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Corporate MovesDecember 24, 2020

WK Kellogg CIO Joel Wittenberg to Go into Consulting

The philanthropy has launched a search for a replacement.

By Sarah Min

Art by Nigel Buchanan

Joel Wittenberg, chief investment officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will go into consulting after more than a decade leading investments at the philanthropy. The foundation has launched a search for his replacement.

The vice president and CIO oversaw roughly $8 billion in assets at the Battle Creek, Michigan-based foundation, according to his LinkedIn profile, where he announced his retirement on Tuesday. Institutional Investor first reported the departure on Monday.

“I’m excited to announce that I’ll be retiring from the W.K Kellogg Foundation after 11 years. On day one, I said this was my dream job and it’s been even more fulfilling for me. I’ve worked with a great investment team and the rest of the inspiring team working on the foundation’s important mission,” Wittenberg said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.

“I will begin a new chapter consulting for clients on investment infrastructure and processes, as well as impact investing best practices and help large and institutional investors achieve their goals,” he continued.

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The children’s foundation has launched a search for its next investment chief, according to a job listing that was posted two weeks ago. The CIO will report to the president and chief executive officer. As of publication, about 30 candidates have applied for the role, according to LinkedIn.

During his tenure at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Wittenberg pushed forward racial equity initiatives, recruiting people from diverse ethnic backgrounds to his investment team. The foundation has had success placing venture capital bets, and has researched investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Last year, he was awarded an industry innovation award by CIO Magazine.

Prior to his CIO appointment, Wittenberg from 2000 to 2009 was the vice president and treasurer at the Kellogg Company, where he led the treasury and managed investor relations for the global food concern.

Over his roughly 30-year career, Wittenberg was also vice president and treasurer at flooring and ceiling company Armstrong World Industries, director of treasury and investments at Dow Chemical, and a fixed-income portfolio manager at Alexander Hamilton Life Insurance.

He graduated in 1992 from the University of Michigan, where he earned a degree in business administration.

His last day at the foundation will be January 29.

Will a Santa Claus Rally Grace This Yuletide?

Forget the 12 days of Christmas: Today marks the beginning of the traditional year-end market jump, LPL says, if it happens.

By Larry Light

Will there be a Santa Claus rally this year? That refers to the final five trading days of December and the first two in January. So its official start is today.

Historically, December is the best month of the year for the market. What’s little known, said Ryan Detrick, LPL Financial’s chief market strategist, is that the oomph for the month comes at the end. The Santa Claus rally, as discovered in 1972 by Yale Hirsch, creator of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, pulls the entire 12^th month in its wake.

At this point, with 17 trading days completed through Wednesday, the S&P 500 is up 1.9%. With the coronavirus vaccine getting deployed and another round of federal stimulus in the wings, the stock market seems to be in a fairly decent mood, even though 1.9% isn’t a blowout. (The index inched ahead 0.07% yesterday.)

“Why are these seven days so strong?” Detrick asked in a research note. “Whether optimism over a coming new year, holiday spending, traders on vacation, institutions squaring up their books before the holidays—or the holiday spirit—the bottom line is that bulls tend to believe in Santa.”

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Odds favor a robust December finish: Detrick noted that 78% of the time during this period, the market has been up. And the seven days in question average an increase of 1.3%. That marks the second-best seven-day stretch of the year, historically speaking.

The course of these seven days spanning December and January usually foretells how January will go, Detrick said. “If Santa should fail to call,” Hirsch maintained, “bears may come to Broad and Wall.” That’s the address of the New York Stock Exchange. From the mid-1990s on, Old Saint Nick was AWOL six times for Christmas. When that happened, January was lower in all but one.

“Considering the bear markets of 2000 and 2008 both took place after one of the rare instances that Santa failed to show makes believers out of us,” Detrick added. “Should this seasonally strong period miss the mark, it could be a warning sign.”

November was up a heady 10.75%, and Derick himself has written that very big Novembers often portend a less-good December. Meantime, let’s hope that the words of that popular Christmas carol come to pass: “Good tidings we bring to you and your kin.”