Thornburg Investment Management Announces 2 Leadership Additions

Billy Rogers

Jodan Ledford

Thornburg Investment Management Inc., an investment firm overseeing $45 billion in client assets, announced Billy Rogers and Jodan Ledford have joined the firm to serve as chief operating officer and head of institutional strategies, respectively.

The hires come under the leadership of Mark Zinkula, who was named president and CEO in September.

As chief operating officer at Thornburg, Rogers will shape the strategic direction of technology and operations, driving cross-departmental initiatives.

Before joining Thornburg, Rogers spent 12 years at PIMCO, where he held various positions such as product manager, compliance officer, as well as head of regional and advisory operations. He left PIMCO in 2010 to join Janus Henderson, where he worked as a fixed-income trader for eight years and led their global macro unconstrained office for four years.

Rogers subsequently worked as an executive consultant for three years, assisting with the integration and management of a large retail separately-managed-account business on the West Coast.

Ledford will be responsible for the development of sales strategies, the cultivation of high-level relationships and the firm’s representation within the institutional investment community.

Before joining Thornburg, Ledford was CEO of Smart USA, a retirement financial technology provider. Previously, he served as chief client officer at Legal & General Investment Management America Inc., where he led a team across sales, marketing, investment solutions, product strategy and portfolio management.

Earlier in his career, Ledford was an executive director at UBS Global Asset Management. He developed investment and risk management solutions for large institutional clients and mid-sized U.S. corporate pension plans. He has also developed risk management plans for businesses with large pension plans while working as an associate in J.P. Morgan’s investment banking division.