Retirement Industry People Moves

J.P. Morgan Announces New Private Equity Team

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced a new sustainability-focused growth private equity investment team. The team will launch its first private equity strategy focused on investing in growth-stage private companies that drive resource efficiency and climate adaptation solutions across a range of industries.

J.P. Morgan is anchoring the team’s first investment strategy with an investment of up to $150 million, one of its largest capital commitments ever made into an alternative investment strategy. The new sustainable growth private equity team sits within J.P. Morgan Private Capital, a growth equity and private credit investment platform established to tap into the continued growth of private markets and significant pre-IPO value creation opportunities.

In support of these efforts, the firm announced that it has hired Tanya Barnes as co-managing partner of the new team alongside Osei Van Horne, bringing significant private market and sustainability investment experience and expertise. Barnes joins from Blackstone Group where she was head of the Blackstone Impact platform, and she previously was a managing director in the merchant banking division of Goldman Sachs focused on executing direct private equity investments.

J.P. Morgan’s senior climate scientist and sustainability strategist, Sarah Kapnick, who has a Ph.D. in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, will serve on the team’s investment committee, and engage with portfolio companies, leveraging her unique expertise and background as a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Barnes received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and holds the chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation.

Sarah Kapnick, managing director, is senior climate scientist and sustainability strategist for the asset and wealth management (AWM) strategy and business development organization. Kapnick supports AWM’s sustainability and climate action efforts and serves as an adviser on new business and investment opportunities and risks.

Kapnick joined J.P. Morgan in 2021 from the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), where she was a climate scientist and deputy division leader on seasonal to decadal variability and predictability. Her work spanned seasonal climate prediction, mountain snowpack, extreme storms, water security and climate impacts. Kapnick served as an expert and reviewer for NOAA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program, was a member of its Eastern region climate team, sat on the science panel for Climate.gov, and was the NOAA team lead for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration High Mountain Asia team.

Kapnick is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Prior to her graduate studies, she spent two years as an investment banking analyst with Goldman Sachs covering financial institutions. She received her Ph.D. with a certificate in leaders in sustainability from UCLA, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a certificate in finance from Princeton University.

PGIM Creates Global Head of ESG Role

PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial Inc., is expanding its focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing with the appointment of Eugenia Unanyants-Jackson to the newly created role of global head of ESG, effective immediately.

Based in London and reporting to PGIM’s chief operating officer, Taimur Hyat, Unanyants-Jackson will be responsible for shaping and coordinating ESG strategy and approach across PGIM, including chairing the PGIM ESG Council and engaging with clients, consultants, regulators and industry associations.

Having joined PGIM Fixed Income in 2020 as the firm’s inaugural head of ESG research, Unanyants-Jackson was most recently charged with continuing to integrate ESG considerations into all aspects of the fixed-income investment process, analyzing ESG risks and opportunities and assessing potential negative or positive impacts on the environment and society. During her tenure at PGIM Fixed Income, Unanyants-Jackson led the development of ESG Impact Ratings, a proprietary tool to help clients invest according to their ESG preferences. She also oversaw the first publication of PGIM Fixed Income’s “ESG Annual Report” detailing the ESG ratings framework and helping ensure clients understand the firm’s approach to ESG across all portfolios.

Building on the foundation Unanyants-Jackson established, PGIM Fixed Income has named John Ploeg and Armelle de Vienne co-heads of ESG research, reporting to Richard Greenwood, head of credit. Ploeg, based in London, and de Vienne, based in Newark, will step into their roles immediately, having previously worked as ESG specialists and regional team leads within PGIM Fixed Income’s ESG research team.

Ploeg brings extensive experience across the investment and ESG functions within the firm. In his role as ESG specialist and Europe, the Middle East and Africa ESG team lead, Ploeg served as member of the firm’s ESG committee and was involved in all aspects of its ESG approach, including the maintenance and enhancement of its ESG ratings methodology.

de Vienne most recently worked alongside Ploeg as an ESG specialist and U.S. team lead. Prior to joining PGIM Fixed Income in 2021, she worked at Rockefeller Capital Management and was responsible for equity and ESG research, stock selection, and ESG engagement for Rockefeller’s environmental impact strategies.

NTAM Announces Newly Combined Equity Team Lead

Northern Trust Asset Management (NTAM), a unit of Northern Trust, has announced that Michael Hunstad, head of quantitative strategies since 2018, is expanding his management responsibilities to include NTAM’s index equity and tax-advantaged equity teams, both of which are grounded in the systematic approach that powers the firm’s quantitative processes. Hunstad has concurrently been appointed a member of NTAM’s executive group.

“Knowing that specific investment factors have produced most of the excess returns or alpha in equities for decades, I’m excited about the additional benefits that my colleagues and I will be able to bring clients through quantitative investing synergies among the three teams,” Hunstad says. “The new structure will enable us to fully harness the benefits of factor investing, leaving us better positioned to meet NTAM’s fundamental tenet that investors should always be compensated for the risk they take.” 

