Joseph Boateng was named chief investment officer at Casey Family Programs, a foster care foundation in Seattle. It's a new position, said Megan Barrett, spokeswoman. Casey Family Programs brought most investment management functions for the foundation's $2.4 billion endowment in-house last January. Mr. Boateng was director of pension funds at Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J., which has about $12.8 billion in total pension assets. Johnson & Johnson is searching for Mr. Boateng's replacement, said Jeff Leebaw, spokesman.
Hideo Tanaka was named president and chief executive officer of Daiwa SB Investments (USA) the New York-based North American subsidiary of Daiwa SB Investments. It is a new position. Mr. Tanaka reports to Nobuaki Omura, president and CEO of Daiwa SBI in Tokyo. Mr. Tanaka, who has been with the firm for 35 years, was executive officer and head of the quantitative analysis and development department as well as the investment and portfolio management department in Tokyo. No details were available at press time about a replacement.
Todd B. Johnson was promoted to president at World Asset Management, a subsidiary of Comerica Bank, confirmed spokeswoman Sara Snyder. Mr. Johnson will remain CIO of the firm; he was also managing director and will not be replaced in that position, Ms. Snyder said. Mr. Johnson, who has been with World Asset Management for about 20 years, oversees investment management, client service, operations and product development. He reports to Dennis Mooradian, executive vice president of wealth and institutional management. Comerica retained World Asset Management when it sold Munder Capital Management in a management-led buyout that closed Dec. 29. World Asset Management was an internal division of Munder.
Deborah Coulter was named chief financial officer of Essex Investment Management, confirmed spokesman Stewart Lewack. Ms. Coulter will retain her responsibilities as the firm's senior vice president and director of finance and administration. CEO Chris McConnell had also held the CFO position but relinquished it when he became sole CEO of the growth equity shop following the departure of former co-CEO Malcolm MacColl, who left Essex last month to become a managing director and head of asset management at Cowen & Co.
A.A. "Tad" LaFountain III was named a director and chief investment officer, a new position, at Princeton Capital Management, said James Fitzpatrick, the firm's president. Mr. LaFountain was an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities. Separately, Hugh Fitzpatrick was named director at Princeton Capital, also a new position. Hugh Fitzpatrick, the son of James Fitzpatrick, will be responsible for managing Princeton's day-to-day business and will oversee the firm's equity trading business. He was a managing director at Wachovia Securities.
Chris Leavy was named head of equities at OppenheimerFunds, according to a news release. Mr. Leavy, a senior vice president, takes over the post from Bill Wilby, who will continue to co-manage the $8 billion Oppenheimer Capital Appreciation Fund. Mr. Leavy will remain lead portfolio manager of the $187 million Oppenheimer Select Value Fund as well as portfolio manager on the $2.8 billion Oppenheimer Equity Fund and $2.3 billion Oppenheimer Value Fund. Jeaneen Pisarra, spokeswoman for OppenheimerFunds, was not immediately available to provide further details.
Sheila Hooda was named head of strategy and managing director at TIAA-CREF. Ms. Hooda is responsible for long-term strategic planning and will lead the firm's merger, acquisition and joint venture activities. She also oversees business development, according to a news release. It is a new position, combining responsibilities from several other positions, said Chad Peterson, director, media relations. Ms. Hooda was a managing director in the investment banking unit of Credit Suisse.
Brent Bottamini was named sole portfolio manager of the $3.4 billion Fidelity Latin American Fund and the $145 million Fidelity Advisor Latin America Fund, according to Fidelity's website. His former co-manager, Adam Kutas, moved to the London office to cover various sectors in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Separately, William W. Irving was named portfolio manager of the $7 billion Fidelity Government Income Fund. He replaces George A. Fischer, who will continue to manage the investment-grade bond portions of the $25.5 billion Fidelity Puritan Fund and the $22.2 billion Fidelity Balanced Fund.
Sonia Gogna was appointed product engineer in the liability-driven investing team at State Street Global Advisors in London, according to a statement from the firm. It is a new position. Ms. Gogna was a senior investment adviser at Watson Wyatt Worldwide. She left Watson Wyatt in October and was not directly replaced, according to spokesman Paul Deane-Williams.
