, CFA, CIC

Ms. Baha is a Senior Portfolio Manager and head of the Global Developed Credit Group at DoubleLine. Previously, Ms. Baha was a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager overseeing the Corporate Bond group at TCW for 19 years. Prior to TCW, she worked for Deloitte & Touche, where she was a manager responsible for the valuation of publicly traded and privately held companies in a variety of industries. Previously, Ms. Baha was employed as a Senior Analyst with Standard Research Consultants, a former division of Standard & Poor's Corporation and as an associate at Kidder, Peabody & Co. where she was responsible for the regional distribution of new issues and secondary offerings of corporate debt and equity securities. Ms. Baha received her BA in Political Science from the University of California at Irvine in 1981 and her MBA from the University of Southern California in 1986.

Kenneth J. Austin, CFA

Mr. Austin is a Trader in the Global Developed Credit Group at DoubleLine. Previously, he was employed at TCW for 25 years in the Corporate Bond area, leaving the firm as a Senior Vice President. Prior to TCW, Mr. Austin completed several accounting and finance courses at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.

Monica R. Erickson, CFA

Ms. Erickson is an Analyst in the Global Developed Credit Group at DoubleLine. She is involved in the analysis and recommendation of specific sectors within the corporate portfolios. She joined DoubleLine with over 17 years of investment experience. Previously, Ms. Erickson was a Vice President associated with TCW since 2007, working in their Corporate Bond Group providing value-added research. Prior to TCW, she was a Vice President at Froley Revy Investment Company for over 15 years. Her primary role at Froley was as an analyst for certain sectors in the convertible universe. Ms. Erickson graduated from the University of Southern California in 1993, Summa Cum Laude, with a BS in Business/Finance.

Paul Kirste, CFA

Mr. Kirste is a Trader in the Global Developed Credit Group at DoubleLine. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President at TCW. Mr. Kirste was responsible for trading fixed income securities for TCW from 1986 through 2009. His trading responsibilities included money market instruments, U.S. Treasury and Agency debt, and investment grade corporate bonds. Mr. Kirste participated in the TCW Multi-Strategy Fixed Income Committee meetings where sector asset allocations were decided. He was also a member of the firm's broker review committee. Mr. Kirste received his BS in Economics from the University of California, at Riverside.

Anil Lalchand

Mr. Lalchand is an Analyst in the Global Developed Credit Group at DoubleLine. Before DoubleLine, he was a Senior Vice President associated with TCW since 1990. In 1994, he joined the Fixed Income group as a Fixed Income Analyst becoming a High Grade Corporate Credit Analyst in 1996. Mr. Lalchand received his BA in Finance from California State University at Los Angeles and his MBA, Magna Cum Laude, in Finance from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

Gregory A. Whiteley

Mr. Whiteley is a Portfolio Manager responsible for managing and trading U.S. Government securities. Before DoubleLine, he was a Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager associated with TCW for 14 years. He became an employee of TCW with the firm's acquisition of Continental Asset Management in 1995, where he had worked since 1990. At CAM, he served as Vice President and Portfolio Manager, Taxable Fixed Income Investments, specializing in mortgage-backed securities. Prior to that, Mr. Whiteley was a Fixed Income Portfolio Analyst with Salomon Brothers, Inc. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Washington and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University.

About DoubleLine Capital LP

DoubleLine Capital LP is a fixed income investment management firm and Registered Investment Adviser under Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The firm is majority employee-owned with CEO Jeffrey Gundlach and President Philip Barach holding a combined controlling interest in the firm. DoubleLine's headquarters is in Los Angeles, CA. Its offices can be reached by telephone at (213) 633-8200 or by e-mail at info@doubleline.com.
SOURCE DoubleLine Capital LP

Company Press Release #2

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12 -- Joseph W. Sullivan III, CPA, a former senior executive of Peconic Partners and Forstmann-Leff Associates, has been named Treasurer of DoubleLine Funds Trust, DoubleLine Capital announced today. DoubleLine Capital will be the adviser to DoubleLine Funds, a mutual fund complex which earlier today filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Sullivan, 52, will serve as the key liaison officer of DoubleLine Funds to the business unit's service providers, including the fund administrator, custodian, legal counsel and auditor. He will report to Ronald Redell, President of DoubleLine Funds.

"Joe Sullivan brings to DoubleLine Funds deep experience in both financial and operational administration," Redell said. "This mix is invaluable in assuring strong transactional and administrative controls of our accounts. Joe also is well known for his leadership in investment administration standards and reform. We are delighted to bring his talents to the service of our investors."

Before joining DoubleLine, Mr. Sullivan served from 1999 to 2008 at Peconic Partners, a hedge fund manager, and its predecessor firm, Forstmann-Leff Associates. Mr. Sullivan's last position at the firm was Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. In that capacity, he was responsible for accounting, administration, operational risk management, compliance and regulatory functions.

For over two years, Mr. Sullivan served at Hyperion Capital Management as Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of Hyperion's closed-end bond funds where he reported directly to Louis C. Lucido, then-Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director and today Executive Vice President at DoubleLine Capital. Previously, Mr. Sullivan worked for five years in Merrill Lynch's Investment Banking Division where he served as Treasurer and CFO of several leveraged buyout and venture capital funds. Mr. Sullivan also has been employed at Standard & Poor's, Shearson Lehman Hutton and Wiss & Company, a public accounting firm.

"I am excited to be working with such a high-quality investment team dedicated to client service," Mr. Sullivan said. "I look forward to helping my colleagues at DoubleLine Funds build a premier fixed income management platform."

Mr. Sullivan is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. He graduated Magna cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Albany. He is a member of the Economic Club of New York, National Society of Compliance Professionals, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. An authority on the functions and standards for chief compliance officers in the investment advisory industry, Mr. Sullivan was a panelist at the Security and Exchange Commission's 2006 CCOutreach Conference, held to promote open communications and coordination among regulators and the industry on mutual fund, investment adviser and broker-dealer compliance issues.

About DoubleLine Capital LP

DoubleLine Capital LP is a fixed income investment management firm and Registered Investment Adviser under Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The firm is majority employee-owned with CEO Jeffrey Gundlach and President Philip Barach holding a combined controlling interest in the firm. DoubleLine's headquarters is in Los Angeles, CA.
SOURCE DoubleLine Capital LP

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE