India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Names New CEO

India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd., a sovereign-linked alternative asset manager with approximately $5 billion in assets under management, has named Sanjiv Aggarwal as its CEO and managing director, effective in February.

Aggarwal will succeed Rajiv Dhar, who has been the fund’s interim CEO and managing director since May 2023, when Sujoy Bose resigned after serving as CEO and managing director since 2016.

“The Board of Directors of NIIFL extends its gratitude to Mr. Dhar for his exceptional leadership during his interim term,” the board said in a statement. “His contributions have been fundamental in maintaining the continuity and success of NIIFL’s operations.”

Aggarwal will join the NIIF from U.K.-based investment firm Actis, where he has worked since 2008 and was most recently responsible for the company’s energy investments in Asia. Prior to Actis, he was at Citigroup for seven years, where he worked in the Indian energy sector and was promoted to head of power, energy, chemicals, mining and transportation for India. He also previously worked at ANZ Investment Bank for nine years, heading its project financing team for urban infrastructure and oil and gas.

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The NIIF describes itself as a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors, anchored by the government of India. The fund manages funds with investments in different asset classes and diversified sectors. The NIIF manages about $5 billion of equity capital commitments among its four funds: the Master Fund, Fund of Funds, Strategic Opportunities Fund and India-Japan Fund.

Although the Indian government, which owns 49% of the NIIF, established the fund and seeded it with $3 billion, the fund is operated independently. The owners of the remaining 51% include institutional investors such as Canada Pension Plan’s CPP Investments, Australian Super, PSP Investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Temasek.

“I am privileged to have the opportunity to guide NIIFL at such an exciting time in the company’s journey with its unique positioning in India and its growth potential,” Aggarwal said in a release. “I am committed to building on NIIFL’s strong track record and look forward to working with NIIFL’s talented team to invest in India’s very strong growth story and create value for our stakeholders.”

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Tags: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Actis, Australian Super, Canada Pension Plan, CPP Investments, India, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, NIIF, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, PSP Investments, Rajiv Dhar, Sanjiv Aggarwal, Sujoy Bose, Temasek

Coming of a year-end equities rally and facing a year of macro challenges, high-level leadership changes are helping Wall Street ring in 2024. Both Voya Financial Inc. and the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced promotions on Wednesday in institutional investing, retirement wealth management.

Voya announced that Christine Hurtsellers, CEO of Voya Investment Management, will retire later in 2024, with Matt Toms, global CIO of Voya IM, succeeding her in the role, effective immediately.

Before retiring, Hurtsellers will serve as a strategic adviser to the company. Meanwhile, Toms has joined Voya Financial’s executive committee; both executives report to Voya CEO Heather Lavallee.

“After almost 20 years at Voya, and as I look ahead to retirement and the ability to attend to my family’s needs, I am grateful for and proud of all that the team has accomplished over the years,” Hurtsellers said in a statement. “In the meantime, I look forward to working closely with Matt and Heather—and to engaging with our clients, intermediaries and employees—to ensure a smooth transition.”

In his prior role, Toms oversaw 300 investment professionals managing approximately $310 billion in assets under management across fixed income, equities, multi-asset solutions and alternative strategies. He previously served as CIO of fixed income. Prior to joining Voya IM in 2009, Toms worked with Calamos Investments as a senior vice president and director of its fixed-income business.

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“Matt has been global CIO since 2022, has 30 years of asset management expertise, and has great insights into the needs of our clients,” CEO Lavallee said in a statement. “His deep knowledge and experience with our firm, and his passion for our clients, will serve him well as he leads Voya IM into its next stage of growth.”

Voya also announced that Eric Stein has left a position at Morgan Stanley to become Voya IM’s head of investments and CIO of fixed income.

Stein, who will report to Toms, will lead the public fixed-income investment team, as well as oversee the broader equities, income and growth and multi-asset strategies and solutions investment teams.

“I am excited to have Eric on the Voya IM leadership team,” Toms said in a statement. “His more than 20 years of investment experience and demonstrated expertise in leading sizable teams throughout his career will no doubt bring great value to our investment teams and our clients.”

Stein previously served as CIO of fixed income at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, managing 275 professionals and investment strategies for the division’s approximately $200 billion fixed-income platform.

Goldman Promotes Wilson to New Role

Goldman named Greg Wilson to a newly created position in the client solutions group as head of retirement for asset and wealth management, according to a company memo. Wilson will shift from his current role as head of workplace advisory solutions for Goldman Sachs Ayco, the firm’s workplace financial benefits division, but continuing to report to Larry Restieri, head of Goldman Sachs Ayco.

In the new position, Wilson will set strategy across the firm’s retirement distribution, defined contribution and workplace advisory divisions with the goal of “enhancing collaboration,” according to the memo from Marc Nachmann, Goldman’s global head of asset and wealth management.

“The firm has a long history of working with employers to help them deliver high quality financial wellbeing and retirement programs for their employees,” Nachmann wrote in the memo. “As we expand our focus on the growing DC and individual retirement account (IRA) market, we are seeing increasing demand from participants and the organizations that support them for personalized solutions, tailored strategies and engaging digital experiences.”

Nachmann noted that the firm’s multi-asset solutions group will continue to oversee managed account investment advice and DC advisory. The multi-asset group is co-headed by Tim Braude and Valentijn van Nieuwenhuijzen.

Wilson joined Goldman in 1995. Prior to his current role with Ayco, he had led Goldman’s Honest Dollar division, a low-cost retirement plan platform for individual savers, small businesses and independent contractors. Prior to that role, he led third-party wealth platform solutions by which he marketed the firm’s sub-advisory, hedge fund of funds, insurance solutions and DC investment-only products for the U.S. and Canada.

The firms make the moves as a number of financial analysts, including Goldman’s macro-economic team, are forecasting a more stable year in the markets after recent years of volatility stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and rising interest rates.

Tags: Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Institutional Investing, Retirement Industry People Moves, Voya