Ontario Teachers promotes Petroff to CIO

Neil Petroff was named chief investment officer and executive vice president of investments at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Toronto, effective Jan. 1, confirmed spokeswoman Deborah Allen. He will replace Robert Bertram, who is retiring.

Mr. Petroff is group senior vice president of investments at Ontario Teachers. He will retain those duties and will not be replaced, Ms. Allen said.

Mr. Petroff has worked at the plan since 1993, serving as a member of the executive management team and leading the international equity indexes, fixed income, foreign exchange, tactical asset allocation and alternative investment groups.

The plan held C$108.5 billion (US$87.5 billion) in assets as of Dec. 31, 2007.

Todd Johnson was named CIO at ProFunds Group, confirmed spokesman Tucker Hewes.

He will oversee the investments of ProShares ETFs and ProFunds mutual funds.

George O. Foster had been acting CIO but will assume other duties, including a new position directing product development strategy, Mr. Hewes said. Mr. Foster became acting CIO earlier this year, taking the position from William Seale. Mr. Seale remains chief economist and principal at ProFunds, which has $25 billion in assets under management.

Mr. Johnson was president and CIO of World Asset Management. Ken Schluchter, World Asset's managing director of domestic equities for the last 10 years, will replace Mr. Johnson as president, according to a statement from World Asset. Ted Miller, managing director of international investments, will serve as CIO.

Christian Deseglise, global head of emerging markets business at HSBC Global Asset Management, left the firm “to pursue other interests,” said spokeswoman Jenne Mannion.

Sylvia Coutinho, regional head of Latin America for HSBC Global Asset Management, will take on Mr. Deseglise's duties and retain her current title; Mr. Deseglise's position will not be filled, Ms. Mannion said.

Mr. Deseglise joined HSBC's asset management division in 2004. In January 2007, he was named global head of emerging markets business.

Further information was not available from HSBC, and Mr. Deseglise could not be reached for comment.

As of Sept. 30, HSBC's emerging markets assets under management totaled $67 billion.

Jack Cunningham, CIO at J. & W. Seligman, and the firm's taxable bond team have been laid off as part of Seligman's acquisition last month by Ameriprise Financial, confirmed Ameriprise spokesman Ryan Lund.

The Seligman brand will remain, but the organization is being melded into Ameriprise's RiverSource Investments money management unit, and the layoffs reflect the redundancies that inevitably emerge in an acquisition, Mr. Lund said.

The spokesman confirmed the following taxable bond team departures: Francis Mustaro, a managing director and head of the Seligman investment-grade fixed-income team; J. Eric Misenheimer, managing director and head of the Seligman high-yield group; Henry Rose, senior vice president and portfolio manager; and Paul Langlois, a high-yield analyst.

Mr. Lund said the bulk of Seligman's investment teams will remain with RiverSource, including the technology team, led by Paul Wick; the small-cap growth team, led by Michael Alpert; the core growth team, led by Erik Voss; the value equity team, led by Neil Eigen; and the municipal bond team, led by Thomas G. Moles and Eileen Comerford.

BlackRock laid off roughly 10 investment professionals as part of an effort to streamline its operations, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Among those leaving are Tom Burke, manager of the $2.7 billion BlackRock Fundamental Growth fund and the $445 million BlackRock Global Growth fund, along with six analysts on his team, she said.

Others leaving the firm are Linda Zhang, co-manager of the $501 million BlackRock Asset Allocation fund; Jordan Schreiber, co-manager of the $337 million BlackRock Healthcare fund; and Jeff Gary, one of four managers on both the $862 million BlackRock High Income fund and the $1.4 billion BlackRock High Yield Bond fund; he will not be directly replaced.

The spokeswoman also confirmed that Delfina Perez, general manager of BlackRock's Spanish and Portuguese operations, is leaving the firm. Asked if Ms. Perez will be replaced, the spokeswoman said BlackRock is in the middle of reviewing its operational needs.

Jeffrey R. Lindsey and Edward P. Dowd, managers of the $200 million BlackRock Capital Appreciation fund, have taken over management of the Fundamental Growth fund, while Thomas P. Callan and Michael D. Carey, managers of the $74 million BlackRock Global Opportunities fund, will take over management of the Global Growth fund. Co-manager Philip Green will become the sole manager of the BlackRock Asset Allocation fund, while co-manager Robert C. Hodgson becomes sole manager of the BlackRock Healthcare fund.

Clare Richer will join Putnam Investments as a senior managing director and chief financial officer, and Andra Bolotin will join as a managing director and controller, according to a Putnam news release.

Ms. Richer will replace Mitchell Graye, president and chief executive officer of affiliate Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co., who has served as interim CFO since Amrit Kanwal left Putnam on March 31, spokeswoman Laura McNamara said.

Ms. Bolotin, meanwhile, replaces Stacy Mills, who left Putnam on Sept. 12, said Ms. McNamara, who had no further information on Ms. Mills' plans.

Ms. Richer was executive vice president of Fidelity Management & Research, according to the Putnam news release, while Ms. Bolotin was senior vice president and CFO of Fidelity Investments' developing business group, as well as CFO of Fidelity HR Services. Fidelity spokesman Vin Loporchio said David Golino, CFO of Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co., will assume Ms. Bolotin's CFO duties on an interim basis until a replacement is named. Ms. Richer won't be replaced, as the project she was working on has been completed, Mr. Loporchio said.

Daniel C. Farrell was named head of equity trading at Putnam Investments.

He replaces Richard Block, who left Putnam at the end of November, said spokeswoman Laura McNamara. She declined to provide further information on Mr. Block's plans.

Mr. Farrell was vice president, equity trading, at RiverSource Investments. Mr. Farrell's position will not be filled, said Ryan Lund, RiverSource spokesman.

Stephen Dexter, Denise Selden and David Shea were named portfolio managers at Copper Rock Capital Partners, bringing an international equity capability to the small-cap value equity boutique, according to executive recruiters.

The three were managing directors at Putnam Investments and portfolio managers of the $421 million Putnam International New Opportunity fund; they left Putnam at the end of October, said Laura McNamara, a spokeswoman for Putnam.

Mr. Dexter had been lead portfolio manager for the fund. Jeffrey Sacknowitz, an analyst with Putnam's global equity research group, has taken over management of the Putnam International New Opportunity fund, according to a previous announcement by Putnam.

Peter J. Hadelman, a principal and head of relationship management with Copper Rock, declined to comment.

Susumu Okamura was named president and representative director of UBS Global Asset Management's Japanese division, according to a news release.

He replaces Christof Kutscher, who will relocate to Hong Kong and continue as head of UBS Global Asset Management for Asia Pacific; Mr. Kutscher is also a member of the company's group managing board.

Mr. Okamura was head of institutional marketing and products for UBS Japan.

A UBS spokesman could not be reached for further details.