In Brief: B of A Unit Hires 2 for Health-Care Group

NationsBanc Montgomery Securities Inc., BankAmerica Corp.'s San Francisco-based securities subsidiary, made two senior appointments to its health-care investment banking group.

Brian Brille was named a senior managing director in charge of the group, and Charles Ditkoff, a senior managing director reporting to Mr. Brille. Both join the firm from the health-care group at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and are to be based in New York.

Mr. Brille is to report to Carter McClelland, Montgomery's New York- based director of investment banking. He fills a post vacated by Jeff Child, who has assumed a new role in the unit's equity capital markets group.

Separately, Montgomery announced that it hired Gary M. Giblen to be a managing director and senior research analyst focusing on food and drug retail chains, including natural products. He is Montgomery's first retail analyst to focus on this sector.

Mr. Giblen is to be based in New York and report to Thomas A. Thornhill, head of research. He joins the firm from First Albany Cos., where for the past five years he was ranked an "all America" analyst by Institutional Investors magazine. He was named an "all star" stock picker by The Wall Street Journal last year.