Forward Management has appointed a new managing director and chief risk officer. Norman Mains will join the firm in these two roles, and will be responsible for oversight of the firm's 15 mutual funds and leading the firm's risk committee.
Mains joins Forward from Morgan Stanley's Graystone Research. J. Alan Reid, CEO of Forward Management, noted the benefits Mains will bring to the expanding firm.
"The expertise and experience that Norman brings to our firm is critical as we expand our product line up, and continue to add to our alternative product offerings," Reid said.
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SAN FRANCISCO-Forward Management, LLC announced that Norman E. Mains, Ph.D., has joined the company as Managing Director with a further role as chief risk officer. In this capacity he will spearhead a variety of the firm’s existing and emerging activities, including oversight of new and existing products.
As part of his position, Mr. Mains will be responsible for leading the firm’s risk committee. The risk committee assesses new investment products, as well as monitoring the portfolio holdings and attributes of each investment portfolio to ensure the alignment between the portfolio objective, overall strategy and holdings. Mr. Mains also will examine strategic opportunities to expand Forward’s roster of investment products and services, including potential acquisitions.
“The expertise and experience that Norman brings to our firm is critical as we expand our product line up, and continue to add to our alternative product offerings,” said J. Alan Reid, CEO of Forward Management. “Norman’s hands-on experience in the investment industry, combined with his extensive research background, made him a natural choice for the position,” he added.
Mr. Mains has held leadership roles in the areas of research, product development and administration. He was formerly Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer for Morgan Stanley's Graystone Research, a team focused on creating customized solutions using hedge funds and other alternative investments for high net worth individuals, family offices, institutions and foundations. He joined the firm after running a fund of hedge fund group at Carr Global Advisors. Previously, he was the executive director of product development for Dow Jones Indexes, a position he accepted after being the director of research and chief economist at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Mr. Mains was previously the president and chief administrative officer at Rodman & Renshaw. Prior to this, he was the director of research at BatemanEichler, Hill Richards after holding a similar position at a financial futures and options division of Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Mr. Mains began his professional career working for the mutual fund industry's trade association, the Investment Company Institute, and then held a senior economist position at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mains has been widely quoted in leading financial publications, appeared regularly on television to discuss financial markets and has co-authored and contributed to several books on financial topics. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and holds M.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of Colorado.