New Hire Roundup: PIMCO Welcomes Johnson; Cepek Rises at Allianz

This week in new hires, Geoffrey Johnson joined PIMCO; Gretchen Cepek was promoted at Allianz Life; and Kimball Brooker was named portfolio manager at First Eagle.

Also, Rob McInerney was promoted at Thornburg, Marshall Gandy joined the SEC and Michael Copp joined the ASPPA executive team.

PIMCO Hires Geoffrey Johnson as Lead Global Equity Portfolio Manager

PIMCO announced Feb. 22 that it has hired Geoffrey Johnson as an executive vice president and global equity portfolio manager. He will begin in April and will be based in the Newport Beach office. In this new role, he will establish and lead a global long/short active equity strategy.

Prior to joining, Johnson was managing partner of Catamount Capital Management, a boutique investment management firm where he also served as portfolio manager. Earlier in his career, he was founder and president of Direct Response Inc.

Allianz Life Names Gretchen Cepek as General Counsel

Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America announced that it has promoted Gretchen Cepek to the post of general counsel, effective Feb. 20. In her new role, Cepek will serve as chief legal advisor for the executive management team and will oversee litigation, corporate governance, product development, special investigations and government relations. She also joins the company’s executive leadership group and will report directly to Allianz Life President and CEO Walter White. Cepek succeeds Maureen Phillips, who left the company to pursue a new opportunity.

Cepek joined the company in 2009 and has overseen a legal team covering business operations, product development, distribution, tax and government relations. Prior to joining Allizanz, Cepek provided counsel on a range of legal matters for Woodbury Financial Services (Hartford Life’s independent broker/dealer) in Woodbury, Minn., and was a partner at the law firm of Querrey & Harrow in Chicago, where she spent 12 years specializing in complex commercial litigation.

Kimball Brooker Promoted to Portfolio Manager of First Eagle Global Fund

First Eagle Investment Management, adviser to First Eagle Funds, announced Thursday that Kimball Brooker Jr. has been promoted to portfolio manager of First Eagle Global Fund, joining Matthew McLennan and Abhay Deshpande, portfolio managers of the fund. Previously, he was associate portfolio manager, and continues to be one of three portfolio managers of both the First Eagle Overseas Fund and the First Eagle U.S. Value Fund.

Brooker has nearly 20 years of industry experience, and joined First Eagle in January 2009 as senior vice president and senior research analyst. Shortly after, he was named as a portfolio manager of First Eagle Overseas and U.S. Value Funds, and associate portfolio manager of First Eagle Global Fund. Prior to joining, he was the chief investment officer of Corsair Capital. He also held positions as a financial analyst at Lazard Frères & Co. and as an associate in J.P. Morgan’s investment banking department.