Weiling Zhu joined ICM Asset Management as a senior vice president and fixed-income portfolio manager. She replaces John Simms, who left the firm Oct. 20, said Seraphima Steffy, ICM spokeswoman. Ms. Steffy had no details on Mr. Simms' plans. Ms. Zhu was CIO and vice president at a life insurance company; Ms. Steffy was not able to provide further details.
Mark Roach was named managing director and portfolio manager of midcap and small-cap equity strategies at Dreman Value Management, according to a news release. Peter Anderson also was hired as a director and high-yield portfolio manager. David Dreman, the firm's chairman and founder, was not available for more details. Mr. Roach was a portfolio manager at Vaughan Nelson Investment Management, where he ran $2.2 billion in small-cap and midcap assets, according to the release. A representative for Vaughan said the firm would not comment on his departure or plans for a replacement. Mr. Anderson was a senior portfolio manager at Congress Asset Management; the firm is currently searching for his replacement, said Elizabeth Sadwick, senior vice president of marketing.
Fidelity Investments on Nov. 10 announced portfolio manager changes involving several of its funds, according to the company's website.
Jennifer S. Uhrig was named portfolio manager of the $20.4 billion Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund. She replaces John B. McDowell, who is retiring after 20 years managing Fidelity equity mutual funds, and Brian J. Hanson, who will continue to manage the $21 million Fidelity Advisor Strategic Growth Fund and the Fidelity VIP Growth Stock Portfolio variable annuity.
Portfolio manager Jason Weiner will replace Ms. Uhrig as manager of the $6.3 billion Fidelity Advisor Equity Growth Fund and the Fidelity VIP Growth Portfolio, Fidelity said. Portfolio manager Robert C. Bertelson will replace Mr. Weiner as manager of the $4.6 billion Fidelity Independence Fund and will continue to manage the equity portions of the VIP Asset Manager and VIP Asset Manager Growth variable annuities. Portfolio manager Peter Saperstone will succeed Mr. Weiner as manager of the $1.2 billion Fidelity Fifty Fund and the $108 million Advisor Fifty Fund, while continuing to manage the $7.6 billion Fidelity Advisor Mid Cap Fund.
In other changes, C. Robert Chow was named portfolio manager of the $11.6 billion Fidelity Equity Income II Fund, succeeding Stephen M. DuFour, who will continue to manage institutional accounts, according to Fidelity spokesman Vin Loporchio. Mr. Chow will continue to manage the $7.2 billion Fidelity Advisor Equity Income Fund. Scott Offen was named portfolio manager of the $122 million Fidelity Advisor Equity Value Fund, also succeeding Mr. DuFour. Mr. Offen will continue to manage the $941 million Fidelity Value Discover Fund. Richard B. Fentin was named portfolio manager of the VIP Value Portfolio variable annuity, also succeeding Mr. DuFour. Mr. Fentin will continue to manage the $17.1 billion Fidelity Value Fund and the $131 million Fidelity Advisor Value Fund.
James Morrow was named portfolio manager of the $1.7 billion Fidelity Advisor Diversified Stock Fund, succeeding Timothy M. Cohen, who took over the $30 billion Fidelity Growth & Income Fund a year ago. Mr. Cohen has been managing both funds. Mr. Morrow will continue to oversee the $1.7 billion Fidelity Select Technology Portfolio, the $2.2 billion Fidelity Select Electronics Portfolio and the $30 million Fidelity Advisor Electronics Fund.
Peter Stournaras was named senior portfolio manager and researcher at Northern Trust Global Investments, a new position in the firm's quantitative unit, confirmed John O'Connell, spokesman. Also joining the unit are portfolio managers Lingjie Ma and Alex Ryer. The new hirings are part of the firm's efforts to globally expand its quantitative capabilities, Mr. O'Connell said. Mr. Stournaras, who was a director and co-portfolio manager on the Legg Mason Partners Mid Cap strategy, left the firm earlier this year. That strategy is now run by portfolio managers Brian Angerame and Derek Deutsche, who co-managed the strategy with Mr. Stournaras before his departure. Mr. Ma was a portfolio manager at PanAgora Asset Management, where he worked on long-only and long-short strategies; calls to PanAgora about his replacement were not immediately returned. Mr. Ryer was a senior portfolio manager and trader in Northern Trust's international equity index group; Mr. O'Connell could not immediately say how Mr. Ryer would be replaced.
David Fann joined Pacific Corporate Group as a managing director in the firm's asset management group, according to a company spokesman who declined to be identified. In addition, Michael Underhill, a managing director who was in charge of new business development, left the firm on Monday; he has not been replaced. The spokesman had no information about Mr. Underhill's plans. Mr. Fann was founder of Inflection Equity Partners, a small-cap buyout firm that started raising its first fund in April. Inflection will cease operation in the near future, the spokesman said. Further details could not be learned by press time.
