Quant specialist announces rebrand, launches Defined Contribution Solutions group

PGIM, the $1.5 trillion global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. ((PRU), has appointed Linda Gibson as CEO of its $119 billion quantitative equity and multi-asset solutions specialist, QMA. Gibson has been with QMA since July 2019 as chief business officer and will step into the CEO role on Oct. 15.

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Linda Gibson, Chief Business Officer, QMA (Photo: Business Wire)

"Linda brings nearly thirty years of global leadership experience across multiple business functions and a strong understanding of the asset management industry," said PGIM CEO David Hunt. "This is an exciting time for the firm."

"I'm honored to be leading this firm into the next phase of its development," Gibson said. "Over the last few years, we have built on our quant heritage to provide increasingly diversified and customized solutions to address the evolving needs of our clients. I am firmly focused on building on that progress."

Gibson joined QMA in mid-2019 having previously served in a variety of executive leadership positions at BrightSphere Investment Group, a publicly traded asset manager with more than $225 billion of client assets at the time of her departure.

Hunt added that QMA's current CEO, Andrew Dyson, was stepping down for personal reasons unrelated to the business and both had earmarked Gibson for the role over the past year.

The CEO change comes as QMA announced it is rebranding to PGIM Quantitative Solutions and its launch of a dedicated Defined Contribution unit, PGIM DC Solutions.

Gibson said the firm's rebrand will be effective on Sept. 28 and the name was chosen to reflect the close ties with parent PGIM, one of the world's largest asset managers, as well as its expanding capabilities and customized solutions in recent years. QMA Wadhwani will now be called PGIM Wadhwani, and its investment team will continue to work independently within the PGIM Quantitative Solutions business.

"Since her arrival, Linda and I have worked closely to position the firm for the future, as marked by QMA's rebranding and the smooth succession of the firm's leadership," said Dyson. "She has been a tremendous partner in building QMA's capabilities and is the ideal candidate to lead PGIM Quantitative Solutions into the future."

The evolution of PGIM Quantitative Solutions continues with the launch of its DC Solutions unit, a cross-PGIM initiative, which will focus on innovative retirement solutions founded on market-leading research and built on the $214 billion of assets already managed by PGIM on behalf of DC clients across multiple asset classes and vehicles.

"The market is increasingly demanding a comprehensive approach to retirement income, which requires a range of new thinking and solutions, deployed in a flexible way," Gibson said. "We have created PGIM DC Solutions to spearhead that effort and target market leadership in this new arena."

The firm recently hired leading retirement expert David Blanchett as head of retirement research for defined contribution solutions. Blanchett was formerly head of retirement research at Morningstar Investment Management. Dyson will stay on as special adviser and acting head of PGIM DC Solutions until the end of March 2022.

ABOUT PGIM QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS

As the quantitative equity and multi-asset solutions specialist of PGIM, PGIM Quantitative Solutions seeks to help solve complex investment problems with custom systematic solutions across the risk/return spectrum. Our modular portfolio construction simplifies our design of client-specific solutions. We can customize down to the stock level for portfolio considerations, with product offerings that range from core solutions and systematic macro to multi-asset portfolios and overlays. All of our options can be harnessed to provide stable return streams uncorrelated with existing strategies.

PGIM Quantitative Solutions manages portfolios for a worldwide institutional client base, including corporate and public pension plans, endowments and foundations, multiemployer pension plans, and subadvisory accounts for other financial services companies. As of June 30, 2021, PGIM Quantitative Solutions had approximately $119 billion in assets under management. PGIM Quantitative Solutions also manages the allocation of assets that underlie the glidepath to the Prudential Day One Funds, launched in 2016, which currently has $5.5 billion in assets under management as of April 30, 2021.

ABOUT PGIM WADHWANI

PGIM Wadhwani LLP was founded in October 2002 as Wadhwani Asset Management (WAM) by Dr. Sushil Wadhwani, CBE. Investment operations commenced in January 2003. PGIMW is a London-based asset management company, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (219900), which specializes in systematic/quantitative macro investing.

ABOUT PGIM

PGIM, the global asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), ranks among the top 10 largest asset managers in the world* with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2021. With offices in 17 countries, PGIM's businesses offer a range of investment solutions for retail and institutional investors around the world across a broad range of asset classes, including public fixed income, private fixed income, fundamental equity, quantitative equity, real estate, and alternatives. For more information about PGIM, visit pgim.com.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI) of the United States is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom, or with Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom. For more information please visit news.prudential.com.

* Prudential Financial, Inc. (PFI) is the 10th largest investment manager (out of 527 firms surveyed) in terms of global assets under management based on Pensions & Investments' Top Money Managers list published on June 1, 2020. This ranking represents global assets under management by PFI as of March 31, 2020.

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PGIM appoints Linda Gibson as new CEO of QMA