A round of layoffs and departures has followed Marsh & McLennan’s Aug. 3 sale of Putnam Investments to Power Financial Corp.’s Great-West Lifeco unit. Putnam spokeswoman Laura McNamara confirmed a total of 75 positions in “distribution and support” areas were eliminated as part of an effort to control costs and improve margins; none of the reductions involved Putnam’s investment division. She declined to provide the names of employees affected.
Market watchers said a number of executives are moving on, either on their own or the company’s initiatives. They include Jeffrey F. Peters, senior managing director, head of international business; David Puddle, a London-based international account manager; William Sullivan, director of institutional product management; Kevin Orr, director of business development for Putnam’s PanAgora Asset Management quant subsidiary; and Michael Arends, investment product manager at Putnam.
Ex-Putnam veterans, who declined to be identified, said Managing Director and Director of Defined Contribution Business Chris Thompson will assume Mr. Sullivan’s duties in the new position of head of investment product management. Mr. Peters’ duties will be split between Gordon Forrester, as head of Asia Pacific, who had been serving as a managing director and head of marketing, and Joseph Phoenix, as head of European distribution.
Mr. Peters confirmed his imminent departure. Reached by telephone, he said while Putnam has been “great for me,” he wants to spend some time with his family while planning the next phase of his career. Putnam’s London office said Mr. Puddle is on vacation. Messrs. Sullivan, Orr and Arends couldn’t immediately be reached.
Scott Schoelzel, executive vice president and portfolio manager at Janus Capital Group, will step down at the end of the year, said Shelley Peterson, spokeswoman. Mr. Schoelzel was responsible for $17.8 billion in assets as of June 30, including the $10.4 billion Janus Twenty Fund, the $3.6 billion Janus Advisor Forty Fund and the $1 billion Janus Aspen Forty Fund, as well as various other institutional and separate account strategies, said Ms. Peterson. Ron Sachs, executive vice president and portfolio manager, will replace Mr. Schoelzel. Mr. Sachs currently manages the $4 billion Janus Orion Fund and other strategies; he will be replaced by John Eisinger, currently equity research analyst.
Mr. Schoelzel has been with Janus for 14 years and thought it was “time to consider new and different challenges,” said Ms. Peterson; he will take some time off before making plans.
Robert Aguallo Jr. will retire as general manager of the $11.2 billion Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System on Dec. 31 “to explore other career opportunities,” Mr. Aguallo said. He is considering working for a money management firm or a company in another area of the investment business. The system’s investment board has not decided any details on a search for his replacement.
Siobhan Boylan was named CFO of Morley Fund Management, said a spokeswoman. Ms. Boylan replaces David Watson, now CFO of Aviva Europe, a unit of Morley’s parent company, Aviva. Ms. Boylan was Aviva’s director of group financial reporting.
Jon Lekander was named CIO of Aberdeen Property Investors, confirmed a spokesman. The position is new. Mr. Lekander was head of investment strategy for Aberdeen Property, which has about e12 billion ($16.34 billion) in assets under management. Alessandro Brondo, head of European research, will replace Mr. Lekander in addition to retaining his current responsibilities.
Mark Marwede joined Principal Funds as managing director of investment-only solutions, said Terri Hale. It is a new position. Mr. Marwede was a senior vice president at Fidelity Investments, where he managed institutional clients, choosing subadvised, retail and adviser funds for pension and annuity programs. Calls to Fidelity for information on a replacement were not returned by press time.
Mark Sodergren joined Northern Trust Global Investments as a senior portfolio manager with the firm’s global quantitative management team, said spokeswoman Alexis Geocaris. It’s a new position. Mr. Sodergren was a portfolio manager with BGI; it could not be learned by presstime if he would be replaced.
Separately, Jacob Weaver, a vice president and portfolio manager with NTGI’s quantitative active management team in Chicago, moved to London as head of the firm’s London and Tokyo-based global index team. He replaces Rodney Fernandes, who left the company, said Ms. Geocaris.
Alec Robert Harrell joined Northern Trust as vice president and portfolio manager for Northern Trust Value Investors, an NTGI division serving high-net-worth and institutional investors, said spokeswoman Cathryn Raia. It’s a new position. Mr. Harrell was principal and portfolio manager at Convergent Fund Management, a quant equity firm he helped found in 2005. He was replaced by Mark D. Mandell, said co-founder Christopher D. Powell.
Maarten Nederlof and Sean Capstick were promoted to co-heads of the hedge fund capital group at Deutsche Bank, replacing John Dyment. Messrs. Nederlof and Capstick are both managing directors at the bank. Mr. Nederlof worked in the New York office of Deutsche Bank’s hedge fund capital group. Mr. Capstick will retain his current roles as co-head of global prime brokerage sales-Europe and head of Deutsche’s hedge fund capital group-Europe, said spokeswoman Renee Calabro. Mr. Dyment reportedly joined hedge fund manager Shumway Capital Partners. Kenneth F. Palumbo, Shumway’s CFO, did not return a call seeking confirmation.
