Pilgrim Baxter CEO, Co-Founder Quit in Probe
As the news broke that New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer might press charges against them, Harold Baxter, chairman and chief executive officer of Pilgrim Baxter & Associates, and Gary Pilgrim, co-founder, quit their positions. An internal probe into investments by one of the two also prompted their forced resignations. The pair started their $7.4 billion company, now owned by Old Mutual, in 1974. Scott F. Powers, CEO of Old Mutual Asset Management, has replaced Baxter as chairman.
Old Mutual CEO Jim Sutcliffe told analysts on a conference call the insurer is optimistic that with the departures of the two, any problems relating to questionable trading has been put to an end. "The investigation is still ongoing, and we are not at a point where we can give you absolute certainty, but we are at a point where we can give you our instinct that we have got to most of these issues," Sutcliffe said.
Windham in Partnership With OppenheimerFunds
OppenheimerFunds has added Windham Capital Management to its institutional asset management team in an effort to bolster its investment management team.
Operating under the same name but as an arm of Oppenheimer, the addition of Windham is designed to combine growth-oriented strategies with sound fundamentals.
"I am extremely excited about the future opportunities presented by our relationship with OFI Institutional," said Windham Chairman and CEO Neil McCarthy.
The team will be housed in shared offices at Two World Financial Center in New York.
Said OFI Institutional Asset Management President Chuck McKenzie of the new relationship: "With Windham's solid long-term track record, their investment capabilities in domestic growth equities will fill a gap we had in our product line-up, continued McKenzie. You might say that they are the last piece of the puzzle."
Janus Replaces Garland As CEO of Janus Int'l
Embattled fund manager Janus Capital announced last week the resignation of Richard Garland, chief executive officer of Janus International and managing director of Janus Global Adviser. Garland was forced out amid seething criticism after New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a complaint against the firm for allowing New Jersey hedge fund Canary Capital Partners to market time its international mutual funds.
Replacing Garland is Erich Gerth, national sales director of Janus Global Adviser in the U.S. Gerth, 40, assumes responsibility for Janus' worldwide broker/dealer and independent adviser sales functions and the company's international institutional sales business.
Gerth joined Janus in July 2003 with 15 years of experience in the investment industry, including a five-year stint with Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he served as national sales director for the third-party broker/dealer channel. During his brief tenure at Janus, Gerth has recruited six regional sales directors, each with an average of 20 years of sales experience. He will report directly to Janus Capital CEO Mark Whiston.
Separately, Janus promoted David Schofield, Janus International's institutional sales director for Europe, to the new position of regional sales director for Europe and the Middle East.
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