Deals & People September 17, 2007

Lord Abbett&Co. Makes Executive Appointments

Money manager Lord Abbett&Co. has announced some shuffling in executive management positions, including the appointments of a new Managing Partner, Senior Partner, and Chief Investment Officer.
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The firm announced:

  • Daria Foster will assume the role of Managing Partner where she will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the firm. She will continue as President and Director of the Lord Abbett Family of Mutual Funds — roles she has held since 2006. Foster is credited with growing the company’s institutional business, the announcement said.
  • Robert Dow, who currently serves as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, will be named to the newly-created position of Senior Partner to focus on the strategic direction. Dow also will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Board of the Lord Abbett Family of Mutual Funds.
  • Robert Gerber will inherit Dow’s seat as CIO. Gerber joined Lord Abbett in 1997, became a partner in 1998 and is now responsible for the investment grade taxable fixed-income area.

Foster joined Lord Abbett as Director of Fixed Income Marketing and was appointed Director of Institutional Marketing two years later. In 2005, she became responsible for the firm’s sales and marketing efforts in the institutional and retail areas.

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Dow began his investment career with Lord Abbett in the early 1970s, when he joined the firm as a Research Analyst. He has served in a number of investment positions, including Portfolio Manager for several Lord Abbett funds, and overseeing the fixed income area, as well as Chief Investment Officer.

The appointments are effective October 1, 2007.

Deals & People September 17, 2007

CEO Storms is Out at Marsh

Marsh&McLennan Companies, Inc. says that Brian M. Storms is stepping down from his position as chief executive officer of Marsh, Inc., MMC’s insurance broking subsidiary, effective immediately.
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The search for a successor is already underway, according to a press release. In the interim, Michael G. Cherkasky, president and chief executive officer of MMC, will serve as Acting CEO of Marsh.

“Brian has made important contributions to Marsh’s recovery over the past two years,” Cherkasky said. “Our long-term strategy is sound and a solid foundation has been built. That said, we now need a different set of leadership and operational skills to complete the successful transformation of Marsh.”

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On Friday the Wall Street Journal said that Storms was removed from his post, citing people familiar with the matter. Storms declined to comment about the circumstances of his departure to the Journal.

Storms was named as Marsh CEO in 2005, after just nine months as president and chief executive officer of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, which is now known as Mercer (See Mercer Drops HR from Name to Reflect Range of Business). Storms had been tapped to head the merged operations of Mercer’s defined contribution administration business with Putnam in 2004. Previously Storms was president and chief executive officer of UBS Global Asset Management, Americas.

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