Aon Appoints Lambros Lambrou as Global CEO of Commercial Risk Solutions

Aon has appointed Lambros Lambrou, as global CEO of Commercial Risk Solutions. Lambrou has worked within the risk management industry for more than three decades, holding leadership roles that span numerous Aon solution lines and regions. Lambrou assumes the Commercial Risk Solutions CEO role from Mike O’Connor, who was named co-president of Aon in May 2018.

“Lambros is a widely respected and collaborative leader with broad industry experience spanning risk management, broking and specialty strategy,” O’Connor said.  

Lambrou’s diverse 30-year career at Aon has spanned nearly all our solution lines and geographies and truly embodies Aon United. His recent roles in Commercial Risk Solutions have included CEO of Australia, CEO of the Global Broking Centre in London, chief broking officer in EMEA, as well as global chief operating officer for Aon Broking and head of carrier management for Aon. Most recently, Lambrou served as chief commercial officer and CEO of global specialties for Commercial Risk Solutions and will maintain those responsibilities.

Lambrou will assume his additional responsibilities immediately and continue to be based in Aon’s New York office.

Mercer Appoints Head of Investment Consulting

Mercer has reinforced its commitment to grow its investment consulting capabilities for the benefit of clients with the appointment of Michael Armitage as head of investment consulting.

As part of Mercer’s institutional wealth team, Armitage will lead Mercer’s investment consulting activities in Australia. 

With a career spanning three decades, Armitage has strong experience in investment strategy research, portfolio management, institutional investment, and asset management product development across the US, UK, Hong Kong, and Australia.

Simon Eagleton, Mercer’s institutional wealth leader, Pacific, said Armitage’s appointment strengthens the investment consulting service for clients, and enables Mercer to proactively grow its consulting business.

“As one of very few truly global investment consulting firms, we have the scale and subject matter specialization to help drive investment success for our clients. With someone of Michael’s expertise leading the team, we can find more ways to bring these value-adding investment ideas to our clients,” Eagleton said.

Armitage said Mercer’s specialist skill set served its clients well during a time of increasing complexity and challenges.

Schroders Expands Distribution Capabilities in North America

Schroders plans to expand its distribution capabilities in North America in order to advance its growth strategy. As part of the expansion, Schroders has hired Joel Schiffman as head of US defined contribution and insurance sales. Based in New York, Joel will oversee Schroders’ existing sub-advisory and insurance businesses as well as build out the firm’s defined contribution segment. He will report to Marc Brookman, deputy CEO North America. Marc joined Schroders in July 2018 and under his leadership, the firm has made additional organizational changes to further strengthen the North American team.

“The Defined Contribution segment is one where we see opportunities to continue growing and we are confident that with Joel’s depth of knowledge and deep relationships in the space, we will be well-positioned to better serve this market,” Brookman said. “His track record of growth of assets under management across Defined Contribution platforms, insurance companies and institutional clients, combined with an extensive network of industry relationships makes him well-suited for overseeing our team in his new role.”

Joel joins Schroders with over 35 years of industry experience, and was previously at Janus Henderson Investors, Columbia Management, and Lord Abbett & Co., LLC. Most recently, Joel served as vice president and director, Financial Institutions, at Janus Henderson Investors.   

In addition to adding Joel, Tiffani Potesta has been named head of distribution strategy, North America. In this new role, Tiffani will continue to lead the alternatives sales and wealth management solutions divisions and will additionally oversee product development, led by Tom Darnowski, head of product development, Americas, and marketing and RFP, led by Jennifer Manser O’Rourke, head of marketing and communications, Americas.

To further enhance the North America distribution platform, the following changes have occurred across the various client channel teams:  

• Jon Mackay has been named head of sales, Wealth Management Solutions, and has expanded the team to include Ralph Studley, who joined last year as wealth director from BNY Mellon. Mackay reports directly to Potesta.
• Brad Angle joined as an alternatives director focused on private assets from Apollo Global Management and James MacKendree as a sales director focused on Private Assets for Endowments and Foundations, he joins from The Palisades Group.  Both Angle and MacKendree report directly to Potesta.
• Jean-Francois Pelletier joined as an institutional director, Canada from Sun Life Financial and Shawn Cohen, institutional director – platforms and sub-advisory sales, Canada from MFS Investment Management. Both report to Ross Servick, head of Canada.

Russell Investments Hires New President for China Business

Russell Investments has hired Ying Tan as president and general manager for Russell Investments Management (Shanghai). Ying, who is now responsible for building upon the firm’s long-standing work in China, brings significant industry experience to this role with more than 20 years of proven success in wealth management, investment research, and trading.

Based in Russell Investments’ Shanghai office, Ying leads the local team of professionals and reports directly to Chief Executive, Asia-Pacific Pete Gunning.

