PEOPLE: McMorgan names CEO

John Santaguida was named CEO at McMorgan & Co., according to a news release from parent company New York Life Investment Management. He replaces Jim Moss, who is retiring. Mr. Santaguida was previously managing director and head of client service, sales and marketing. McMorgan has $9.5 billion in assets under management in fixed income and real estate.

Kurt Harrison was named a managing director in executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates’ financial services group. Based in New York, he will focus on searches in the global fixed-income, equity, commodity and currency markets, according to a news release. Mr. Harrison was a managing director of U.S. interest rate sales with Nomura Securities International, and prior to that he was global head of U.S. Treasury trading at Banc of America Securities. Natalie Jones, a spokeswoman for Russell Reynolds, and Ralph Piscitelli, a spokesman for Nomura Securities, did not return phone calls by deadline.

Bernie Knobbe, senior director of global benefits at Hilton Hotels Corp., Beverly Hills, Calif., left the firm as part of an overall staff reduction, Mr. Knobbe said in an e-mail. He oversaw Hilton’s $600 million 401(k) plan. His duties will be handled by Mark Lopez, a director in the global benefits department, according to a spokeswoman at Hilton. Mr. Lopez did not return two calls seeking additional information.

Edward Kelly was named president of Citi Alternative Investments and Armando Diaz was named head of U.S. institutional cash trading. Mr. Kelly replaced John Havens, who retains his CEO title, said Mike Hanretta, deputy director of public affairs. Mr. Diaz replaces Matt Newton who moved on to a new position within equities trading at Citi.

Mr. Kelly was managing director in Carlyle Group’s financial institutions group, which he joined seven months ago. Before that he was president and CEO of Mercantile Bankshares. Chris Ullman, Carlyle spokesman, could not be reached by deadline. Mr. Diaz was a partner at Goldman Sachs, managing single-stock cash and derivatives. Ed Canaday, Goldman Sachs spokesman, said that the firm has no comment on a replacement for Mr. Diaz.

Also, Shakil Ahmed was named managing director and head of quantitative strategies at Citi Alternative Investments, spokesman Jon Diat confirmed. It is a new position, responsible for quantitative strategies across all asset classes. Mr. Ahmed will report to Mr. Havens. Mr. Ahmed was a senior adviser at Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities group. Information on his replacement was not immediately available.

Alice Hocking was named COO at Diversified Investment Advisors, confirmed spokeswoman Wendy Daniels. Ms. Hocking replaced Peter Kunkel, who will remain president. She was senior vice president, operations, at DIA; she will not be directly replaced. Also, Joseph P. Carusone was named senior vice president of fund operations, responsible for fund administration, accounting and compliance. He was vice president and head of DIA’s accounting department.

Brian Duperreault was named president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., effective immediately, confirmed spokeswoman Celeste Martinez. He replaces Michael G. Cherkasky, who stepped down in December. Mr. Duperreault was CEO of ACE Ltd. from 1994 to 2004 and chairman of the board from 2004 to 2007; he was a director until the Jan. 30 appointment. Evan G. Greenberg, CEO of ACE, was named chairman in May, according to the company’s website. MMC is the parent company of investment consultant Mercer.

Robert C. Wright joined Lee Equity Partners, a private equity investment firm as a senior adviser. Mr. Wright was vice chairman and director of General Electric Co., and had been president and CEO of General Electric Financial Services, and chairman, president and CEO of National Broadcasting Co.

Jerry Allen was named executive director of the $5.3 billion City of Milwaukee Employes’ Retirement System, effective Feb. 18, said Tom Rick, CIO.

Mr. Allen has been director of benefit investments and compliance at the former Stora Enso North America Inc., the North America unit of Stora Enso OYJ, which had $769 million in defined benefit assets and $405 million in 401(k) assets. NewPage Corp. acquired the firm in December. Mr. Allen couldn’t be reached for comment; other company officials could not be reached about his replacement.

Martin Matson, deputy director, has been acting executive director of the Milwaukee fund since Michael Dolson stepped down in February 2007.

Hudepohl & Associates assisted.

James Purnell was appointed Britain’s secretary of state for work and pensions, following the resignation of Peter Hain. Mr. Purnell was secretary of state for culture, media and sport.

