Former Labor Official Combs Joins Vanguard
Vanguard Group has hired Ann Combs, a former assistant Labor Department secretary and the former head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, to lead a newly created institutional strategic consulting group.
Beginning next month, Combs will oversee retirement policy, research and plan consulting activities.
She stepped down from the employee benefits agency in October after holding the job for five years. Before that, she was a vice president and chief counsel for pensions and retirement at the American Council of Life Insurers.
Top Investment Executive At Fidelity Stepping Down
After working at Fidelity Investments for more than 20 years, Stephen P. Jonas, currently its top investment executive, will be stepping down at the end of the month. Robert L. Reynolds, vice chairman and chief operating officer, will continue as president of Fidelity Management & Research, overseeing the senior team.
"Steve Jonas has done a remarkable job since becoming executive director of FMR in early 2005," Reynolds said. "As a result of the many organizational initiatives that Steve and his senior team put into place, our investment organization is stronger than ever. Working with that team, I look forward to building on their many accomplishments."
Jonas said: "When I took this job going on two years ago, I had certain business and personal goals that I wanted to achieve. Reorganizing our investment management operation to enable improved performance is a business goal I believe I have accomplished. With that done, I now can realize a personal goal, which is to work on a variety of other activities and spend more time with my family."
Jonas took on the position in May 2005, replacing Abigail Johnson, who is now head of Fidelity's retirement services unit.
With Jonas' departure, Walter C. Donovan is becoming president of the equity division, Boyce I. Greer president of the fixed income division and Dwight D. Churchill president of investment services.
Mrak to Head SMA Unit At BISYS Fund Services
BISYS Fund Services has hired Joseph Mrak as senior vice president and general manager for its managed account outsourcing division, WealthSolutions.
Mrak previously was vice president of product management and marketing at CheckFree Investment Services. Before that, he co-founded Placemark Investments. He has also worked for consulting firms A.T. Kearney and Ernst & Young.
"I'm very excited by the opportunities afforded me here at BISYS in servicing the wealth management sector," Mrak said. "As fees become more compressed and products and technology grow in complexity, the SMA market is following the natural progression toward outsourcing. Through WealthSolutions, managed account managers and sponsors can leverage our experience as a leading outsourcing provider in the hedge, retirement and fund industries."
Calling Mrak an innovator and one of the leading executives in the separately managed account industry, BISYS President Fred Narddaff said he will "prove instrumental in positioning BISYS as the best-in-class provider of outsourced managed account solutions. We envision significant growth potential for WealthSolutions and look forward to the many positive contributions Joe is poised to bring to our wealth management clients and prospects."
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