Executive Changes Underway at Janus Henderson

Executive changes are underway at Janus Henderson, the company formed from the merger of Janus Capital and Henderson Global Investors, in May.

According to Institutional Investor, Gigi Chan, Chief Operating Officer for the Asia Pacific region, left at the end of July; Chief Operating and Strategy Officer Jennifer McPeek is leaving at the end of October “to pursue personal projects”; and Deputy Chief Operating Officer Rich Tyson and Chief Risk Officer David Kowalsk are leaving at the end of September. The latter two will not be replaced.

In addition, Kumar Palghat is changing jobs, moving on to Kapstream, an Australian fixed income asset manager that he co-founded and which was acquired by Janus in 2015.

A spokeswoman for Janus Henderson (JHG) confirmed the changes.

When Janus Capital and Henderson Global completed what they termed an “all-stock merger of equals” on May 30, changes were made at the board level to divide it equally between board members from Janus and Henderson. The CEOs of the merged company, Dick Weil of Janus and Andrew Formica of Henderson Global, were named co-CEOs. The company also announced the merger of several mutual funds.

Since then, the company has “been focused on integration,” according to a press release accompanying its latest earnings report, out Tuesday. It highlighted “$57 million of net run-rate cost synergies … comprised largely of savings from a reduced combined headcount.”

More cuts could be coming. In the press release the company said it expects to “realize at least $85 million” of such synergies by the end of 12 months after the merger and “at least $100 million of recurring annual run-rate pretax net cost synergies” within three years after the merger.

The firm reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings of $139.8 million, or 68 cents a share, up from $98.9 million, or $0.47 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose 15.2% to $482.2 million and assets under management increased 4% to $345 billion. Net asset outflows slowed to $1 billion, representing a $6 billion improvement from the first quarter of 2017 due to “positive equity inflows and moderation in quantitative equity outflows.”

The firm’s stock price rose 4% by the end of trading on Tuesday. Since the merger was completed, it’s gained about 16%.

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