Daniel Goldfarb was promoted to lead portfolio manager of Babson Capital Management's small-cap core growth team, and Steven Dray was promoted to senior portfolio manager of the team's three strategies: small-cap growth, small-cap core and microcap core, said spokeswoman Faith Yando. Mr. Goldfarb will replace Paul Szczygiel, and Mr. Dray will replace Rob Baumbach; Messrs. Szczygiel and Baumbach will begin managing a long-short microcap strategy in January. In addition, small-cap team member Chris Crooks was promoted to portfolio manager of the small-cap core and microcap core strategies, replacing Mr. Dray. Mr. Goldfarb was portfolio manager for the small-cap core and microcap core strategies and an analyst for all three strategies. In his new role, he will assume responsibility for management of each of the portfolios and team members, while remaining an analyst. Mr. Dray was an equity analyst for all three strategies and will retain some of those responsibilities. Babson will hire two new analysts to replace Messrs. Dray and Crooks, Ms. Yando said.
Laura Ann Bartlett was named senior vice president and West Coast regional retirement services director at Putnam Investments, said David Tyrie, director of retirement services. The new position was created as part of Putnam's "redirection of strategy" to evaluate how the firm distributes products and services, he said. Ms. Bartlett is based in Phoenix and reports to Mr. Tyrie. She is responsible for business development of Putnam's retirement services in California, Washington and Oregon, as well as Arizona, Colorado and states in the Northwest and Southwest United States. Ms. Bartlett was a vice president and financial adviser at Merrill Lynch. The firm is constantly looking for qualified financial advisers but is not seeking to directly replace Ms. Bartlett, according to a source at Merrill Lynch who asked not to be identified.
F&C Asset Management hired three credit analysts to work with the firm's corporate bond team, said Jason Hollands, spokesman. Els van Muylder, who joined the firm late last month, covers investment-grade consumer non-cyclical credits in F&C's Amsterdam office. Omar Saeed will join F&C Aug. 15 and cover investment-grade consumer cyclical credits in the firm's London office. Alexandra Gropp will join the firm's London office Sept. 5 and will cover asset-backed securities. The positions are new, and all three analysts will report to Patrick Hendrikx, director and head of credit. F&C expanded the team because institutional investors are looking more toward corporate bonds, Mr. Hollands said. Ms. van Muylder was a portfolio manager with Dutch pension fund SBA Artsenpensioenfondsen, Utrecht. Officials at the €10.8 billion ($13.4 billion) pension fund could not be reached by press time, but a spokeswoman said Ms. van Muylder's position has not yet been filled. Mr. Saeed and Ms. Gropp were associates at Standard & Poor's, where Mr. Saeed covered consumer sectors and Ms. Gropp worked in the structured finance ratings division. Felicity Albert, a Standard & Poor's spokeswoman in London, would not comment on whether the positions had been filled.
Sasha Kostadinov joined Shaker Investments as an equity research analyst, according to spokesman Raymond Rund. It is a new position. Mr. Kostadinov was a senior equity analyst at Clarion Group. He has not been replaced; further information was not available.
