Allianz Global Investors

Monday Movers

The re-shuffle comes after the Johan Cras, the chief executive of Russell's European businesses since 2008, said he wanted to be closer to home to allow more time with his family in the Netherlands. He will become a consultant and help build Russell's business in Northern Europe.

Russell said it had set itself an "ambitious" growth strategy for the region and expected to make a number of other senior appointments in the near future to support the "advancing goals of the business".

Brennan joins Russell from Rainier Investment Management, where he was president and chief executive officer. He had previously worked at Russell Investments for 20 years, latterly as managing director of individual investor services, where he had oversight for Russell's global operations - and launched the firm's first multi-manager investment funds outside the United States.

Mark Stewart, head of retirement solutions at Towers Watson said: "I am delighted John Machon has decided to join Towers Watson in this newly created position, which in itself reflects a growing regional demand for the our services in this area. John's experience will add solid expertise to the Retirement Solutions team and we very much look forward to working with him."

The Securities and Exchange Commission has made two senior appointments to its Division of Investment Management. Robert Plaze is now deputy director, while Dianne Blizzard will take on the newly created role of managing executive.

Plaze, who has been with the SEC for 27 years, will "play an integral role in the division's regulatory programme under the Investment Company and Investment Advisers Acts of 1940", the SEC said in a release. He will be responsible for rulemaking, granting exemptions and issuing "interpretive positions" from the act. He was most recently associate director for regulatory policy.

Blizzard was formerly senior advisor to Eileen Rominger, director of the division. She will now be responsible for the administration, resource allocation and strategic planning of the unit.

Robeco has appointed Tony Edwards as chief executive officer of its Asia Pacific business.

His appointment, which is effective from 1 September, follows the retirement of Frances Chang, CEO Greater China and South East Asia. Robeco said Edwards will be responsible expanding its business across the whole region in order to fit the company's broader growth plan in Asia Pacific. He will be based in Hong Kong.

Allianz's Parts Aren't Greater Than Its Whole Yet - Morningstar ...

Allianz SE, which is best known for selling insurance and owning bond-giant PIMCO, has steadily built up its asset-management business since 1998. Allianz Global Investors, or AGI, rose from a flurry of acquisitions between 1999 and 2001, resulting in four boutiques that operate autonomously and serve as subadvisors to more than 40 Allianz funds in the United States (excluding PIMCO funds, which receive separate Stewardship Grades).

No More Deals
AGI says it has no plans to buy more investment boutiques. Instead, it has spent the past few years changing its lineup and trying to improve operational efficiency for its subadvisors. In March 2010, for example, it officially integrated support functions for three subadvisors--NFJ Investment Group, Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management, and Oppenheimer Capital (not to be confused with Oppenheimer Funds, a former sister company)--under the Allianz Global Investors Capital, or AGIC, umbrella. This change helped consolidate compliance, information technology, risk management, and other operational functions that previously had been carried out separately at each boutique. The three firms no longer have their own profit/loss statements, and part of AGIC's compensation plan now includes equitylike units linked to AGIC's growth rather than that of the individual subadvisor firms.

Around the same time, AGIC phased out the Nicholas-Applegate and Oppenheimer Capital names, rebranding those funds with the AGIC moniker, but keeping the managers and investment processes. The Allianz NFJ brand remains, however, which is unsurprising given that it runs four of AGI's five biggest funds and has established a reputation for its successful value- and dividend-oriented investment philosophy. Allianz RCM funds, run by RCM Capital Management, were excluded from the reorganization altogether due to their recognizable brand name overseas.

This organizational change occurred around the time Cadence Capital Management--the only subadvisor Allianz didn't own--ended its distribution relationship with AGI. (Cadence Capital is now associated with Affiliated Managers Investment Group.) As a result, AGI went from six brand names to four, if you include its target-date funds, marketed as Allianz Global Investors Solutions. The firm's efforts to streamline its lineup preceded more big news in mid-2010: PIMCO funds, which had long been sold by Allianz Global Investors Distributors, or AGID, announced it was forming its own sales team in early 2011. The shift means the AGID salesforce can no longer push hot-selling funds like PIMCO Total Return, which often dominated its conversations with advisors and other investors. Instead, the AGID wholesalers now focus on a lineup of mostly equity funds, more than half of which have launched in the past decade.

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