A veteran private banking gatekeeper just switched to the other side of the table and joined a Gotham mutual fund shop. And the shop also welcomed a DC I-O wholesaling chief.

Brendan Gundersen, managing director and head of MainStay Investments' [profile] institutional intermediary business, confirms that John Lloyd just joined the New York Life subsidiary as managing director and head of the six-person research platform group. Lloyd succeeds Steve Sciortino, who recently switched to a MainStay product marketing role.

Brendan Gundersen New York Life, MainStay Investments Managing Director, Head of Institutional Intermediary Business

"Steve had a fantastic year," Gundersen tells MFWire.

Lloyd most recently spent 11 years at Credit Suisse. He served as managing director and head of manager research and due diligence, investment consulting solutions, and managed accounts. A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse declined to comment for this story.

Lloyd's move comes as Credit Suisse is effectively exiting the U.S. private banking business through a deal with Wells Fargo.

Gundersen puts the hiring of Lloyd in the context of the increasingly institutional nature of broker-dealers' and RIAs research and due diligence processes.

"Our strategy here at MainStay is to capitalize on one of the biggest trends of our industry, which is the centralization of research in model decision-making," Gundersen says. "Having the advocacy and the conviction of a research team can make a big difference."

John Lloyd MainStay Investments Managing Director, Head of Research Platform Group

Gundersen lauds Lloyd's "background in portfolio construction, manager research and due diligence."

"He understands what's going through our partners' minds," Gundersen says. "He was in a similar role."

Lloyd is an alumnus of Saint John's University. He worked with Dean Witter (now part of Morgan Stanley), Reuters, and Merrill Lynch before joining Credit Suisse in 2010.

Gundersen also confirms the fresh addition of Jon Blaze to lead both MainStay's DC I-O wholesaling team and cover the central region for that team. Blaze most recently spent more than a decade in the field for Thornburg's [profile] DC I-O team.

MFWire could not immediately reach Rob McInerney, Thornburg's national sales manager, for comment on how Blaze's duties are being handled.

Our sister publication, 401kWire, talked with Gundersen about MainStay's DC I-O strategy. 

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