Leaping from third to first, this analyst’s bullishness throughout last year was distinctly rewarded. Ted A. Izatt was recognized by Institutional Investor magazine as the No. 1 All-American fixed income analyst for energy. Izatt, senior vice president of Lehman Brothers, Inc., is responsible for credit research coverage of oil and gas on a global basis. He joined the company’s fixed income research department in July 1997.
Institutional Investor highlighted Izatt’s outstanding credentials, including his ability to move markets, his significant relationships within the oil and gas industry and with investors, and his ability to see beyond financials to truly understand company management.
When Lehman Brothers, Inc., announced last November that it might split Marathon Oil Co., its energy division, and U.S. Steel, its steel division, USX bonds widened forty basis points on fears that USX debt would be placed with the lower-rated U.S. Steel. In early December, Izatt urged investors to buy at the wider level, arguing that if the company were divided, USX’s public debt would stay with higher-rated Marathon. “He was 100 percent right,” recounts a bondholder. “In April, when USX announced the restructuring, it said all its public debt would be refinanced or stay with Marathon. USX subsequently tightened by fifty basis points, generating 366 basis points of excess returns over treasuries.”
Before his employment with Lehman Brothers, Inc., Izatt worked for Moody’s Investor’s Service. His most recent assignment was managing director of the global oil and gas group. In this capacity, he had responsibility for the ratings of oil and gas companies and energy-related project financing throughout the world. Before his appointment as managing director, he was a senior analyst covering project finance and numerous companies including integrated oils, exploration and production, oil services, and drilling. Izatt earned his BA in journalism in 1980 and his MBA in 1982 from BYU. Izatt also served for three years as a member of the Marriott School Alumni Board. He resides in The Woodlands, Texas.
