Deals & People June 16, 2008

JPMorgan Retirement Brings On New Head of Investment Services

JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services announced that Hal Bjornson joined the firm as head of investment services.
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Bjornson will lead the firm’s Investment Services Group and Investment Analysts, and will help determine strategy within the JPMorgan Asset Management organization from a defined contribution perspective, a release said. He comes to JPMorgan from The Hartford, where he served as director of investment management services.

JPMorgan Retirement also announced Steven Levitt has joined the firm as a strategic relationship manager. Levitt comes to JPMorgan from American Century Investments where he most recently served as vice president o f institutional sales and relationship management.

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Additionally, the firm announced the promotion of Barbara Lewis to head of institutional sales. In her new role, Lewis manages all aspects of the firm’s new business generation across all institutional market segments, leads the firm’s Consultant Relations team, and serves as an executive sponsor for select clients. She is a member of the firm’s Institutional Operating Committee and Senior Management Team.

JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services provides recordkeeping for 1,195 plans and more than 1.8 million retirement plan participants, as of April 30.

Deals & People June 16, 2008

Emerald’s Alternative Allocation Strategies Offered on FOLIOfn Platform

Investment manager Emerald Asset Advisors, LLC, said its alternative strategies are now available on the FOLIOfn Institutional platform.
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The Emerald Allocation Strategies (EAS) hedges investments as an alternative to hedge funds, and is now offered on the FOLIOfn Institutional platform, a self-clearing trading platform with technology services for broker/dealer representatives and independent advisers, according to a press release.

The new offering from Emerald is aimed at financial advisers who wish to outsource all or a portion of their back-office, administrative, reporting, and investment needs, according to the release. Emerald said the launch is part of a broader effort to introduce its investment program to advisers and broker/dealers.

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EAS consists of three distinct portfolios, constructed using combination of top-down, bottom-up, fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis to compose the desired mix of funds for each portfolio, the company says. Emerald said the three portfolios are:

  • Hybrid: The Hybrid strategy’s objective is to achieve real, absolute returns (i.e. positive net of taxes and inflation) over any three-year period, regardless of market conditions. Hybrid investment styles exhibit low volatility and low correlation to the broad markets.
  • Concentrated Equity: This strategy seeks to generate true alpha (excess return verse the stock market benchmarks) through a diversified mix of concentrated equity mutual fund styles that each pursue long-term growth of capital using a very limited number of underlying holdings (typically 30 or less).
  • Global Cycle: The Global Cycle strategy is a long-term approach to capital growth involving the research and identification of global investment themes that are in the midst of a long, positive business cycle.

More information is available at www.EmeraldAssetAdvisors.com.

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