Miami-based investment advisor Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors has hired asset management and mutual fund industry veteran, Robert Adler as its head of distribution, a newly created position.
In the new position, Adler will work to create partnerships for the firm and assist in growing its assets under management. He will report to firm founder and president Thomas Herzfeld.
Prior to his hiring, Adler worked with Herzfeld Advisors to help in launching the Virtus Herzfeld Fund (VHFCX), an open-end mutual fund focused on closed-end fund strategies. The fund, which launched Sept. 16, is managed by Herzfeld Advisors as a sub-advisor to Virtus Investment Partners, a Hartford, Conn.-based asset management company with $23.6 billion in assets under management as of the end of September.
Both the hiring of a new distribution chief and the launching of the Virtus Herzfeld Fund are steps toward transforming Herzfeld Advisors into an asset management firm, said spokesman Michael Wichman. Prior to this change in mission, Herzfeld Advisors, which was formed in 1984, was a registered investment advisor specializing in closed-end fund investment strategies.
Before joining Herzfeld Advisors, Adler had worked in the asset management business for more than 25 years, including a long stint with Shearson Lehman. Most recently, he was independent investment consultant, and previously served as the president of XTF Advisors, a firm that specialized in research and trading of exchange-traded funds.
“Rob’s experience in the asset management business is all-encompassing,” said Herzfeld. “He is the best possible person to help us grow in a strategic way.”
