Richard Bernstein, chief investment strategist and head of Bank of America Merrill Lynchs investment strategy group, as well as David Rosenberg, the firms chief economist, are leaving the firm, according to an internal memo obtained by ASR sister publication IDD.
The announcement was made on Tuesday in a memo from Candace Browning, president of the firms global research group. A spokeswoman for the firm confirmed the departures and said the firm is looking to fill both positions. We are looking for candidates internally and externally, the spokeswoman said.
Rosenberg is leaving because of what the firm calls family issues of a personal nature and Bernstein is leaving to pursue a career on the buyside, according to the memo.
Rosenberg is relocating to his hometown of Toronto where he plans to return to the financial services industry with a buyside firm. Published reports state that the firm is Gluskin Sheff & Associates. Founded in 1984, Gluskin Sheff is an independent investment firm that manages portfolios of $2 million or more for high net worth investors.
Before coming to the U.S., Rosenberg was Merrills chief economist in Canada; he was named Merrills chief economist of North America in December 2002. He will be working and BofA Merrill Lynch until mid-May. Bernstein, meanwhile, has been with Merrill as a sell-side strategist for 20 years. He has worked on Wall Street for almost 25 years and will be working at Merrill until mid-April.
Prior to his work at Merrill in Canada, Rosenberg was a senior economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns as well as the Bank of Nova Scotia. He started at the Bank of Canada as an economist.
Bernstein started at Merrill in 1988. Prior to Merrill, he held positions at EF Hutton and Chase Econometrics/IDC.
