Janus Capital has named George S. Batejan as senior vice president, global head of technology and operations, reporting to Janus Chief Executive Officer Dick Weil.
Batejan comes to Janus from Evergreen Investments, where he was senior vice president and chief information officer. A 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, Batejan also served as executive vice president and chief information officer for OppenheimerFunds. He worked for 18 years at Chase Manhattan Bank in a variety of positions, including in the service delivery group, private banking and in Asia as chief information systems officer.
"I see many opportunities in this role at Janus, as I strongly believe that technology and operations can provide a solid foundation by which the firm can grow and expand," Batejan said.
Paulsen Named Sales Chief At Transamerica Capital
Transamerica Capital Management has promoted Dave Paulsen from national sales manager for annuities to chief sales officer. In addition, Transamerica will begin using a multi-channel approach to its mutual fund business, creating smaller territories and increasing its number of wholesalers.
"This new strategy positions us well for challenges that arise now and in the future," Paulsen said. "We are committed to the mutual fund and annuity businesses, and we strongly believe this structure allows us to grow most efficiently moving forward."
Fidelity Selects Byrne To Lead Transition Mgmt.
Fidelity, a year after creating a dedicated transition management group, Fidelity Capital Markets, has appointed Kevin Byrne to lead the growing practice.
The transition management group helps institutional clients, such as pension funds, insurance companies and 401(k) plans reduce the costs associated with moving assets from one entity to another.
Byrne steps into the role as business in the group is booming. Fidelity started running transitions for clients in 2008, and by the end of 2009, had handled $1.9 billion of transitions in its first year. Year to date, the group has handled close to $12 billion in transitions, according to John Eidson, a spokesman for Fidelity Investments.
Byrne will oversee the group's daily operations, which includes handling renewed demand for more asset transitions. The transactions had backed off a bit during the financial market downturn, because asset managers did not have the resources to focus on transitions as before.
"They were focusing on asset allocation," Eidson said. "They had to sideline transitions until they were ready to focus on that again."
Asset transfers happen under several different circumstances-such as when retirement plan sponsors change plan managers, or when they set up a separate transition account. Normally, assets being transferred come from a defined contribution plan, but they can originate from institutional clients, too.
As for Byrne, he has been in the asset transition industry for more than 12 years, specializing in portfolio trading, transaction cost analysis, and equity and fixed-income derivatives. Previously, he was head of the New York-based U.S. transition management group at ConvergEx Group, a division of Bank of New York Mellon's institutional brokerage business.
Wilmington Trust Poaches Three Merrill Advisers
In an effort to expand its presence in the Northeast, Wilmington Trust has hired three Bank of America Merrill Lynch advisers for its New York office.
The Delaware company hired Walter J. Dillingham, Jr. as a managing director and business development officer; John M. Lawson as a managing director and investment adviser; and Leigh H. Weiss as a managing director and investment adviser.
All three will work in Wilmington Trust's New York office and specialize in serving the endowments and foundations market.
Roger W. Hobby, the president of Wilmington Trust FSB's Northeast region, said that the three advisers will "serve as a national resource for our firm as we continue to expand our efforts in the important endowment-and-foundation market segment."
Dillingham is a chartered financial analyst and has 27 years experience in the financial services industry. Most recently, he was director of philanthropic management for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he provided asset management services to endowments, foundations, and healthcare organizations throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He held a similar role at Bank of America predecessor Fleet Bank, which he joined in 2000. Earlier in his career, he worked at David L. Babson & Co. Inc., where he worked with institutional investors on sub-advisory and managed account programs. Before that, he worked at Standard & Poor's with institutional investors as a director of managed funds ratings and was an equity analyst covering the financial services sector.
Lawson has more than 18 years of experience working with institutional asset management clients. Most recently, he was a senior institutional portfolio strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. At predecessor company U.S. Trust, Lawson was a senior institutional relationship manager, with a focus on serving endowment and foundation clients. Earlier, he supported pension clients at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. and Bankers Trust Co.
Weiss has worked in the industry for 31 years. At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, he was a managing director and senior institutional portfolio strategist. As a managing director at predecessor company U.S. Trust, Weiss was a portfolio manager and strategist. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker. MME
