Deals & People December 16, 2009

Pioneer Investments Adds to Retail Sales Team

Pioneer Investments has announced seven additions to its U.S. sales team, continuing the expansion of its sales force aimed at supporting the firm’s largest retail clients.

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Bill C. Taylor, senior vice president and head of Business Development and Investment Only and Retirement Group, said the new additions are part of an effort to strengthen the sales organization’s focus on the DCIO platform market and develop new business with large clients, according to a press release.

Christopher G. Laucks, CFP has been promoted to senior vice president, director of Sales, Investment Only and Retirement Group. Before accepting this position, Laucks served as vice president, director of Retirement and Annuity Markets. He will be responsible for national sales for the DCIO platform marketplace.

Laucks joined Pioneer in 2002 from Allmerica Financial, where he was vice president of Channel Management for Strategic Alliances. Previously, he also served as a branch manager at Raymond James Financial, and also held management positions at State Street Bank and Fidelity Investments.

Kimberly Gannis has been named vice president, business development officer in the Investment Only and Retirement Group. She joins Pioneer from American Century Investments, where she was vice president, National Accounts. Prior to American Century Investments, Gannis was managing director at PNC Bank with her primary focus on the middle market retirement business.

Mary Powers has been named vice president, business development officer for the Business Development Group, Advisory Channel. She joins Pioneer after 19 years with John Hancock, where she held numerous positions, most recently National Account Manager for John Hancock Financial Services.

Jason C. Xanthakis has joined Pioneer as portfolio consultant in the Wealth Management team. He previously worked for Ameriprise Financial as a senior research analyst specializing in platform placement. Prior to Ameriprise, Xanthakis was a research analyst at Fidelity Employer Services Company analyzing mutual funds for 401(k) clients.

Kimberly Boucher has been promoted to key account manager in the Wealth Management Channel. She joined Pioneer in 2005 and was previously a regional sales specialist. Prior to joining Pioneer, she was a financial adviser and adviser coach at American Express Financial Advisors.

Brandi Kinsman has been promoted to key account manager in the Business Development Group. She was previously a product manager covering retirement and annuity products. She joined Pioneer in 2005 after working as senior product marketing specialist, Annuities, at Sun Life Financial.

John Mueller has been promoted to national investment-only and retirement sales specialist after having served as a regional sales specialist. His new position focuses on sales of investment products through the Investment Only and Retirement Group. Prior to joining Pioneer, Mueller was a regional marketing associate with Putnam Investments.

“These new additions will help us to expand our efforts to provide investment solutions to larger clients, including broker/dealer wealth management platforms, independent financial advisory firms, defined contribution providers, banks, and insurance firms,” said Joseph Kringdon, executive vice president and head of U.S. Retail Distribution, in the announcement.

The Markets December 16, 2009

Money Managers See 2010 Growth

U.S. money managers participating in a recent Russell Investments poll are apparently an optimistic bunch, predicting equity markets still have room to grow during 2010.

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A Russell news release said nearly 80% of the managers responding expect U.S. equity markets to rise over the next12 months, with 42% of managers expecting the markets to head north by 10% or more. But that enthusiasm apparently has its limits; this year 19% of managers see the markets as undervalued, a new survey low, compared to 72% of managers surveyed at the same time last year, a survey high.

“The managers believe U.S. equity markets can continue to move up from here in 2010,” said Mark Eibel, director, Client Investment Strategies at Russell Investments, in the news release. “The managers are tentatively hopeful that earnings, driven by increased revenues rather than cost-cutting, and economic recovery can become the main drivers for the market. They expect that this positive development combined with continued accommodative monetary and fiscal policy will sustain the equity markets over the next year.”

Large-Cap Love

According to the Russell announcement, the case for economic recovery is now being seen in a switch from small-cap to large-cap offerings. Manager bullishness for U.S. large-cap growth rose 17% from last quarter to 72% bullishness, ranking this asset ahead of all others in the survey and providing a signal that managers believe the economy may be recovering.

Meanwhile, U.S. small-cap growth fell 3% from last quarter to 54% bullishness.

Although less dramatic, the same bias toward large-cap surfaced when managers considered value stocks. While manager bullishness for U.S. large-cap value remained relatively unchanged from the last survey (moving from 51% to 53%), manager bullishness for small-cap value dropped 8% from 52% to 44%.

Other results, according to Russell, included:

  • Technology ranked as the sector garnering the most manager bullishness for the fourth consecutive quarter, rising 4% from its previous all-time high last quarter to 82%. After technology, the energy sector and the materials and processing sector received the most manager support, at 64% and 58%, respectively.
  • Manager bullishness for fixed income continued to fall. Bullishness for corporate bonds fell from 44% in last quarter’s survey to 27%, and the positive sentiment for high yield bonds fell from 52% to 34%. These declines are especially drastic considering manager bullishness was well above 60% for the first two quarters of 2009.


“Fixed income has offered truly remarkable returns over the course of this year, but the managers see that window of opportunity closing a bit,” said Eibel. “Managers expect the investment landscape for fixed income to shift back to its traditional levels, where both risk and reward are muted in comparison to equities.”

Russell collected the opinions of senior-level investment decisionmakers at U.S. large- and small-cap equity investment managers, as well as U.S. fixed-income investment managers. Nearly 200 managers participated in the survey.

The report is available here.

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