Lillyn Teh was named managing director of quantitative research and risk management at Oppenheimer Capital, and Anne Budlong was named a senior vice president and research analyst on the firm's global and international equity team, focusing on European stocks, confirmed spokesman Jeff Sharan. Both positions are new. Ms. Teh was director of research for quantitative strategies at Citigroup Asset Management. Ms. Budlong was an international portfolio manager at Credit Suisse Group. Suzanne Fleming, spokeswoman for Credit Suisse, could not be reached for information on Ms. Budlong's replacement.
Peter Hadden and Steve Oler, portfolio managers at Pyramis Global Advisors, replaced James Rutherford in overseeing the European portion of the international growth equity strategy at the institutional investment unit of Fidelity Investments, said Steve Austin, Fidelity spokesman. Mr. Rutherford left "to pursue new and different challenges for the next part of his career," Mr. Austin said. He had no further details, and there was no immediate information on where Mr. Rutherford could be reached. Messrs. Hadden and Oler came to Pyramis in 2005 from Putnam Investments, where they were portfolio managers for international equity strategies.
Errol Francis will join Schroder Investment Management as fund manager on the U.K. equities team, spokesman Richard King said. Mr. Francis will be in charge of specialist, higher-alpha portfolios. Based in London, he will report to Richard Buxton, head of U.K. equities. Mr. Francis will take over some of the asset management responsibilities now handled by Tom Carroll, fund manager, who will leave the firm in January, although Mr. Francis is not directly replacing Mr. Carroll, Mr. King said. No further information about Mr. Carroll's plans was available at press time. Mr. Francis is now a U.K. fixed-income fund manager at Credit Suisse; spokeswoman Kelly Likouris could not be reached for information about a replacement.
Owen Lamont joined hedge fund manager DKR Capital as a portfolio manager. The position is new, part of an expansion of DKR's systematic trading investment team, which is taking a behavioral finance approach to systematic trading, according to a news release. Mr. Lamont is a professor of finance at Yale University and has been working as a consultant to DKR. Talia Druker, a DKR spokeswoman, declined to say if Mr. Lamont will retain his academic position. Mr. Lamont did not return a call by press time seeking comment.
Andrew Hill was named co-manager of Comerica Asset Management's $180 million all-cap strategy. He replaces Mike Nurenberg, who left in June, said Sara Snyder, Comerica spokeswoman. Mr. Hill was a senior portfolio manager for Fifth Third Bank, where he managed the assets of high-net-worth clients.
William Cunningham was named senior vice president of fixed-income research for State Street Global Markets, confirmed spokeswoman Carolyn Cichon. It is a new position. He will report to Mark Marinella, executive vice president and global head of fixed-income research, sales and trading. Mr. Cunningham was founder, CEO and CIO of Breakaway Capital Advisors, a credit hedge fund and independent research firm. The firm has closed because Mr. Cunningham wanted to pursue this opportunity, he said.
Nicholas J. Colas was named director of research for BNY Jaywalk, a subsidiary of brokerage and investment technology solutions firm BNY ConvergEx Group, confirmed Andrew Sprung, spokesman. Mr. Colas will develop and market services that match research from BNY Jaywalk's independent equity researchers with the needs of BNY ConvergEx Group's institutional clients. It is a new position. He will report to John D. Meserve, chairman of BNY Jaywalk and a director of BNY ConvergEx Group. Mr. Colas was director of equity research at Rochdale Securities. Kevin Cassidy, COO of Rochdale Securities, was not immediately available for comment at press time.
Steve Paddon was named managing director and head of Investec Asset Management's U.S. institutional business, said spokeswoman Victoria Cork. The position was created to help the U.K.-based firm expand its institutional presence in the United States, particularly through Investec's global and regional equity, frontier market, natural resource, currency and specialized fixed-income strategies. Mr. Paddon was managing director and head of institutional sales and marketing at Credit Suisse Asset Management. Suzanne Fleming, spokeswoman for Credit Suisse, said Mr. Paddon left the company in August following a restructuring; all institutional sales and marketing duties are headed by Rob Ranges, director.
John "Jack" L. Klinck Jr. joined State Street Corp. as executive vice president and head of global investment product services, according to a news release. It is a new position. Mr. Klinck will be responsible for "the strategic direction, global sales and product structuring of the company's hedge and offshore fund servicing capabilities worldwide," the release said. Mr. Klinck was vice chairman and president of Mellon Financial's investment manager solutions group. Mellon spokesman Mike Dunn said the operations of that group were absorbed earlier this year into Mellon's global asset servicing group, and Mr. Klinck's duties have been assumed by Vice Chairman James P. Palermo and members of his team.
