John Grady will replace Paul Hondros, president and CEO of NWD Investment Group, on an interim basis effective Dec. 15, parent company Nationwide Mutual Insurance announced. Mr. Hondros is leaving NWD, formerly known as Gartmore U.S., "to pursue other opportunities," according to a news release from Nationwide. Mr. Grady joined NWD, Nationwide's U.S. money management operations group, about a month ago as transition manager. Nationwide renamed Gartmore U.S. two months after the U.K. half of its Gartmore Group unit was sold in October to a London-based management team working with private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.
Talks between Nationwide and Mr. Hondros on a management buyout of the $8 billion in active equity strategies managed out of the group's Conshohocken, Pa.-based headquarters ended without an agreement, say sources familiar with the situation. The sources, who declined to be identified, couldn't say what Nationwide is likely to do now with the active equity unit.
