Legg Taps Hirschmann As Chief Operating Officer
Legg Mason has selected James W. Hirschmann as chief operating officer. He will retain the title of president, which he assumed on May 1, and of chief executive officer and president of Western Asset Management, the company's largest subsidiary.
Hirschmann joined Western Asset Management as a business development executive in 1989 and was named president and CEO in 1999. Since the closing of the Citigroup transaction in December, he has led the team integrating the acquired business.
Direxion Funds Hires Five Executives to Expand Sales
Direxion Funds, which specializes in leveraged and alternative-class products, has hired five executives to help expand sales.
Four are regional vice presidents: Jeffrey D. Breese for New England, Michael E. Matarazzo for the Midwest, Steven G. Ravenna for the Southeast and Samuel E. Saucedo for the mid-South. Robyn L. Larkin was hired as a sales desk vice president.
Ravenna, who is based in St. Petersburg, Fla., was previously a regional sales consultant at Heritage Asset Management. The other three regional vice presidents have worked for units of Sun Life Financial.
Breese, who is based in Boston, was a vice president and an annuity specialist at MFSLF Distributors, where he oversaw the sales and distribution of annuities. Previously he worked at Sun Life Distributors and Sun Life of Canada. Matarazzo, who is based in Chicago, was a vice president and a regional manager for Sun Life Financial. Saucedo, who is based in Houston, was a regional vice president for that company.
Larkin joins the company from MetLife Investors, where she was a regional vice president and annuity specialist.
"We are excited to bring together such a talented group of professionals to provide nothing less than world-class service to investment advisors," said Bill Franca, executive vice president of distribution at Direxion. "I have worked with a number of these folks in the past and am confident there is no stronger team out there."
Direxion Funds, which changed its name from Potomac Funds in May, manages $1 billion of assets. Its external group of wholesalers already had two regional vice presidents.
Affiliated Managers Names Kingston Executive VP
Affiliated Managers Group has named its general counsel, John Kingston III, executive vice president.
Kingston joined the company in 1999 as vice president and associate general counsel and was promoted to senior vice president and general counsel in 2002.
"John has proven himself instrumental to the well-being and growth of our company, said Sean Healey AMG's president and chief executive officer. "We think this new designation better reflects the importance of his contributions to our corporate development, and we look forward to his continuing counsel in the years ahead."
Before joining AMG, Kingston was senior counsel at Miller, Anderson & Sherrerd, a division of Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Prior to that, he was an attorney with Ropes & Gray, where he focused on corporate and securities law, with particular attention to the investment management industry.
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