BMO, Kestra, Putnam, Breckinridge Tap New CIOS

It’s already been a busy week for CIO hiring as four asset management firms named new chief investment officers on Monday and Tuesday.

Sadiq Adatia

Toronto-based BMO Asset Management named Sadiq Adatia as its CIO, effective July 14. Adatia will oversee the investment team on asset allocation, portfolio structure, and fund strategies for all traditional asset classes, and investment functions, which includes trading, portfolio analytics, and investment governance.

Adatia will report to BMO Global Asset Management CEO Kristi Mitchem and will also become a member of BMO Asset Management Canada’s executive committee, where he will be responsible for investment strategy and risk management.

“Sadiq’s knowledge and expertise will help us deepen our overall advantage in wealth management and grow our asset management business,” Mitchem said in a statement

Adatia joins the company from Sun Life Global Investments, where he was CIO for the past 10 years. Prior to that, he was CIO at Russell Investments Canada for five years, and before that was head of investment consulting for the central region of Canada at Mercer Investment Consulting for six years.

Kara Murphy

Meanwhile, wealth management platform provider Kestra Holdings tapped Kara Murphy as its first CIO to lead the wealth management firm’s new division, Kestra Investment Management. The company said Murphy will provide investment expertise and oversee the customized portfolio management consulting services offered to all Kestra Holdings companies.

Murphy will also be tasked with assembling a team of investment specialists who will support the financial professionals associated with Kestra Holdings companies, which collectively oversee $122 billion in assets under administration (AUA). Her team will provide support on asset allocation, portfolio construction, and market trends, as well as provide a range of investment solutions.

“Hiring someone with Kara’s investment acumen, experience, and skill set for this pivotal new role creates tremendous value for our platform and financial professionals,” Kestra Holdings CEO James Poer said in a statement.

Prior to joining Kestra, Murphy was CIO, managing director, and a member of the executive committee at Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management, overseeing approximately $26 billion in clients’ assets. And before that, she was CIO of AIG Funds for 12 years, where she oversaw the investment of more than $50 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Brett Goldstein

On Monday, investment group Putnam Investments promoted Brett Goldstein to the newly created role of co-CIO of global asset allocation (GAA) effective June 30. For over a decade, Goldstein, who will also serve on the firm’s operating committee, has been a member of Putnam’s GAA team, which manages approximately $17 billion in assets. He is also a portfolio manager on several of the company’s multi-asset funds.

Goldstein and co-CIO Robert Schoen, who has been CIO since 2016, will be jointly responsible for the strategy and positioning of the Putnam’s GAA products. They will oversee portfolio construction and risk management for GAA portfolios and the research that influences equity security selection strategies.

“Brett’s tremendous passion for capital markets, exceptional investing skills, and commitment to innovation have contributed to his significant accomplishments as a portfolio manager in our GAA group,” Schoen said in a statement.

Goldstein has been with Putnam Investments since 2010 as part of the investment associate program, having served as an analyst. He is currently responsible for the research and implementation of risk and portfolio construction methods for GAA products and also works with retirement glide path research and GAA target-date funds (TDFs).

Ognjen Sosa

And on Tuesday, asset management firm Breckinridge Capital Advisors, which specializes in investment grade fixed-income portfolios, named Ognjen Sosa as its new CIO. Sosa will be responsible for overseeing the company’s investment process, developing the investment strategy, and ensuring the strategy’s implementation across trading, research, and portfolio management. He will also chair Breckinridge’s investment committee.

“I am incredibly excited to join the Breckinridge team,” Sosa said. “The firm has longstanding roots in fixed income and ESG [environmental, social, and governance investing], and I look forward to building upon the team’s repeatable, rigorous, and carefully constructed investment process.”

Prior to joining Breckinridge, Sosa was with Fidelity Investments for over 14 years, where he held several different positions, most recently retirement income solutions investment lead. Before Fidelity, Sosa was an adjunct professor at Bryant University, where he taught undergraduate finance and investment courses, and before that he was a quantitative equity analyst with State Street Global Markets.

“Oggie’s experiences as an investment team leader, portfolio manager, and top-down capital markets analyst complement our firm’s established strengths, including our decade-long commitment to ESG,” Breckinridge Capital Advisors President Peter Coffin said in a statement.

The CIO carousel has been a popular ride this spring with more than a dozen CIOs at institutional investors either being hired or stepping down in the past couple of months.

In June alone, American International Group Inc. (AIG) CIO Douglas Dachille, University of Illinois Foundation CIO Ellen Ellison, and Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (Penn SERS) CIO Seth Kelly stepped down.

Meanwhile Ray Joseph, Bob Doll, Clifford Corso, Aoifinn Devitt, and David Veal were named CIOs at LA Fire and Police Pensions, Crossmark Global Investments, Advisors Asset Management, Moneta Group Investment Advisors, and the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS), respectively.