Deborah Gallegos was hired as chief investment officer at the $88 billion New York City Retirement Systems. She will assist Comptroller William C. Thompson in setting the investment policy for the city's five retirement systems. Ms. Gallegos replaces Desmond Mac Intyre, who left in March 2003; John Burns, who resigned recently as director of public markets for the retirement system, was acting CIO. Ms. Gallegos was deputy investment officer at the $11.4 billion New Mexico State Investment Council, Santa Fe, where she helped create and oversee the state's $2 billion private equity program, as well as the asset allocations of its public retirement funds. The New Mexico fund is searching for a replacement, although there is no timeframe in place, said Charles Wollmann, spokesman.
Robin Diamonte will become director and chief investment officer of the combined $23 billion pension funds of United Technologies Corp., Hartford, Conn., this month, said Claire Carney, treasury administrator. Ms. Diamonte replaces Harsh Bansal, who resigned in March to become vice president of investments for the $17.5 billion pension fund of Honeywell International Inc., Morristown, N.J. Ms. Diamonte was a managing director of Verizon Investment Management, which oversees the $60 billion in pension assets of Verizon Communications Inc., New York.. Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni said a replacement for Ms. Diamonte hasn't been named.
Penny Zuckerwise was hired as chief executive officer of Utendahl Capital Management, said Anne Stark, spokeswoman. Ms. Zuckerwise replaces Ira Hall, who retired as president and CEO on Dec. 1, although he will act as an adviser to ensure a smooth transition. Ms. Zuckerwise was principal and founder of Wiserock, a consulting company; before that, she was president and chief operating officer at Chancellor LGT Asset Management, now known as INVESCO. Utendahl is a fixed-income asset management firm with $2.1 billion in assets under management.
W. Forrest Matthews Jr., executive director of the $42 billion Virginia Retirement System, announced he will retire effective April 1. The Richmond-based pension system's board of trustees will begin a search for a new executive director; no decision has been made yet on whether to hire a search firm. Mr. Matthews, who has been executive director since March 2002, said in a statement that he intends to "take some time to relax and then do some of the things that I want to accomplish from a personal perspective."
Fortis Investments set up an asset-backed securities team in New York and will launch its first structured finance products by the end of the year, said North America CEO Will Braman. Fortis hired Karim Berichi as an ABS portfolio manager; Terry Campbell as ABS credit head; Patrick Fontana as a residential mortgage-backed security analyst; Vladimir Kostour as a collateralized debt obligation quantitative analyst; John Palphreyman as an ABS trader; and Frank Deustchmann as a systems engineer. Mr. Braman said Fortis will add to its U.S. fixed-income and structured credit team, increasing it to 25 people by mid-2005 from 10 now.
Mr. Berichi was head of the asset securitization group at Banca Intesa; Mr. Campbell was head of the structured finance underwriting group with ACE Guaranty Corp.; Mr. Fontana was an RMBS analyst with E*Trade Financial Corp.; Mr. Kostour was an associate in the structured finance group of Jefferies & Co.; Mr. Palphreyman was an assistant portfolio manager and mortgage-backed securities trader with TIAA Investments; and Mr. Deustchmann was chief technology officer with Trepp.
Anders Olsson was named head of equities at the 152 billion Swedish kroner ($22 billion) AP3, Stockholm. He will join the fund "sometime next year" and replaces Magnus Eriksson, who left AP3 in October, said Pernilla Klein, spokeswoman for the fund. Mr. Olsson was responsible for managing the European Equity Hedge Fund and the International Fund for Nordea Financial Institutions, according to a statement from AP3. Nordea officials could not be reached for comment by press time.
Charles P. Mayer joined Pioneer Investment Management USA as executive vice president and director of U.S. portfolio management, a new position. He oversees U.S. equities and fixed income, international investments, trading and investment communications. He reports to Osbert Hood, chief executive officer, and to Giordano Lombardo, chief investment officer of Pioneer Global Asset Management. Mr. Mayer was CIO for Bel Air Investment Advisors. Michael Sanchez, spokesman for Bel Air, could not be reached for comment by press time on whether he'll be replaced.
Deborah F. Kuenstner, managing director and chief investment officer of Putnam Investments' large-cap and international value teams and portfolio leader of the Putnam Classic Equity Fund, will leave the company at year's end, said Sinead Martin, spokeswoman. Ms. Kuenstner has no immediate job plans, Ms. Martin said. Josh Brooks, Putnam's CIO of large-cap equities, will also assume responsibility for the value teams; Michael Abata and Ronald J. Bukovac, who were portfolio managers on the large-cap value team, were named co-portfolio leaders of the Putnam Classic Equity Fund.
Laurence Bryan, system administrator of the $1.2 billion U.S. Virgin Islands Government Employees' Retirement System, St. Thomas, was relieved of his duties by the board of trustees, said Willis C. Todmann, chief financial officer. He declined to give details. Raymond James, chairman of the retirement board and acting administrator, said the board decided "to go in a new direction." It will issue an RFP shortly for Mr. Bryan's replacement, and Mr. James said he hopes to have a new administrator in place by the end of January.
Gary Mattingly retired as general manager of the $10 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System. Mr. Mattingly will work until system officials select a replacement, said Tom Lopez, CIO. An RFP has been issued for an executive recruiting firm to help find a new general manager. The RFP is available from the fund's website, www.lacity.org. Proposals are due Dec. 15.
