Perkins Nabs Veteran Consultant

Perkins Investment Management has hired Ron Zia, an individual with nearly 20 years under his belt as an institutional investment consultant, to be a new client portfolio manager at the Janus Capital Group subsidiary.

Zia joins the Chicago-based value equity money manager from Bradford & Marzec, where he was responsible for consultant relations and institutional marketing at the Los Angeles headquartered firm, an Aug. 11 announcement said.

In his new post, Zia, a 14-year Callan Associates veteran, will provide institutional investment consultants “with guidance on Perkins’ value investment capabilities.” He will also serve as an “internal resource for [the firm’s] institutional sales, portfolio management and client service professionals,” the statement explained.

“We're thrilled to have such a seasoned investment professional joining Perkins to help us enhance our focus on the consultant marketplace,” Peter Thompson, Perkins CEO, said in the release. “As a former consultant himself, Ron understands firsthand the challenges of plan sponsors and will be a great addition to our client service team.”

Prior to his time at Callan, Zia also held additional positions at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and ING Investment Management, the press release stated.

Currently, the 30-year old investment management firm uses a bottom-up approach to supplement its diversified portfolio model that it provides to its clients. As of June 30, Perkins had $16.1 billion in assets. Alternately, its parent company, which presently holds a 78% stake in Perkins, managed nearly $147.2 billion for shareholders, clients and institutions worldwide.

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