Billionaire investor Stephen Jarislowsky will step down as head of Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd., the Montreal-based firm that he founded in 1955, as it puts a succession plan in place.
The 87-year-old investing titan will stay on as chairman of the board and will eventually retire, the company said Tuesday. There are no plans to find someone to fill the role of CEO; instead, the company will be managed by a committee of four executives.
?Jarislowsky Fraser and its entire team of portfolio managers and research analysts remain committed to the disciplined, low-risk, bottom-up approach that the firm has taken throughout our 57-year history,? Mr. Jarislowsky said in a statement.
?In the coming months, the firm will announce additions to its investment team to strengthen the committee approach and to ensure succession at all levels.?
The company, one of Canada?s largest independent investment firms, manages more than $37-billion in assets.
Changes at the top of Jarislowsky Fraser were spurred in part by the resignations of president and director Len Racioppo, a 25-year-veteran of the firm, and vice-president and director Marc Trottier. Both will leave by the end of the month.
Mr. Jarislowsky, known as a plain-spoken crusader for shareholders? rights, was born in Berlin. His family moved to the United States in 1941, where he later graduated from Cornell University. After completing an MBA from Harvard University, he moved to Montreal in 1949. In 2008, he was promoted to the rank of Companion of the Order of Canada.
Pierre Lapointe, a 27-year Jarislowsky Fraser veteran, will become chairman of the executive committee. Erin O?Brien will join the committee as head of operations.
?Investment strategy in terms of the people doing the work, picking the stocks, they haven?t changed,? said Mr. Lapointe, who has been a member of the executive committee since 1995.
He said long-time Jarislowsky Fraser employee Margot Ritchie and Chris Kresic, who has been with the firm for two years, will replace Racioppo as co-chairs of the investment committee to ?ensure that the direction of the investment committee stays the same.?
?We do all of our work in house and fundamental research ? that?s what has guided our principles through thin and thick markets,? said Mr. Lapointe.
?We?re low-volatility managers. We try to get good returns with below-average risk and that will not change.?
Stephen Griggs, who until June 2011 was executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance which Mr. Jarislowsky co-founded, said he believes the new structure under the four executives will work well.
?They can take on the day to day work and Stephen can focus on key investment issues and themes,? Mr. Griggs said.
?Stephen has been working on a succession plan for some time and has many portfolio managers who have been at JF for many years. I worked extensively with Stephen when I ran CCGG and he is hard-working and dedicated to his clients.?
With files from Barbara Shecter
Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics Danell Leyva Ye Shiwen OJ Murdock Olympics Live
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.