Morgan Keegan names new fixed-income chiefs

NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - Morgan Keegan & Co, a brokerage and investment banking unit of Regions Financial Corp (RF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) that has struggled with credit market problems, on Monday named new chiefs for its fixed-income operations.

Robert Baird, 56, was named president of fixed-income capital markets, while Kevin Giddis, 46, was named head of fixed-income sales, trading and research.

Baird had been an executive managing director and head of fixed-income investment banking. He replaces John Carson, who in February was named Morgan Keegan's chief executive. Giddis joined Memphis-based Morgan Keegan in 1998 to manage a retail fixed-income trading desk.

Several bond funds operated by Morgan Keegan in 2007 lost more than 50 percent of their value from exposure to complex debt, often tied to mortgages, and investor redemptions. It is rare for bond funds to suffer annual losses that large.

Birmingham, Alabama-based Regions said last month it had received information requests from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the Morgan Keegan bond funds. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Brian Moss and Leslie Gevirtz)