Mr. Hain resigned the cabinet position amid controversy because he didn’t declare, in a timely manner, political contributions totaling £103,000 ($203,000). He announced his resignation following a decision by the Electoral Commission to refer the case to the Metropolitan Police for possible further investigation. Mr. Hain has denied wrongdoing.

Barry Brakey was named investment director, private markets, at the A$61.3 billion (US$52.8 billion) Future Fund, Melbourne, Australia, according to the fund’s website. Mr. Brakey will focus on developing and managing the fund’s property investments. He will report to Gary Gabriel, head of private markets. Mr. Brakey was a co-founder of Pinnacle Property Group, a Melbourne-based property consulting group. He will provide consulting support to the Future Fund until he formally joins April 1.

Doug Kramer joined private equity firm Quadrangle Group as a managing principal and COO, a new position. He was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he headed the firm’s global manager strategies group. Goldman spokeswoman Andrea Raphael said a replacement will be named soon.

Ramu Thiagarajan was named managing director and head of Deutsche Asset Management’s quantitative research center, said Janet Campagna, managing director of quantitative strategies for the firm. Mr. Thiagarajan will collaborate with DeAM’s quantitative equity, portfolio engineering, strategic asset allocation and global-macro research teams. Separately, Yufeng Liu was named vice president and research analyst, and Jiho Han was hired as a research analyst, both with the quantitative global equity team, Ms. Campagna said. All three men came from Pequot Capital Management, where Mr. Thiagarajan was principal and head of quantitative strategies, Mr. Liu was a vice president and research analyst and Mr. Han was an associate for a global market-neutral strategy fund. Pequot spokesman Jonathan Gasthalter would not say how they were replaced.

John T. Hyland was named CIO at energy commodities manager Victoria Bay Asset Management, confirmed Katie Rooney, director of business development. It is a new position. Mr. Hyland was director of portfolio research; a successor has yet to be named, Ms. Rooney said. “Commodities are an exciting area of investing and we anticipate moving forward to further expanding our offerings in 2008,” said Nicholas Gerber, Victoria Bay president, in a news release.

Jamie Horvat and Charles Oliver were named investment strategists at Sprott Asset Management, effective Thursday, confirmed Andrew Morris, a Sprott spokesman. The positions are new. Both were portfolio managers at equity and precious metals firm AGF Management. AGF is conducting a search for “at least one” portfolio manager, according to a press release.

Christopher C. Abbott, senior marketing director with alternatives money management firm 2100 Capital Group, has left the company. Reached by telephone, Mr. Abbott declined to comment about his plans. A spokesman for Old Mutual Asset Management, 2100 Capital’s parent company, confirmed Mr. Abbott’s departure, but said there’s no immediate information on plans to replace him.

Sandra C. Whiston, senior managing director overseeing Putnam Investments’ North American institutional sales and client relationships, will retire in June, said spokeswoman Laura McNamara. Catherine A. Saunders was appointed to lead Putnam’s North American institutional business and will work with Ms. Whiston in the coming months. Chad H. Cristo, a senior vice president and senior regional marketing director for the northeastern U.S., will replace Ms. Saunders as a managing director overseeing Putnam’s retail distribution in the western U.S.,

John Gibas was named institutional marketing director at Piper Jaffray, a new position. Mr. Gibas will be responsible for developing relationships with institutional clients for Fiduciary Asset Management, which was acquired in September by Piper Jaffray. Mr. Gibas was managing director and head of third-party distribution at FAF Advisors & First American Funds, where he was replaced by Derek Chow.

Jaime Hobbeheydar was named director of marketing, investor relations and product management at Thales Fund Management. The position is new at the hedge fund manager, which runs about $1.1 billion, said spokesman Armel Leslie. Mr. Hobbeheydar will focus on growing the firm’s pension plan, endowment and foundation client base, Mr. Leslie said. Mr. Hobbeheydar was director of client service and a client adviser at Bridgewater Associates; Bridgewater spokesman Alexei Nabarro did not return a call seeking information on a replacement.

Joseph Gelly joined Congress Asset Management as executive vice president-institutional sales, said spokeswoman Liz Sadwick. The position is new. Mr. Gelly was a managing director with SEI Investments, where he led institutional sales efforts for turnkey investment solutions. No information was available on his replacement.