Hunstad holds a doctorate degree in mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology a master’s degree in econometrics from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He holds a master’s degree in business administration in finance from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Hunstad has published more than 80 articles and papers in professional and academic journals, including Pensions & Investments, European Pensions, the Journal of Index Investing, the Alternative Investment Analyst Review, the Journal of Financial and Strategic Decisions and the Journal of Corporate Treasury Management. He has spoken at more than 200 conferences across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

Segal Announces Three People Moves

Segal, an employee benefits and HR consulting firm, has some people moves to share.

Jonathan Price, senior vice president, has been appointed the national retirement practice leader. In this role he oversees the corporate, multiemployer and public sector retirement practices.

Price first joined Segal as an intern and became an actuarial analyst after graduating college. He has expertise in a wide range of employee benefit services, including plan design, actuarial analysis, funding strategies that align with corporate objectives, de-risking strategies and plan management. Plan redesign, curtailments, terminations and mergers and acquisitions are among the many special projects Price has worked on for corporate and non-profit clients. Price is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and an enrolled actuary. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Yeshiva University in New York.

William Gage Stille has joined Segal as a senior vice president in the New York corporate health practice. He is an experienced leader in health, human resource and employee benefits consulting. He joined Segal from Buck, where he was responsible for development of new service offerings, go-to-market strategies and client growth. Earlier in his career, Gage worked for J.P. Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young and Bank of America. Gage earned both an master’s of business administration and a master’s of science degree in strategy from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University.

Barbara Kissner has been appointed as chief information officer (CIO) and senior vice president to oversee Segal’s information technology systems’ security and operations. With more than 20 years of information technology leadership expertise, she was previously the chief information security officer at Tassat, a digital payments solutions company, and prior to that served as Amalgamated Bank’s CIO. Kissner has also worked at Marsh & McLennan.

She earned an master’s degree in systems administration from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Brooklyn College. She attended the Executive Education Program at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kissner is a member of the ISACA and the Quality Assurance Institute. She is also a member of the advisory board to the School of Business at Mercy College.

OneAmerica Bolsters Health Care Sector Team with New Hire

OneAmerica has announced key personnel changes in the health care markets.

Robert Garrey has joined the firm as market segment director for the mid, large and tax-exempt markets. He will work with key internal partners to define and manage preferred offering in these segments, while identifying future capability needs and opportunities.

Before coming to OneAmerica in mid-December, Garrey held leadership roles in retirement pricing and profitability at Empower Retirement and at MassMutual. Prior to that, he held multiple roles at Voya Financial, including senior the leadership position of product management and sales support for the small and mid, for profit and ERISA not-for-profit markets.

Garrey will partner with Daryl Swick, a 21-year OneAmerica veteran recently promoted as market segment director for emerging, small and third-party administrator markets. Generally, Swick oversees opportunities under $50 million, other than health care.

River and Mercantile Spins Off and Rebrands U.S. Consulting Business

As part of the sale of River and Mercantile (R&M) to AssetCo in the United Kingdom, its U.S. consulting business has announced a spin-off, creating an independent privately owned investment, actuarial and risk management group. Led by the U.S. management team and rebranded as Agilis, the new entity will remain focused on serving institutional investor clients with the same team in place.

The spin-off will reinforce client focus for the organization and better position the team for future growth. Agilis’s core business will continue to center around custom solutions delivered through outsourced chief investment officers (OCIO), actuarial and investment consulting, derivatives management, and pension actuarial and administrative services including annuity buyouts and plan terminations.

With approximately 40 professionals across the U.S., Agilis is headquartered in Boston, with other offices in New York and Denver. The full U.S. consulting team will stay intact, including leadership of the U.S. organization.

Nuveen Names New Chief Investment Officer

Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA, has named Saira Malik chief investment officer (CIO).

As CIO, Malik will drive market and investment insights and deliver client asset allocation views from across the firm’s independent investment teams. She will also lead the firm’s global investment committee, which brings together the most senior leaders from Nuveen’s investment teams.

She will continue to report to William Huffman, head of the firm’s fixed income and equity platform, which includes global equities, taxable fixed income, municipals, multi-asset and private capital.

Malik will maintain her portfolio management and leadership responsibilities for Nuveen’s global equity business in addition to developing consensus views alongside colleagues from across the firm’s diversified investment platform. She will remain lead portfolio manager for the CREF Stock strategy and a listed portfolio manager for the CREF Growth and CREF Global Equities strategies.

Malik has 26 years of investment management experience in portfolio management, global research and analyst roles. She joined Nuveen in 2003. Prior to being named global equities CIO, she was head of global equities portfolio management and, before that, head of global equities research. Previously, she was with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where she was a small cap growth portfolio and equity research analyst.

Malik has a bachelor’s of science degree in economics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and an master’s degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She also holds the chartered financial analyst designation.