Patrice Ellis was named senior vice president and head of client services at Prudential Retirement, said Darrell Oliver, spokesman. It is a new position. Ms. Ellis was senior vice president of service and technology for the investment products division at Hartford Life Insurance. Tim Benedict, spokesman for Hartford Life, declined to say who replaced Ms. Ellis.
Noel Archard was named head of product development for Barclays Global Investors' U.S. iShares exchange-traded fund business, a new position, confirmed Christine Hudacko, spokeswoman. Mr. Archard will be based in New York. He was a principal at Vanguard, responsible for institutional ETF sales management. Vanguard does not comment on personnel matters, said John Demming, spokesman.
Paul Simmons was hired as a partner at Apollo Real Estate Advisors to lead the firm's first Mexican investment strategy, said Michelle Manoff, spokeswoman. Apollo will invest in the region through a new fund, the Apollo Real Estate Finance fund, which is currently being raised with a $600 million target. Mr. Simmons was risk manager for GE's Capital Markets business in New York.
Andrew Boedecker was rehired by Fund Evaluation Group as senior operations manager, confirmed CEO Scott Harsh. Mr. Boedecker will be responsible for trading, portfolio management and operational oversight at FEG Advisors, the consultant's manager-of-managers unit. He reports to Gary Price, managing principal. Mr. Boedecker was a registered representative for brokerage operations for FEG until last year; Mr. Harsh was not able to provide further details by press time.
Garrett McDaniel was named a managing director at the Newport Group, a provider of retirement plans and investment advisory services, said Liz Holmes, spokeswoman. It is a new position. Mr. McDaniel is responsible for overseeing new marketing and sales initiatives and leading joint business development projects. He was a senior vice president and director of corporate/institutional services at UBS PaineWebber. Doug Morris, spokesman for UBS PaineWebber, did not return calls seeking information on aNewport Group, a provider of retirement plans and investment advisory services, said Liz Holmes, spokeswoman. It is a new position. Mr. McDaniel is responsible for overseeing new marketing and sales initiatives and leading joint business development projects. He was a senior vice president and director of corporate/institutional services at UBS PaineWebber. Doug Morris, spokesman for UBS PaineWebber, did not return calls seeking information on a replacement.
Geoffrey Furlonger was appointed head of the European Union practice for Aon Consulting, spokeswoman Bridget Agnew said. The position was added as a result of "the growing importance of the EU to clients' businesses," Ron Army, Aon Consulting's chairman and CEO, said in a prepared statement. Mr. Furlonger was previously director of pension services at Lombard International Assurance based in Luxembourg. Prior to that, he was head of the EU practice for Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Lombard International spokesman Stephen Secrette could not be reached for information about Mr. Furlonger's replacement.
Bradford P. Campbell was named acting assistant secretary of labor and head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, effective Nov. 30, according to a Labor Department spokeswoman who asked not to be identified. Mr. Campbell, formerly deputy assistant Labor secretary for policy, replaces Ann Combs, who stepped down Oct. 27. Ms. Combs has yet to announce her career plans, according to the department spokeswoman. Details on Mr. Campbell's replacement could not be learned by press time.
Alexander F. Cohen was named deputy general counsel for legal policy and administrative practice at the SEC, a new position, according to an SEC news release. Mr. Cohen is a partner in the Hong Kong office of the law firm of Latham & Watkins, where he is co-chair of the firm's corporate finance practice group.
Christianna Wood, senior investment officer-global equity of the $220.1 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, and Michael P. McCauley, director-corporate governance and investment communications at the $118 billion Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, were appointed to the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Washington. Their two-year terms begin in January. The 31-member group advises the board on establishing auditing and related professional practice standards.
Robert M. Aaron, CEO of DPM Mellon, was re-elected chairman of the Managed Funds Association at the hedge fund organization's Nov. 1 meeting, according to a news release. Four new directors were elected to two-year terms: Jolyne Caruso, global head of absolute return strategies at Lehman Brothers; Robert J. Caruso, managing partner and COO at Highbridge Capital Management; George Hall, founder and CEO of Clinton Group; and Tracy Wills-Zapata, managing director at Campbell & Co. Four incumbent directors were re-elected for a second two-year term: Philip N. Duff, chairman and CEO of FrontPoint Partners; Patrick T. Egan, executive director at Morgan Stanley; Kevin F. Shannon, CFO of Moore Capital Management; and John R. Torell IV, CFO of Tudor Investment.