ING Investment Management will release 11 members of its Hartford, Conn.-based subsidiary, ING Aeltus Investment Management, as it shifts $13 billion in fixed-income assets to its portfolio management team based in Atlanta. Tracy Sherman, an ING spokeswoman, says the decision was partly due to the superior performance of the Atlanta team, led by James Kauffmann, and also part of a broader decision-making process begun in mid-year about how to make the best use of the company's fixed-income resources. The mortgage-backed and quantitative groups will stay in Hartford, overseeing some $5 billion in assets.
Sherman declined to disclose the names of those being released, but says most are credit analysts. All 11 have been given notice and they will be gone by the end of the year. People close to the situation say Len Carlson, v.p. and head of credit, and Don Clark, a sector manager in the corporate bond area, were among the more senior members of the group. They declined comment. Steve Huber, senior v.p. and head of fixed-income, was also widely believed to be leaving the firm, though some people said he may have been weighing an option to stay on in a different capacity. He did not return calls.
Of the $13 billion in assets moving to Atlanta, roughly one third is mutual fund money, while the remainder is held by institutions. According to information on the ING Funds
Web site, the ING Bond Fund managed by Huber had a one-year return of 6.40% and a three-year return of 7.69%. The ING Intermediate Bond Fund managed by Kauffmann has returned 10.06% over the last year and 11.94% over the last three years.