Patton Roark, a longtime portfolio manager of commercial mortgage-backed securities based at the AFL-CIO Housing Trust in Washington D.C., has joined the Richmond Capital Group in Richmond, Va., where he will be part of a team of nine PMs, responsible for helping manage $4.5 billion. Roark says the firm focuses on a variety of fixed-income strategies, including a core bond product and a shorter-duration fund. He adds that he likes the challenge of integrating corporate credit into his investing approach, after having focused on agency mortgage-backed paper for so long. Roark says the firm also recently added Paul Lundmark from USAA Bond Funds, who will also be a portfolio manager.
At the AFL-CIO Housing Trust, where he worked for nearly 10 years, Roark was responsible for helping manage $3.5 billion. He says the AFL-CIO fund was ranked the third best performing over the last five-years, according to Pensions & Investments, and that it came in second in 2002. He reported to CEO Steve Coyle at the housing trust. Coyle did not return a phone call seeking comment on Roark's successor.