In 2011, Russell Investments was part of an affiliation that launched the first manager-of-managers solution in China. Two years ago, Russell Investments signed a landmark agreement to provide support on the design of China Asset Management Co., Ltd. (China AMC) domestic fund-of-funds investment products, including guidance on factor exposures and diversification techniques.

Ying’s new role at Russell Investments builds on an impressive career in the asset management industry. Prior to joining the firm, she spent more than a decade with Mercer, where she served as a principal in the firm’s Asian manager research capability and later as the head of the firm’s investment business in China. She was instrumental in helping build Mercer’s investment advisory business in China.

Prior to joining Mercer, Ying was a senior analyst at the Treasury Office of Children’s Medical Center Corp. in Boston. Earlier in her career, Ying was a fixed income analyst with Xinhua Finance and a foreign exchange trader with the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.

Ying holds a bachelor’s degree in International Finance from Fudan University and master’s degree in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University.

Financial Services Veteran, Pamela Jacobs, Joins Spouting Rock Asset Management as Chief Sustainability Officer

Spouting Rock Asset Management announced that industry veteran Pamela Jacobs has joined the firm as its first chief sustainability officer. In this new role, she’ll work with the firm’s management and investment teams to assess the impact and ESG landscape and determine the best way to integrate these into the firm’s investment strategy, culture, and philosophy.

Jacobs has worked in the financial services industry in a variety of senior roles over the last three decades. Most recently, she co-led Envestnet’s impact investing business, where she focused on product development, financial advisor education, and the development of strategic industry partnerships. Her efforts helped grow Envestnet’s impact platform to more than $18 billion in assets under management across family offices, advisors, and foundations. Prior to that, she founded and led a consulting firm dedicated to strategic planning, growth strategies, product development, implementation, and distribution for the wealth management market. Earlier in her career she also served in roles at SEI Investments, Fidelity Investments, and Thomson Reuters.

Adding a seasoned leader such as Jacobs to the team is a way to grow Spouting Rock’s commitment to the impact space. “We believe sustainability analysis makes us better investors and partners to our clients,” said Jacobs. “Sustainable business practices can potentially uncover new revenue streams, reduce risk, power innovation and lead to better business models.

Nassau Re Announces New Investment Strategies; Appoints Bruce Brittain and Russell Pemberton as Co-Managers of Nassau Private Credit

Nassau Re today is launching new investment strategies in its asset management segment, expanding into additional specialty finance asset classes as it grows third-party assets under management. With the creation of Nassau Private Credit LLC (NPC), Nassau Re will invest directly in collateralized loan obligation (CLO) equity and related investments for third-party institutional investors. In addition, under its Nassau CorAmerica brand, Nassau Re will expand its existing real estate commercial whole loan capabilities to include floating rate debt investments. Nassau Re is also expanding its alternative investments practice to grow its private equity investing and co-investment platforms.

Nassau Re announced that Bruce C. Brittain and Russell C. Pemberton are joining the company and will both serve as managing directors and lead portfolio managers for NPC. Brittain was most recently a co-founder and principal of Morningside Credit Partners. Pemberton was most recently head of CLO syndicate and origination at RBC Capital Markets.

“Through these initiatives, we expect to accelerate the growth of our asset management segment, as we increase assets under management and broaden the Nassau Re franchise. With extensive experience as owner-operators of numerous insurance and financial services businesses, we believe we have a competitive advantage in building a unique platform over the long term,” said Phillip J. Gass, chief executive officer of Nassau Re. “Additionally, we are pleased to welcome Bruce and Russell, who collectively bring over 30 years of experience in structured credit markets, to lead NPC and the expansion of our CLO investment capabilities.”

PEI Welcomes New Senior Consultant

Portfolio Evaluations, Inc. (PEI) announced the addition of Senior Consultant Duncan McNiff to the team. Duncan brings over a decade of experience in the retirement plans industry working with 403(b), 401(k), and non-qualified plan sponsors. 

Prior to joining the firm, Duncan was a relationship manager with the Vanguard Group, where he consulted with 25 plans representing over $2 billion in assets and more than 20,000 participants. He is a graduate of Princeton University with a B.A. in Politics and is fluent in both French and Mandarin Chinese. 

“Portfolio Evaluations has a long track record of providing objective, smart advice to plan sponsors,” Duncan said. “For me, this is a great opportunity to focus on what I enjoy most: working with clients to solve their problems by providing the honest support they need. Over the past ten years, I’ve had the benefit of working in conjunction with PEI to assist mutual clients on countless occasions, and I feel very fortunate to now be joining their team.”

Tags: Aon, Mercer, PEI, People Moves, Russell Investments, Schroders, Sprouting Rock