Economist Sinai Going to Boston Co.

Allen Sinai, chief economist, Shearson Lehman Bros., will join Boston Co. in January as chief economist of the firm and all its subsidiaries. In addition, Sinai will be chairman and chief executive of a newly created subsidiary, Boston Co. Economic Advisors Inc., with locations in Boston, New York and London.

Robert J. Barbera was named chief economist of Shearson Lehman Bros. Barbera is currently chief economist of E. F. Hutton Group. Shearson Lehman Bros. announced its proposed acquisition of E. F. Hutton earlier this month.

“For some time, I have been interested in the possibility of a more entrepreneurial venture,” Sinai said. “On a personal level, this arrangement will permit me to commute daily from Boston to my home in Lexington, Mass., instead of weekly from New York.”

Boston Co., a subsidiary of Shearson Lehman Bros., is an investment advisory and money management firm. Its subsidiary, Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co., is the 25th-largest U.S. depository institution with a balance sheet in excess of $12 billion.

Sinai has been chief economist of Shearson Lehman Bros. and its predecessor firm, Lehman Bros. Kuhn Loeb, since 1983, and was named managing director in 1984.

Barbera, Hutton’s chief economist since 1982, has been responsible for Hutton’s economic, corporate profit and interest rate forecasts. Responsibilities at Hutton also include participation in Hutton Investment policy committee and fixed-income positioning committee meetings.

In 1986 and 1987, Barbera was a member of the Institutional Investor All America Research team. In 1987, he shared the No. 3 ranking for economists.