Look Who’s Hiring: Treasury Seeks Asset Managers

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday that it plans to add new staff members to manage the troubled assets bought through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act signed into law Friday by President George W. Bush. The Treasury will hire managers for mortgage securities separately from managers who will handle whole mortgage loans, the government said. Securities asset managers will deal with prime, Alt-A and subprime residential MBS as well as commercial MBS. Whole loan asset managers, on the other hand, will handle a range of products spanning residential first mortgages, home equity loans, second liens and commercial mortgage loans, according to the Treasury. Interested “Financial Institutions,” defined in the Act as banks, savings associations, credit unions, security brokers or dealers or insurance companies “established and regulated under the laws of the United States,” should submit a response to the public notice issued on the Treasury’s Web site. The Treasury said it will select qualified candidates to advance in the selection process and provide additional information and qualifications. The Treasury will also provide the opportunity for small and minority- and women-owned financial institutions that don’t meet requirements to enlist as sub-managers within the troubled asset portfolio. “Given the urgent need to implement the Troubled Assets Relief Program quickly, the selection process for asset managers may involve extremely short deadlines for submitting information and for traveling to Washington, D.C. for meetings or interviews,” the Treasury said in a media statement. Read the Treasury’s full list of asset manager hiring guidelines >> Hours after the Treasury’s open asset manager announcement, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appointed close adviser Neel Kashkari to a lead position on the $700 billion rescue effort. An assistant secretary or international economics, Kashkari will take on the title of interim assistant secretary for financial stability, according to a report by Market Watch. Editor’s note: To contact the reporter on this story, email [email protected].