Another Global Investment Bank Turns to Public Sector for Its Chief Economist

For the second time in two weeks, a global investment bank has recruited its chief US economist from the government.

Nomura announced today that it has hired Treasury counselor Lewis Alexander as a Managing Director and its US Chief Economist.

This comes approximately one week after Morgan Stanley sought out Vincent R. Reinhart, an economist and former head of the Federal Reserve's monetary division, for be its Chief US Economist.

Prior to being counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander was chief economist with Citibank and earlier worked as a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and at the US Department of Commerce.

Alexander will be leading a team of five economists covering the United States. His appointment underscores the importance of the region to Nomura's global business. He will report jointly to Jens Nordvig, Head of Americas Fixed Income Research and Paul Sheard, Global Chief Economist.

"We are confident that Lewis will contribute significantly in enhancing our fixed income research platform both in the Americas and globally," said Nordvig. "Our goal in research remains clear: to effectively deploy cross-asset expertise and provide first-rate analysis, which is ahead of the market and relevant for today's modern investor."

Both Alexander and Reinhart will be based in New York at their respective banks.