Charlie McCain is handing over one of his titles to a key new hire, dividing the top two jobs at Harbor Capital Advisors [profile] for the first time in more than a decade.

On November Kristof Gleich will join Chicago-based Harbor as president, McCain confirms. McCain previously served as both president and CEO, as did his predecessor, but now McCain will only serve as CEO.

Gleich most recently served as global head of manager selection at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management before departing a week ago. A J.P. Morgan spokeswoman declined to comment on how Gleich's duties are being handled.

"Kristof has been an extraordinary leader and valued partner over the last several years," states Monica Issar, global head of multi-asset and portfolio solutions at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. "We wish him all the best in his new endeavors."

Meanwhile, watch for McCain and Gleich to continue expanding the Harbor team, currently about 140 people in total, over the next six to twelve months.

"We are ... continuing to seek to add folks to our investment team, the engine that drives our core competency in manager selection," McCain tells MFWire. "We added an analyst earlier this summer, and we're in the process of adding a more senior person."

"I would expect when Kristof joins that we would add further to the investment team," McCain adds.

Target distribution capability expansion is also a possibly, McCain says.

Gleich and McCain "are both under 50," McCain says, so succession planning is not the immediate primary purpose of bringing Gleich on board. Yet Gleich is "a bit younger" than McCain, so long term succession planning is a factor.

"Absolutely that's a component of adding someone like Kristof to the team," McCain says.

About a year ago, McCain started the search process for a new president. He had two primary duties in mind for that new president: 1) bringing "fresh, different, interesting, challenging perspectives" to Harbor's leadership team, all of whom have been with the company for a decade or more; and 2) help evaluate, "from a strategic perspective," how Harbor's value proposition to clients will evolve going forward. Gleich, with his deep experience in manager selection combined the different perspective from working in for big wealth management firms, was an ideal fit, McCain says.

"I really want someone with enough experience and gravitas to feel comfortable pushing and prodding and poking," McCain says. "It's an important hire for us."

In terms of duties, Gleich will start off overseeing Harbor's investment team and its new strategic initiatives team (which McCain expects will expand).

"I expect over time to potentially add more areas of responsibility," McCain says. "I want him to spend significant time learning the aspects of the business that may be less familiar to him." 

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