Merrill hires three for commodities group

Diego Parilla has joined Merrill Lynch from Goldman Sachs to head a new commodity solutions group. Two of Parilla’s former colleagues at Goldman, Kamal Gajree and Achim Traut, are joining him at Merrill’s new group in London.

The strategic solutions group is focused on Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The newly appointed managing director will report to Stefan Guetter and David Silbert, both managing directors in Merrill’s strategic solutions group in London.

Gajree, who joins as a vice-president, will focus on hedge fund clients at Merrill. He previously held a similar position in the J Aron commodities division at Goldman Sachs. As a vice-president in the nascent group, Traut will focus on structuring commodity products. Both Gajree and Traut will report to Parrilla.

An official in Goldman’s commodities division told RiskNews that Parilla, Traut and Garjee are not being replaced, and that their responsibilities have been taken over by existing staff.