American Century Grabs Ex-Wilshire Exec to Roll Out Liquid Alts

American Century Investments said Friday that it hired Cleo Chang, the former-chief investment officer of Wilshire Funds to become its head of alternative investments. The fund group says Chang’s new post is associated with its planned launch of several liquid alternative investment strategies.

“As we work toward the expansion of our alternative investment capabilities, I can’t think of a better, more strategic leader to oversee this very important initiative,” said Co-Chief Investment Officer Victor Zhang, in a statement. “She’s a consummate investment professional committed to providing clients with innovative investment solutions, guided by the same high standards of quality, risk awareness and governance that are the hallmarks of American Century Investments.”

Change worked for Wilshire for 10 years, most recently serving as CIO and managing director. Earlier, she served as manager of investments with Harris myCFO Investment Advisory Services, a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal.

In addition to Chang, American Century said it also hired the following executives to support the expansion of its liquid alternatives capabilities: Sandra Testani as director of product management; Brian Schappert as vice president and head of alternative sales; and Glen Casey as senior vice president and global head of products.

Testani spent 15 years at AllianceBernstein, while Schappert joined American Century from Gold Bullion International. (Prior to that, Schappert was with AXA Distributors.)