Timothy F. Munoz will join Legg Mason as senior vice president, head of corporate marketing and communications, starting Sept. 17, said spokeswoman Mary Athridge. He replaces Paige Littleton, who will retire but remain a consultant to the firm. Mr. Munoz was a partner with branding and marketing consultant Prophet.
Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, was appointed to the private equity advisory board of Lehman Brothers, confirmed Brian Finnegan, spokesman.
Wade Slome, one of two portfolio managers of the $10.6 billion large-cap growth equity American Century Ultra fund, is leaving, said spokeswoman Laura Kouri. Stephen J. Lurito, who joined the firm in June as CIO of growth equities, will replace Mr. Slome temporarily, teaming up with co-portfolio manager Tom Telford while American Century seeks a replacement. Ms. Corey said Mr. Slome plans to return to his native California to start an investment firm. Mr. Slome couldn’t immediately be reached for further details.
Audrey Kaplan joined Federated Investors as senior vice president, and Geoffrey Pazzanese as assistant vice president, confirmed spokeswoman Meghan McAndrew. Ms. Kaplan will be senior portfolio manager of the $365.7 million Federated Intercontinental Fund, an international equity mutual fund acquired Aug. 28 from Rochdale Investment Management, and Mr. Pazzanese will be portfolio manager of the fund. Both were portfolio managers for the Rochdale Atlas Portfolio, which Federated renamed the Intercontinental Fund. Ms. Kaplan and Mr. Pazzanese report to Federated CIO Stephen Auth.
Mark Melchiorre joined UBS Global Asset Management’s single-strategy hedge fund unit, UBS O’Connor, as managing director and head of credit strategies. The position is new, said Kris Kagel, a UBS spokesman. “We … believe the market opportunity for his credit-trading skill set is tremendous. With the current downdraft in credit markets and Mark’s leadership, we feel it is a good time to build the business,” Joseph Scoby, managing director and global head of UBS’ alternatives and quantitative investments group, said in a news release. Mr. Melchiorre was a member of the high-yield credit-trading group at Credit Suisse.
Jon Thompson was promoted to vice president of structured finance at Advantus Capital Management, said a spokeswoman for the real estate investment management firm. It is a new position. He previously was an investment officer.
Rahul Gupta, Agnes Kong and Ryoko Kondo are joining the Carlyle Group as vice presidents in its Asia leveraged finance group. The positions are new, created to augment the newly formed group. Mr. Gupta was a director with UBS in Asian fixed-income research and Ms. Kong was a senior associate of JPMorgan’s Asia syndicated and leveraged finance team; both joined Aug. 1. Ms. Kondo also was a member JPMorgan’s Asia syndicated and leveraged finance team and will join Carlyle in October.
Rob Friederich joined Johnson Capital as vice president in the firm’s San Diego office, said Kristen Coco, spokeswoman. It is a new position. Mr. Friederich will focus on small to midsize loan origination and secured debt financing deals in a variety of real estate sectors. He was senior investment specialist at Benchmark Financial, a mortgage banking firm.
C.P. Eaton Partners, an independent placement agent, hired three people to help expand its real estate, private equity and hedge fund placement businesses, according to a news release. Daniel Vene will be an associate in the real estate group; he was a principal of Allegiance Capital Partners, a real estate and private equity firm. Jeffrey J. Eaton will be an associate in the private equity group; he was a director in the natural gas structuring and trading division at Constellation Energy Commodities Group. Thomas L. Knechtel will be an associate in the hedge fund group. He was a vice president at Channel Capital Group, where he focused on raising institutional capital for the firm’s third-party hedge fund mandates.
Peter Britto was named finance director at alternatives manager Gerken Capital Associates, according to a news release. The position is new. Mr. Britto was senior consultant at Desjardins Financial Security, where he was responsible for daily valuations of hedge funds.
John Zimmerman, executive vice president and managing director of Janus Institutional Asset Management, resigned to launch a third-party marketing shop, confirmed spokesman James Aber. Mr. Zimmerman was responsible for institutional sales and marketing for Janus and subsidiary INTECH’s $70.5 billion in institutional assets under management, said Mr. Aber. Janus CEO Gary Black will fill in for Mr. Zimmerman while the company officials look for a replacement. No details about Mr. Zimmerman’s new firm were available at press time.
Jack Swift, senior vice president of institutional sales at Janus Institutional, also left the firm, confirmed Mr. Aber. Janus is “exploring all options” regarding Mr. Swift’s replacement, Mr. Aber said. Mr. Swift could not be reached for comment.
