Kirk Hartman has joined Wells Capital Management in the new position of director of portfolio management, where he will oversee all the portfolio managers of the firm's more than $110 billion in equity and fixed-income assets--including some $70 billion in fixed-income. He will report to Robert Bissell, the firm's president.
Bissell says he hired Hartman because Jim Paulsen, WCM's chief investment officer, has been increasingly in demand as a public speaker and market commentator, and has also been spending a great deal of time with clients and bankers. As a result, there has been a greater need for oversight of the firm's assets, in particular its equity assets, as there has not been a head of equity for a year or so.
Hartman leaves Bank of America Capital Management (BACAP), where he was director of fixed-income investments--responsible for some $46 billion in fixed-income assets. He had spent two years in that position, and was cio at the firm for a year prior to that. He has also worked at Lehman Brothers Asset Mangement, where he was a managing director and chief operating officer. Hartman was not available for comment. The firm is currently looking for a replacement, says Joe Fazzino, a spokesman for BACAP.