People News Archives: 2010

Darlene Rasel is resigned from Moody's Investors Service. Rasel, formerly a money fund portfolio manager with Deutsche Asset Management, joined Moody's in April 2007. (See our "People" News "Darlene Rasel Joins Moody's as Part Time Analyst".)

Union Bank's Marianne Bamonte will take over for the retiring Greg King who is currently Senior Vice President and Manager of Institutional Services. Bamonte, currently Manager of Institutional Trust and Custody, joined Union Bank in August 2008 and led the development of the Union Bank MoneyPort online money market trading "portal".

Kieran Davis has joined Barclays Capital as head its European CP trading desk in London. Davis was previously with Nomura Securties. Prior to that he was head of short-term credit trading at Lehman Brothers.

Patrick Ford, Head of Portfolio Management for Money Market Funds at BofA Global Capital Management, manager of the BofA Funds, recently retired. Ford, a 25-year veteran, was previously with BlackRock and PNC. (See Crane Data's April 30, 2007, People News, "Columbia Hires Pat Ford in Cash Investmt Group from BlackRock".)

Bloomberg reports that "Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Paul McCulley ... will retire after 27 years in financial services to join a think tank." The article says, "McCulley oversees funds that invest in bonds with short durations, including the $11.6 billion Pimco Short-Term Fund and the $517 million Pimco Money Market Fund. He also manages the Pimco Government Money Market and was slated to manage the Pimco Treasury Money Market, which the firm plans to open next year.... In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today, Pimco said Jerome Schneider, an executive vice president at Pimco, will take over the Short-Term and Money Market funds as well as Pimco Government Money Market and Pimco Treasury Money Market. Schneider joined Pimco in 2008 from Bear Stearns Cos., where he had worked since 1995. He is the deputy head of the firm's money-market and funding desk."

Money fund veteran and former Janus PM Sharon Pichler has joined the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission as a Senior Financial Analyst and Money Market Mutual Fund Specialist.

Jennifer McHugh was named Acting Director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management (which oversees mutual funds). She replaces Andrew "Buddy" Donohue who "is leaving the agency today after four years heading the Division" according to an SEC press release.

Cary Musser joined Wells Capital Management as a Senior Relationship Manager - Institutional Fixed Income (Midwest Region). He was formerly Treasurer of R.J. O'Brien & Associates LLC in Chicago.

Justin Rose, formerly of Standard Life Investments, has joined Western Asset Management as a Senior Client Executive with the Liquidity Team based in London.

Rule 2a-7 Attorney John Hunt has become a Partner at new law investment management law firm Jenkins McLaughlin & Hunt LLP. Hunt was previously at Goodwin Proctor LLP. Hunt is also scheduled to conduct the session on "Money Fund Regulations: Rule 2a-7 Basics" at our new conference, Crane's Money Fund University, January 13-14, 2011, in Jersey City, NJ.

Mike Krasner was named Managing Editor of iMoneyNet according to a Reuters brief. Krasner replaces the retiring Connie Bugbee.

An SEC press release sent out Tuesday says, "The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Andrew J. 'Buddy' Donohue plans to leave the SEC in November after serving more than four years as its Director of the Division of Investment Management. Mr. Donohue helped develop significant regulations governing the $39 trillion asset management industry, including investor-oriented rules to improve oversight of money market funds." Donohue was one of the only people to seriously mention the idea of a floating NAV for money market funds.

Daniel Tronstad has joined Wells Capital Management as a senior portfolio manager (primarily "prime" money funds). Prior to joining WellsCap, Dan was the head of cash management at RiverSource Investments.

Matt Clay, who was previously Head of Commingled Fund Solutions, is leaving Clearwater Analytics to pursue another opportunity.

Charles Schwab is seeking a "Senior Product Manager, Money Market Funds." The description on Schwab's website says, "Schwab Money Market Funds make up $160 Billion of the $206 Billion of CSIM's Assets Under Management.... This role will function as one of the product managers for the Schwab Money Market Funds. Responsibilities will include: Providing ongoing money market fund product support for product prospectus, shareholder reports, fact sheets, and SAIs; Crafting and updating money funds product plan to help identify product opportunities and priorities; Performing analysis of strategic product issues, including client usage and competitor trends; Developing money fund communications to clients and prospects; etc."

The SEC is seeking a "Senior Specialized Financial Analyst" according to a web posting. The job description says it, "Designs and implements a money market fund monitoring program within the Division. Assists in developing expertise and technical capabilities of Division personnel regarding money market funds."

Michael Cloherty is now Head of U.S. Rate Strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Cloherty was previously at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

David Greer has been named Vice President of Institutional Sales (North Eastern US) for BofA Global Capital Management, manager of the BofA Funds. Greer will be moving from Charlotte to New York, and he replaces Scott Scesney, who is moving to become director, head of Wealth Management sales.

Reich & Tang Asset Management announced the appointment of Tom Nelson as Senior Vice President, Head of Sales, Marketing and Relationship Management. "Tom's expertise brings a unique combination of successful selling experience, new product development and marketing as well as money management. His track record of building assets and developing strategies in the short-term, fixed-income markets makes him the perfect fit for our business," commented Michael P. Lydon, President and CEO.

