Lehman Names Commodities Head

Lehman Brothers has named a new global head of commodities as part of its push into energy trading over the past six months, just as other investment banks are increasing their presence in the sector.

Lehman Brothers promoted Satu Parikh to global head of commodities. He will move to New York from Tokyo, where he headed liquid markets - including rates, foreign exchange and commodities trading - for Asia.

Lehman will move Thomas Siegmund from London to Tokyo to replace Parikh.

The bank has also appointed Alan Dorsey as co-head of portfolio strategy in its investment management division for high-net-worth clients. He will work alongside Aaron Gurwitz. He joins Lehman from CRA Rogers Casey, a pension funds consulting firm, where he was head of alternative investments.

Across the Atlantic, Anthony Fry, head of UK investment banking at Lehman Brothers and the bank's top adviser to the London Stock Exchange, is stepping down after two and a half years in charge amid a drive to shake up the business, according to banking sources.

The U.S. bank has appointed Michael Tory, who joined less than a year ago from Morgan Stanley, to run the business. Fry is handing over management responsibility and will focus on broadening the bank's coverage of important UK client relationships, the sources said.

Lehman Brothers declined to comment.

Bankers expressed surprise that Lehman has reshuffled its UK management at a time Fry is spearheading the bank's work defending the LSE on its bid from U.S. rival Nasdaq. Sources said Tory, whose cousin Richard also works at Lehman, has been promoted to shake-up Lehman's UK investment banking division, which lags its rivals.

Tory has a reputation for a strong focus on clients such as BP, the UK oil company. One banker added: "The challenge is whether he can maintain his client focus while taking a broader management role."

Lehman has been hiring aggressively in Europe, particularly from Morgan Stanley, but has made limited progress in UK league tables. It is ranked 16th in UK advisory this year, just ahead of PricewaterhouseCoopers, according to Thomson Financial, the investment banking data provider. Last year, Lehman was ranked 10th in UK M&A.

Tory joined Lehman after losing out to Franck Petitgas in the race to become head of European investment banking at Morgan Stanley, where he was latterly UK head of investment banking.