Mercy’s DCIO Elizabeth Jourdan Heads to Granger

She will move to the New York family office after spending five years at the Catholic health system.

Art by Iris Lei

Mercy Health’s deputy investment chief, Elizabeth Jourdan, will take over as deputy chief investment officer (DCIO) at Granger Management Holdings, according to a Thursday LinkedIn post

Jourdan will head to the New York-based family office after spending more than five years managing portfolios at Mercy Health’s $2.9 billion fund. During her tenure, she also led the socially responsible investing initiative at the Catholic nonprofit health organization, which is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.  

She will answer to Chief Investment Officer Seb Calabro, who started at Granger Management in October after a decade at a New Jersey-based risk advisory firm, according to LinkedIn. The leadership team also includes Andy Walter, a founder and managing member, and Geraldine McManus, managing member.

At Granger, Jourdan would presumably manage a much smaller fund. As of September, the family office managed nearly $760 million assets for 21 clients, according to a public disclosure. 

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The bulk of Mercy’s assets are now being managed by an outside firm—namely, Granger. Granger, according to Institutional Investor, reportedly is now managing $2 billion in assets for Mercy Health.

In November 2019, Mercy Health CIO Tony Waskiewicz left the fund after sources said the health organization conducted a review of its balance sheet. Mercy said the parting was amicable.

Neither Jourdan nor Granger responded to requests for additional comment. Mercy also did not respond to request for comment.

Jourdan previously was an investment strategist at Prime Advisors, a core fixed income asset manager. She is also a member of the Archdiocese of St. Louis’s investment committee. 

In 2020, she was named NextGen of the Year by this publication as the allocator most likely to soon be named CIO at a fund. She won the title after answering a series of rapid-fire questions along with other candidates. 

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The Market’s November Was Spectacular, So December Will Be … Down?

An LPL historical study shows the tricky dynamics for stocks in the year’s final two months.


The stock market scored a blowout gain in November, with the S&P 500 up 10.8%. Alas, history tell us that, when this happens, December’s showing turns slightly negative—but from there stocks should continue the bull stampede.

At least, that’s what a study by Ryan Detrick, LPL Financial’s chief market strategist, concludes. Why a December pause for 2020?

Investor sentiment, the study said, is getting “stretched, and this increases the potential for some near-term weakness.” For what it’s worth, with the first three trading days of December completed, the index is up 1.2%, hardly dazzling, although respectable.

Detrick specializes in historical trends, and lately they have all been fueling an optimistic outlook. Of course, as many market savants like Warren Buffett have said, if a downdraft occurs, you get a good opportunity to load up on cheaper stocks.

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Ordinarily, a performance like this November’s means similarly superb returns are in the offing. Look at last April, when the market took heart from a boatload of Washington stimulus and, reversing the ghastly February-March plummet, jumped 12.7%. Ever since, with a couple of hiccups, the trajectory has been upward.

“The bottom line is the huge gains in November could actually be the start of something much stronger,” the report observed. The LPL analysis pointed out that the only other year to have two months with gains above 10% was 1982, the beginning of the 1980s bull market.

Some special circumstance contributed to this November’s romp. “A way better than expected earnings season, a likely split Congress, and major breakthroughs on the vaccine front all helped stocks soar last month,” Detrick explained. “Add ongoing support from the Federal Reserve as the cherry on top, and we are looking at a truly historic month on many levels.”

In general, December has a deserved reputation as quite bullish. With the holidays in the air, “people feel good, and stocks tend to do well,” the report stated. By LPL’s calculations, since 1950, December has been the second-best month for the S&P 500, with only November scoring better.

Nonetheless, November’s sterling results can produce a less-than wonderful performance in December. As the study put the matter, “a big rally in November can potentially steal some of December’s thunder.”

Breaking that down, if the November rally is modest, between 5% and 10%, then December is muted, up an average 0.9%, LPL declared. Yet should the S&P 500 climb more than 10%, as happened this year, then December comes in at negative 1% on average. Since 1950, there have been three Novembers above 10%.

All of this is why, in LPL’s view, it “wouldn’t be surprised to see below average returns in December.” The silver lining, however, is that the firm believes “this is a new bull market and lasting economic cycle of growth.”

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