Leo de Bever in August will become the first chief executive officer at the C$75 billion (US$73 billion) Alberta Investment Management Corp., Edmonton. AIMCo, which was launched Jan. 1, oversees numerous Alberta government funds, including seven public-sector pension plans. Mr. de Bever is chief investment officer at the A$40 billion (US$38 billion) Victorian Funds Management Corp., Melbourne, Australia, and was senior vice president of research and economics from 1994 to 2004 at the C$108.5 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Toronto. E-mails to Victorian Funds Management regarding Mr. de Bever's replacement were not answered
Bever moves to Alberta from Australia
Curtis Arledge will join BlackRock Inc.'s fixed-income portfolio management group as a managing director and co-head of U.S. fixed income, effective July 1, said Barbara Novick, BlackRock vice chairman. Mr. Arledge replaces Andrew Phillips, who is taking on the new position of global COO of fixed income. Mr. Arledge will be responsible for managing fixed income with a sector emphasis on non-agency asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities. Stuart Spodek remains the other co-head of U.S. fixed income. Previously, Mr. Arledge served as global head of Wachovia Corp.'s fixed-income division, but also was a BlackRock fixed-income portfolio manager from 1988 to 1993. Wachovia spokeswoman Alex Ball wasn't immediately available to comment.
In addition, Todd Kopstein, a managing director who has served as lead sector specialist for asset-backed securities and a lead portfolio manager for short-duration mandates will leave BlackRock, confirmed spokesman Brian Beades. He said he has no information on Mr. Kopstein's plans. Mr. Arledge and Tom Musmanno, a director with BlackRock, will assume lead portfolio manager duties for the short-duration mandates, while Eric Pellicciaro, a managing director with BlackRock, will assume Mr. Kopstein's duties as lead sector specialist for asset-backed securities.
Edgar E. Peters will join First Quadrant on June 17 as a co-director of global macro, said Max Darnell, CIO and director of research. He will work with current co-directors Kenneth Ferguson and Dori Levanoni. The position is new and reflects the strong growth in demand for global macro strategies, which currently account for two thirds of the firm's assets, Mr. Darnell said in an interview. Mr. Peters was co-CIO of macro strategies at PanAgora Asset Management. Edward Qian, PanAgora's other co-CIO of macro strategies, will become sole CIO of macro, PanAgora CEO Eric Sorensen said. Mr. Sorensen said PanAgora was sorry to see Mr. Peters leave, but respected his decision to pursue new opportunities.
In an interview, Mr. Peters said it was a difficult decision to leave PanAgora after 23 years.
Michael E. Wilens will join Fidelity Investments in mid-July as head of asset management, a new position that will provide cohesive oversight for Fidelity's three major investment divisions: Fidelity Management & Research, Pyramis Global Advisors and Strategic Advisers, said Fidelity President Rodger A. Lawson in a news release. Mr. Wilens was executive vice president, strategy, technology and innovation with information provider Thomson Reuters. Neither Thomson Reuters spokesman Ty Trippet nor Fidelity spokesmen were available for comment.