American Century Adds Two Independent Chairmen
One year ahead of the independent fund chair mandate, American Century Investments has complied with it, tapping Donald H. Pratt and Ronald J. Gilson as chairmen of two of the company's fund boards.
Gilson will succeed American Century President and CEO William M. Lyons as chairman of the company's Mountain View, Calif., board, which oversees 33 fixed income, money market and quantitative equity funds. Gilson has served on this board since 1995 and is considered an expert in corporate and securities law.
Pratt will take the place on the Kansas City, Kan., board of James E. Stowers, Jr., the 80-year-old founder of American Century. This board, on which Pratt has served as a director since 1995, oversees the firm's 21 domestic growth, value and international equity portfolios. Pratt is the retired chairman of the board of Butler Manufacturing Co. and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Western Investments Inc.
According to Lyons, American Century was simply adding to its existing "significant level" of independence. "For many years, we've exceeded our industry's best-practices standards by maintaining boards where nearly 80% of the directors are independent," he said.
Icon Funds Names Paydock Regional Vice President
Icon Funds has tapped industry veteran Christopher Paydock as a vice president in the company's northwestern territory.
In his new position, Paydock will be responsible for dealing with intermediaries who sell the firm's separately managed accounts, mutual funds and sub-advised annuities.
In his most recent position, Paydock served as a regional director for Lockwood Advisors. Before that, he worked for McDonald Financial Group as a wholesaler and an analyst. He has also spent time at Merrill Lynch as a financial consultant.
Pioneer Promotes Perruccio To Global Head of Sales
Pioneer Investments company veteran Matteo Perruccio has been named global head of sales, as well as head of the global institutional business, a newly formed division.
Since 2002, Perruccio had been charged with handling distribution for all of Pioneer's non-U.S. operations. Beginning late that year, he had also been head of the company's Italian business.
The company said that its global institutional business is a key focus for growth over the next couple of years. "In building our international distribution capabilities, Matteo has demonstrated leadership, global vision and the ability to execute effectively, making him ideally suited for this new role," said Pioneer Deputy CEO Giordano Lombardo.
Of his new position, Perruccio commented: "Many of our clients and distribution partners are global firms, and it makes good sense to manage our relationships with them from a global perspective."
Upromise Recruits Howkins As Chief Operating Officer
Upromise Investments has named Jeff Howkins chief operating officer. Howkins most recently worked at Old Mutual Asset Management, where he was chief risk officer focusing on the company's operational efficiency.
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