Deals & People February 16, 2012

Pyramis Makes Leadership Changes

Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company, hired Mike Jones as its president and CEO.
Reported by

Jones will succeed Kevin Uebelein, who is taking on a new role as global head of Solutions Delivery for Pyramis. In this newly created position, Uebelein—who has been Pyramis’ president and CEO since 2008—will lead the build-out of a new business. He will draw on key capabilities from across Fidelity to meet the rising demand for complex, multi-strategy solutions among institutional investors, including working closely with plan sponsors and consultants in the area of defined benefit de-risking.  

Jones will join Pyramis in mid-March and will report to Ronald P. O’Hanley, president of Fidelity Asset Management. He will also serve as chairman of Pyramis.  

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Jones has more than 30 years of experience in the institutional investment management business. He joins Pyramis from Columbia Management, a subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, where he served as president of U.S. Asset Management, overseeing more than $326 billion in assets. In this role, Jones led Columbia’s overall relationship management and distribution strategy, which included the institutional and intermediary teams.   

Prior to being appointed president of U.S. Asset Management for Columbia Management, Jones was Columbia’s head of distribution, where he was responsible for global institutional and intermediary distribution. Before joining Columbia, Jones held a variety of global management positions at Robeco Investment Management, Boston Partners Asset Management and The Boston Company Asset Management.

Products February 16, 2012

iShares Launches Seven Fixed-Income ETFs

BlackRock's iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business launched seven new fixed-income funds. 
Reported by

The new ETFs include:

•  iShares Aaa – A Rated Corporate Bond Fund  – This ETF will provide single-trade access to corporate debt issuers, broadly diversified across sectors and maturities. The fund is designed to track the Barclays Capital U.S. Corporate Aaa – A Capped Index.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

•  iShares Barclays U.S. Treasury Bond Fund – Offers exposure to a broad range of U.S. Treasuries maturities (1-30 years) in one trade. Designed to track the Barclays Capital U.S. Treasury Bond Index, the new fund allows investors to shift toward U.S. Treasuries in times of negative market sentiment.

•  iShares Barclays CMBS Bond Fund – The ETF provides exposure to investment-grade commercial mortgage-backed securities. The new iShares ETF can complement the iShares Barclays MBS Bond Fund and help investors express tactical views on the commercial real estate market.

•  iShares Barclays GNMA Bond Fund – The ETF offers a flexible and cost-efficient way to invest in a diversified portfolio of fixed-rate, mortgage-backed securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA). GNMAs are the only mortgage securities explicitly supported by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

•  iShares Financials Sector Bond Fund – This ETF has targeted exposure to investment-grade U.S. corporate financial sector bonds. Today 33% of the U.S. corporate bond market comprises financials sector bonds. The new fund is designed to track the Barclays Capital U.S. Financial Institutions Capped Bond Index.

•  iShares Industrials Sector Bond Fund – This ETF expresses a view on the industrial sector, which comprises 56% of the U.S. corporate bond market. The new fund is designed to track the Barclays Capital U.S. Industrial Bond Index.

•  iShares Utilities Sector Bond Fund – This ETF provides a flexible and cost-efficient way to express a view on the U.S. utility corporate bond sector. It is designed to track the Barclays Capital U.S. Utility Bond Index.

“We are launching these new iShares ETFs specifically in response to growing demand for liquid and transparent fixed-income investments that are easy to buy and trade. Investors have shown a clear interest in ETFs as they readjust their fixed-income portfolios,” said Matt Tucker, Head of iShares Fixed Income Investment Strategy at BlackRock.

 

«