Smith Breeden Associates, an analytics firm specializing in mortgage-backed securities, named Chairman Michael Giarla to the additional post of chief executive. Giarla replaces current CEO Eugene Flood Jr., who is leaving to join TIAA-CREF in May. Giarla will continue on as Smith Breeden’s chairman and head of the executive committee, which formed in 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis to manage the firm’s day-to-day operations. To his new role, Giarla brings experience in the fixed-income markets. He also is well-known authority on MBS investments, risk management and hedging. Write to Kerri Panchuk.