Western Asset Management Co. named four deputy chief investment officers, seeking to emphasize a “team-based approach” in the aftermath of criminal fraud charges against the bond manager’s former star trader and veteran Ken Leech.
The company elevated Ryan Brist, Anthony Kirkham, Mark Lindbloom and Annabel Rudebeck to deputy CIO, reporting to CIO Mike Buchanan, the company said in a memo seen by Bloomberg. The four oversee a range of US and international investments across fixed-income markets.
The executives “will play a critical role in determining strategic positioning, managing the team globally and enhancing the flow of information,” Buchanan and Wamco Chief Executive Officer Tom Gahan said in the memo.
“We’re recommitting to what’s worked in the past and we believe this new leadership structure will help us on the forward path more efficiently and effectively while staying aligned with clients’ and consultants’ expectations,” Wamco spokesperson Jeaneen Terrio said.
The firm made the moves as it continues “to build Western Asset for the future” and as it aims “to recognize strong talent on our team, provide continued transparency on succession planning” while handling client business, the CEO and CIO said in the memo.
Wamco also said it plans on “maintaining our team-based approach and our investment philosophy and process — while fine-tuning the balance of risks.”
The bond manager has been hit with a series of large redemptions since late August, when the Franklin Resources Inc. unit revealed that Leech faced a potential enforcement action. That has set off one of the bond market’s biggest shakeups in decades, leading to roughly $120 billion being pulled from Wamco through January. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the second-biggest US pension, was one of the largest redemptions, choosing to pull roughly $1 billion.
US prosecutors criminally charged Leech in November, accusing him of “cherry picking” favorable trades for certain clients at the expense of others. Leech, who was Wamco’s co-CIO, was granted $10 million bail and pleaded not guilty to fraud in a Manhattan court the following month.
Franklin said this year that it’s integrating much of Wamco into the parent company, but is planning to leave its investment team intact.
Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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