Richard Goldman resigned as president, CEO and chairman of...

Richard Goldman resigned as president, CEO and chairman of ForstmannLeff, two weeks after reaching an agreement for the firm's employees to buy out the remaining stake of the company from its majority shareholder. Mark Bergen, CFO and COO, will assume the "day-to-day" responsibilities of running the firm, said Mr. Goldman. However, ForstmannLeff will not officially fill the president and CEO position; those responsibilities will be assumed by Mr. Bergen and members of ForstmannLeff's management board. Mr. Goldman, who will retain an undisclosed equity stake in the firm, said he will assist in the transition. After reaching an agreement to purchase the remaining stake of the firm from Phillip Bennett, the former CEO of Refco Group Holdings, which owned 65% of ForstmannLeff, Mr. Goldman said he felt it was time to step down. "When I started here, my focus was on rebuilding the business, its brand name and its reputation," said Mr. Goldman, who joined ForstmannLeff from Deutsche Asset Management in 2003. "Since then, we've brought in multiple investment people, doubled the assets under management and created an entrepreneurial environment to position the firm for future growth." The firm has roughly $4 billion in assets under management.

Brian Hiestand was named CIO at the $400 million endowment of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., according to a news release from the college. It is a new position. He will work with the investment committee of the endowment's association to review its investment strategy, establish asset allocation guidelines, hire and fire money managers, and monitor investment performance. Mr. Hiestand was director of alternative investments at the $1 billion Indiana University Foundation, Bloomington, where he was replaced by Abe Weldy. Mr. Weldy was an investment analyst at the Oxford Financial Group.

Helen Dowsey joined Watson Wyatt Worldwide as a senior consultant in the firm's defined contribution business, said Paul Deane-Williams, also a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt. She will focus on business development and client consulting. The position was added because Watson Wyatt's defined contribution business "is an expanding part" of the firm's overall business, according to Mr. Deane-Williams. Ms. Dowsey reports to Kevin Stratford, senior consultant. Ms. Dowsey was defined contribution communications manager and relationship manager at Winterthur Life U.K. Helen Gilchrist, another defined contribution communications manager and relationship manager, and defined contribution communications specialist Caroline Durn are handling Ms. Dowsey's prior responsibilities at Winterthur, said Paul Riddell, spokesman. There are no immediate plans to replace Ms. Dowsey.