Western Asset Management Co. named four deputy CIOs to CIO Mike Buchanan, who became sole CIO following the departure of Ken Leech last year — in part to enhance “transparency on succession planning,” according to a client memo from the company obtained by Pensions & Investments.
Ryan Brist, head of investment-grade credit; Anthony Kirkham, head of investment management, Asia and Australia; Mark Lindbloom, head of broad markets; and Annabel Rudebeck, head of investments, London, have each taken on the added title of deputy CIO reporting to Buchanan, effective immediately, the memo said.
The positions are new.
While all four executives will continue leading their respective segments of WAMCO’s business, as deputy CIOs they will “play a critical role in determining strategic positioning, managing the team globally and enhancing the flow of information,” allowing Buchanon to focus on strategy, implementation and portfolio management, the memo said.
The promotions come in the wake of heavy client outflows since August when then co-CIO Leech, WAMCO’s highest profile investor, received a Wells notice naming him as a target of enforcement actions.
In December, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice indicted Leech, alleging fraud. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Leech stepped down from his co-CIO position following the Wells notice and remains on leave.
Client outflows since August have topped $120 billion, with much of those funds coming out of core and core-plus strategies with which Leech was closely associated.
WAMCO reported preliminary assets under management of $255 billion as of Jan. 31, down from $272 billion as of Dec. 31 and $353.3 billion at the end of September.
The memo also noted that Prashant Chandran, a veteran portfolio manager, had been named interim head of emerging markets, reporting to Brist.
The heart of WAMCO’s emerging markets debt team, led by Mark Hughes and Kevin Ritter, left the firm in mid-January to join PPM America.
A WAMCO spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to questions regarding whether Chandran would begin rebuilding the firm’s emerging markets debt business or leave that task to a permanent replacement for that head of emerging markets role.
Elsewhere, Mike Borowske, WAMCO’s head of U.S. credit research, was named head of global credit research — adding emerging markets and London credit research to his ambit. In that expanded role, Borowske will report to Brist. Whether that role is new could not immediately be learned.
On the client service side, Derek Fan, who has led WAMCO’s U.S. consultant relations and outsourced CIO effort, has been promoted to run the firm’s U.S. institutional business development team, reporting to CEO Tom Gahan. Information on Fan’s new title couldn’t immediately be learned.
