Rupal J. Bhansali, chief investment officer and portfolio manager of Chicago-based Ariel Investments' international and global equity portfolios, will be leaving the firm at the end of August with plans to start her own firm, according to a memorandum Ariel distributed to clients Wednesday.
Henry Mallari-D'Auria, the 30-year AllianceBernstein veteran who joined Ariel in April with five team members to lead Ariel's push into emerging markets value equities, will take on an expanded role as CIO of global and emerging markets equities, according to Ariel's memo.
"Henry developed deep expertise training and retaining analysts and portfolio managers, researching companies around the world, and directly overseeing portfolios — including managing international portfolios in his role as Co-CIO of International Value Equities," according to the memo from John W. Rogers Jr., founder, co-CEO and chief investment officer, and Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president.
The memorandum said Ms. Bhansali, who joined Ariel almost 12 years ago, will serve as a consultant to the value equity-focused asset management firm through Feb. 28.
Ms. Bhansali played an instrumental role in what Mr. Rogers described as a strategic push by Ms. Hobson over the past 12 years to diversify what had been a U.S.-focused business, expanding into global and emerging markets investing.
That push enjoyed success, with Ms. Bhansali looking after a handful of international and global strategies with combined assets of more than $6 billion as of June 30. Ariel's overall asset under management at quarter's end came to $17.2 billion.
Ms. Bhansali couldn't immediately be reached for further details on her planned venture.
The memo noted that Mr. Mallari-D'Auria managed international portfolios as well during his decades at AllianceBernstein, in his role there as co-CIO of international value equities.
Mr. Mallari-D'Auria said in an interview that his ascension to the role of CIO for Ariel's global and international portfolios won't be a new challenge for him.
Ariel's memo said portfolio managers Vlad Byalik and Christine Phillpotts, who came over from AllianceBernstein with Mr. Mallari-D'Auria earlier this year, will continue to work alongside him in managing Ariel's recently launched emerging markets strategies.
Micky Jagirdar, a 12-year Ariel veteran who serves as senior vice president, head of investments, global equities, will support Mr. Mallari-D'Auria in the management of Ariel's international and global strategies.
