Industry

Wall Street may not exactly be on a roll, but at least it's beginning to rumble.

Putnam Investments has promoted Robert E. Alan to head of North American consultant relations and Keith E. Thomas to head of international consultant relations. The two will work with the consultants who advise institutional investors on investment strategy and the selection of managers.

The Insured Retirement Industry has hired Lisa Plotnick as director of research, a new position IRI has created to establish itself as a research leader.

Morningstar announced Monday that its chief operating officer, Tao Huang is leaving the company at the end of the month.

The Chicago-based company said that Huang, 48, will continue to serve as a management advisor to the firm.

Sam Guerrieri is listed as president-elect in the trade's group's board members section, but he will not become president of BISA until 2012, according to current BISA's president, Marc Vosen.

Morgan Stanley has shifted the roles of several top executives as the firm sets out to strengthen its international presence, according to a company memo from Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman obtained by On Wall Street.In the memo, Gorman announces that Colm Kelleher, co-president of institutional securities, will relocate to London and assume new responsibility for Europe, the Middle East and non-Japan Asia. The heads of those regions will report to Kelleher, who will also have responsibility for the firm’s global sales and trading business.

In an SEC filing, Grail Advisors, a provider of actively managed exchange-traded funds launched in January 2009, indicates it may be in the process of being acquired. Should that fail, it may liquidate its actively managed ETFs.

It is one thing for a registered investment advisor to buy an investment-planning product to streamline operations at his or her practice, but smoothly integrating that product is often a much bigger production.

Joyce, a former 3Com executive, helped power global distribution of the Palm Pilot.