Jennifer Wong is now Executive Director, Head of Liquidity Sales, Asia for Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Wong was previously at HSBC Global Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited.

Capital Advisors Group President Ben Campbell said yesterday in a statement, "I'm pleased to announce the return of Phil Gager, SVP of Business Development, to the New England market. Phil ... will be focusing primarily upon building the already deep relationships has developed with the venture capital community and growing businesses during our 19 years. He most recently lead business development activities in the firm's Mid-Atlantic region."

Christi Fletcher has moved from Security Global Investors (SGI) and joined Northern Trust Global Investments as a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager. She reports to Director of Money Markets, Peter Yi.

State Street's FundConnect online money market trading portal is seeking a salesperson. E-mail Greg Fortuna for more details.

Christopher Williams, CEO of Williams Capital, manager of Williams Government MMF, was profiled in the Sunday New York Times' "The Boss" column. Williams briefly discusses the company's switch from a Prime to a Government fund, saying, "At the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis, we had been offering clients a prime money market fund.... But liquidity was declining at an alarming rate, and we were afraid it would be difficult to sell our investments to satisfy shareholder redemptions if we needed to. We asked our mutual fund board to let us convert to a government fund that would invest in lower-yielding but safer, more liquid instruments, and it agreed. It was an aggressive step that wasn't popular at the time, but had we not done what we did, our fund may have ceased operations like several others."

Rich Rokus is no longer the portfolio manager of Marshall Government Money Market Fund and Marshall Prime Money Market Fund. An April 5 SEC filing/prospectus supplement for these funds says, "John D. Boritzke, a Senior Vice President and a Portfolio Manager of the Adviser, has managed the Fund since April 2010."

Randy Young, "a 30-year veteran of the institutional investment and custody sales industry, has joined Union Bank as a business development officer for the Institutional Services and Asset Management (IS&AM) division," said a press release issued Monday.

Money fund sales veteran Paul Rice has resurfaced at Deutsche Bank's DB Advisors. Rice was formerly at online money fund trading portal startup TreasuryCurve.

Jim Etten has joined Institutional Cash Distributors (ICD) as Vice President of Sales. Etten was previously at Cachematrix.

Brian Pringle has moved from Columbia Management to Russell Investments as a Portfolio Manager. He reports to Director of Short-Term Investments Kelly Mainelli.

Invesco Fixed Income CEO Karen Dunn Kelley will receive the Women's Bond Club's Merit Award, "presented to a senior woman leader for her career accomplishments in financial services," according to a press release. The Women's Bond Club is "the first organization in New York to focus on the advancement of women in finance."

Mary John Miller was confirmed as Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets. A release says, "Mary John Miller was confirmed today by the United States Senate to serve as the Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets.... Miller will also ... coordinate the inter-agency President's Working Group on Financial Markets." "I am pleased to have Mary on our team and am confident she will be integral to this Administration's efforts to help maintain stability for the financial markets and finish the work of creating a safer, more stable financial system to serve the needs of American households and businesses," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Miller spent 26 years working for T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., most recently as the director of the Fixed Income Division." Miller is also a former money fund manager and advisor to the ICI's Money Market Working Group.

A notice on the company's website says, "PIMCO is seeking to recruit a Portfolio Manager focused on short-duration and excess cash investing for a money market book in excess of $100+ billion. This individual will work with and report to the EVP, Deputy Head of Money Market and Funding Desk. The position is based in Newport Beach, California."

Barry Smith has moved to SSgA as the new global head of its Cash business. Smith was previously at BlackRock. A press release says, "In this new position, Smith, 44, will be responsible for all non-investment activities associated with SSgA's $500 billion global cash business, including distribution, pricing, product development, and client service. He reports to James Kase, executive vice president and head of Global Sales and Marketing, and will work closely with the cash investment management team led by Steve Meier, executive vice president and Global Cash chief investment officer."

Christine Trulby has joined the Liquidity team of Dwight Asset Management as their East Coast/South salesperson. She was previously at Fidelity where she focused on corporations and universities.

Intrasweep named John N. Drahzal President, according to a press release. "I am honored to take on this new role during this pivotal time in the banking industry," said Drahzal. "Coming off of 2009, banks are telling us that they need more sophisticated solutions at their fingertips that are flexible to meet their deposit and liquidity needs no matter the market environment. Intrasweep's first-to-market solutions address this issue head on and I look forward to continuing to partner with the banking community to help our clients achieve success."

Joe Tully has accepted an early retirement package from Prudential Financial. Tully was a Managing Director and Head of Short-Term, Fixed Income and oversaw Prudential's money market mutual fund assets.

Bob Brown, formerly Managing Director of Research, has been named President of Fidelity's Money Market Group, the country's largest with $488 billion in assets. He succeeds Charlie Morrison.

The American Securitization Forum announced that Tom Deutsch is the Forum's new Executive Director. The organization is also ending its administrative affiliation with SIFMA.