MOVING OUT TO MOVE UP
Standing at a picture window in a borrowed office
at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.'s World Financial Center headquarters,
Tracy Maitland scans the dazzling yachts docked in the Hudson
River five stories below. "You can always tell what kind
of a year it's been by looking at the size of these boats,"
he says, grinning. The boats outside are huge.
It certainly has been a terrific year for Merrill
Lynch, and for Maitland in particular. Although Merrill Lynch
regards such rankings as proprietary information, several insiders
confirmed that Maitland was Merrill's top producer in convertible
bond sales worldwide in 1991 and one of the firm's top two salespeople
overall. Maitland's group is among the firm's most profitable,
ranking No. 1 in the convertible securities market. The 31-year-old
director in convertible securities sales and trading also sells
equity derivatives-synthetic securities customized to meet clients'
specific needs.
Maitland came to Merrill Lynch as a corporate
intern after earning a bachelor's degree in economics from Columbia
University in 1982. One of few in his field without a graduate
degree, Maitland decided against pursuing an MBA. "Business
school helps get you in the door," Maitland explains. "I
was already in."
Following an 18-month rotation through various
divisions including corporate finance, securities research, trading
and the firm's lobbying office in Washington, D.C., Maitland accepted
an equities sales position in Detroit, then considered a no man's
land among investment bankers.
Where others saw a potential dead-end, Maitland
saw a unique opportunity. "Rather than be a junior person
in New York forever, I figured I could really do something in
Detroit and get noticed," Maitland says. His strategy worked.
Soon after he moved to Detroit, Merrill Lynch
acquired New York's A.G. Becker and its team that specialized
in convertibles--corporate securities (usually bonds or preferred
shares)that can be converted into common shares at a prestated
price. Few firms were involved in the convertibles market then,
and in 1985 Merrill introduced whet has become its best-known
convertibles product: Liquid Yield Option Notes (LYONs). Within
18 months, Maitland had successfully developed his territory--which
included Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio, a region rich with Fortune
500 headquarters. By then he was also outproducing his colleagues
in many other regional offices.
When a senior-level opening developed on the New
York sales force in 1987, Maitland was asked to return to his
homerown and was promoted to vice president. Earlier this year,
he was named director, the highest title a salesman can hold on
the trading floor at Merrill Lynch.
With no desire to manage others or move off the
floor, Maitland seems content. "In this business, titles
don't mean much" he asserts. "I went into this because
it is as close to running your own business within another company
as you can get." Luckily for Merrill Lynch, Tracy Maitland's
business is thriving.
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