Tuba Malinowski joined Principal Real Estate Investors as director of marketing and client services, according to a spokeswoman. It is a new position. Ms. Malinowski had been director of institutional marketing at Principal Real Estate Investors but left to become director of client relations for RREEF. Her position at RREEF will not be filled.
Russell M. Parker was named chief marketing and distribution officer for FBR Capital Markets’ family of mutual funds, alternative investment vehicles and other asset management products. The position is new. In a news release, President and COO Rick Hendrix said Mr. Parker will help lead the expansion of the firm’s asset management platform.
Mr. Parker was president and chief distribution officer for Active Investment Advisors, a division of Natixis Asset Management Advisors. Peter Joyce, a spokesman for Natixis, said his firm does not comment on personnel matters.
Mats Langensjo was appointed head of institutional business, Nordic region, at Pioneer Investments, according to a news release. It is a new position; he will set up an office in Stockholm for Pioneer. Mr. Langensjo was managing director of Aon Consulting in Stockholm. No further details were available by press time.
Alex Kleiman joined CitiStreet Australia as head of marketing and strategy. Michael Longes was named head of tax, and Lyn Trewenack, joined as member service manager. All three work with Australian superannuation funds, according to a news release. Mr. Kleiman was a director of financial services at consultant Chant West; Mr. Longes was at Ernst & Young; and Ms. Trewenack was responsible for establishing CitiStreet Australia’s contact center capability. Further information was not immediately available.
David Olney, vice president and relationship manager for public and Taft-Hartley funds at Northern Trust, left the firm on Aug. 2, confirmed Alexis Geocaris, spokeswoman. She could not provide any details, but said the firm is looking both internally and externally for his replacement.
Salvatore Bruno was named senior vice president at index provider IndexIQ and Gregory Sivin was named vice president, confirmed Chris Sullivan, spokesman. Both positions are new. The two will focus on research and product development, with Mr. Bruno leading the effort. Messrs. Bruno and Sivin were both directors and project managers at Deutsche Asset Management; they worked on mutual funds with a combined $6.5 billion in assets. Ted Meyer, spokesman at DeAM, could not be reached for comment.
Scott Abel and Richard Faw joined Mercer Investment Consulting as principals and senior consultants, said spokeswoman Stephanie Poe. Mr. Abel will work in Mercer's Atlanta office while Mr. Faw will be based in San Francisco. The positions are new. Mr. Abel was a consultant with Stratford Advisory Group, which is replacing him, said Thomas H. Dodd, a senior consultant with Stratford. Mr. Faw was a senior consultant in the San Francisco office of Buck Consultants; Buck spokesman Ed Gadowski said he didn’t immediately have information about plans to replace Mr. Faw.
Mercer also hired Jack Liu as a senior associate in its manager research group in Chicago. He was an investment analyst with Ennis Knupp & Associates. Also, Carey Teichman joins the Chicago office as a generalist researcher; she worked with Morningstar, supervising construction of the firm’s hedge fund database.
Mercer also hired Joseph Kim as an associate and consultant in its Los Angeles office, and Kweku Obed as an associate and consultant in the Chicago office. Both positions are new. Mr. Kim was an associate consultant with Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting; spokesman Ed Emerman wasn’t immediately available to comment on plans to replace Mr. Kim. Mr. Obed joined Mercer from Merrill Lynch.
Separately, Helga Birgden was named principal and head of Mercer Investment Consulting’s responsible investment business in the Asia-Pacific region, said spokeswoman Ms. Poe. It’s a new position and takes effect Sept. 24. Ms. Birgden was manager of governance and sustainable investment at UniSuper Ltd., a US$11.5 billion pension fund in Melbourne, Australia. She will be based in Mercer’s Melbourne office.
Heather Christopher was named an associate on the real estate advisory team at Ennis Knupp, a new position. She will report to Scott Brown, principal and head of real estate research, and will advise institutional clients and work on manager research, said Angelina Kolbusz, spokeswoman. Ms. Christopher oversaw external managers for a $2 billion real estate portfolio at the $77.6 billion Ohio Public Employees’ Retirement System, Columbus. OPERS is actively seeking a replacement, said spokesman Rich Baker. He said the process is expected to continue for a couple of months.
Douglas Crawshaw was named senior investment consultant on the real estate team at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, said Paul Deane-Williams, head of public relations-investment. It is a new position. Mr. Crawshaw will focus on researching real estate investment managers. He was a property funds manager at Morley; he was not directly replaced, a spokeswoman said.
Separately, Watson Wyatt hired David Gold as a manager research consultant, researching hedge fund managers. He replaces Gideon Niewoudt; information on Mr. Niewoudt was not immediately available. Mr. Gold was a senior associate at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Information on his replacement was not available at press time.
