Deals & People June 19, 2012

JPM Asset Management Creates New Unit

 

J.P. Morgan launched Asset Management Solutions, consolidating its multi-asset capabilities into a group overseeing about $100 billion in assets under management globally.

 

Reported by

The division will bring together the Global Multi-Asset and Institutional Strategy groups, Global Access Portfolios and the J.P. Morgan Advisory Program.

Seth Bernstein, who has been with the firm for nearly 28 years, will serve as the global head of the new group. He will report to Mary Erdoes, chief executive of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. 

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Bernstein has led the firm’s Investment Management’s Global Fixed Income and Currency businesses. He has held senior roles in the Investment Bank across client coverage, debt and equity capital markets, and private placements. 

Bernstein will be succeeded by Chris Willcox as global head of fixed income and currency for Investment Management. Willcox will also report to Erdoes.

Willcox will be responsible for U.S. and international fixed-income and currency investment activities, operations and product management. He will become a member of the Asset Management and Investment Management Operating Committees, as well as the Asset Management Investment Committee.

Willcox, who has more than 20 years in the industry, worked in the firm’s investment bank as head of Global Rates. Before joining the firm in 2006 as co-head of Global Rates & FX, he served in many senior roles domestically and internationally. His roles included chief operating officer of Global Fixed Income, Head of Rates, Currencies and Commodities for Asia Pacific, Head of Foreign Exchange for Asia Pacific, and Head of Short Term Interest Rate Trading.

Willcox has also served on the FX Committees for the Federal Reserve and Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Joint Standing Committee for Foreign Exchange at the Bank of England, and the Supervisory Board of MTS. He is the former chairman of Tradeweb, and is a board member of the London Clearing House.

The Markets June 18, 2012

Participants Turn Back to Fixed Income in April

April was the first month this year that the net direction of 401(k) participant transfers moved back toward fixed income.
Reported by

Sixty percent of days in April had net transfer activity away from equities, according to the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index. Out of $136 million in net transfer activity for the month, $112 million moved from equities to fixed-income investments. Of the net equity outflows, $35 million (25%) came from company stock, which means $76 million of the outflows are from diversified equities (0.08% of total balances).  

Small U.S. equity assets accounted for 46% ($63 million) of the diversified equity outflows, followed by large U.S. at 13% ($17 million). Emerging markets accounted for 9% ($12 million) of the outflows. GIC/stable value and bond asset classes absorbed the majority of the inflows, as each respectively received 46% ($63 million) and 20% ($28 million). Premixed funds, including target-date and target-risk funds, also received 21% ($29 million) of the net inflows for the month.  

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Following the strong first-quarter returns (strongest quarter since 1998), as equity markets declined throughout April, employee discretionary contributions—a gauge of participant sentiment—withdrew slightly to 62.2% in equity allocations (down from 62.6% in March).  

The total asset allocation in equities also declined nominally. Equities now hold 60.4% of total assets, which is a 0.2% decrease for the month.  

More information can be found here.

 

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