Kirsten Burton and Sean Kelly joined Evergreen Investments' institutional division as sales directors, said spokesman Dan Flaherty. Ms. Burton is a vice president and director of Midwest regional sales, based in Minneapolis, and Mr. Kelly is a vice president and director of subadvisory sales in Boston. Ms. Burton replaced Kevin O'Connor, who left Evergreen early last year, while Mr. Kelly replaced Jeffrey Leighton, who left last year to pursue other opportunities, said Mr. Flaherty. Ms. Burton was vice president of institutional sales and client service with Advantus Capital Management. Gary Kleist, financial vice president and COO at Advantus, said his company is in the process of replacing Ms. Burton. Mr. Kelly was a subadvisory global relationship manager with Wellington Management; Wellington spokeswoman Lisa Finkel declined to comment.
George Curry joined Epic Advisors, a record keeper for 401(k) plans, as director of business development, said Kim Dimaria, marketing manager. It is a new position. Mr. Curry manages business development in the Western United States and is responsible for institutional and retail sales management and product development. Ms. Dimaria declined to provide information about Mr. Curry's previous position, and Mr. Curry did not return calls.
Lynn K. Cherney joined recruiting firm Spencer Stuart as a consultant in the financial services and real estate practices, based in the firm's Chicago office. Ms. Cherney's position is new. She was a partner at Heidrick & Struggles' Chicago office. Jane Marcus, head of the financial services practice at Heidrick & Struggles, could not be reached by press time about Ms. Cherney's replacement.
Kristine M. Chadwick was named CFO and associate executive director of finance at the SEC, according to an SEC news release. She replaces Margaret J. Carpenter, who will retire this month. Ms. Chadwick was CFO of the Department of Agriculture's farm service agency.
Dana Bilyeu, executive officer of the $21 billion Nevada Public Employees' Retirement System, Carson City, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last month to a seat on the Social Security Advisory Board, confirmed system CIO Kenneth Lambert. Ms. Bilyeu was recommended for a position on the seven-member independent, bipartisan panel by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. The Senate Finance Committee confirmed her appointment Dec. 10.
Morningstar on Jan. 3 announced winners of its 2006 Fund Manager of the Year awards.
O. Mason Hawkins and G. Staley Cates, managers of the $9.9 billion Longleaf Partners Fund, won the award for Domestic Stock Fund Manager of the year. Mr. Hawkins is chairman and CEO of Southeastern Asset Management, which manages the Longleaf fund family, and Mr. Cates is president. The Longleaf Partners Fund returned 21.1% for the year ended Dec. 31. "(Messrs.) Cates and Hawkins recognize that consistent calendar-year returns aren't the bottom line if your long-term trade-off of risk and reward is a good one," Christine Benz, Morningstar's director of mutual fund analysis, said in a news release. "These managers also clearly communicate to their shareholders and have protected their interests by closing both funds to prevent inflows from slowing them down."
David Herro was named International Stock Fund Manager of the Year. He manages the $7.7 billion Oakmark International Fund, which returned 30.6% for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, and the $1.3 billion International Small Cap Fund, which returned 34.9% for the same period. Mr. Herro, who is CIO for international equity at Harris Associates, Oakmark Funds' manager, has invested $1 million of his own money in the funds he manages, Morningstar noted. "We believe the firm has an investor-centric culture, displayed by its decision to close Oakmark International Small Cap before it grew unwieldly. (Mr.) Herro has been doing a good job for a long time. He isn't a one-hit wonder," Ms. Benz said in the release.
Jeffrey E. Gundlach won the Fixed-Income Manager of the Year award for management of the $537 million TCW Total Return Fund, which returned 4.78% for the year ended Sept. 30, the most recent data available. Mr. Gundlach, who is CIO of TCW Group, "has done a good job balancing plain mortgage-backed securities with unusual securities such as adjustable-rate mortgages and related derivatives. The fund has an outstanding long-term record," Ms. Benz said in the release.