A key voice for the mutual fund industry is singing his swan song this year.

Paul Schott Stevens Investment Company Institute President, CEO

Today Paul Schott Stevens, the 67-year-old president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute (ICI), confirms that he will retire at the end of 2020. The Washington, D.C.-based trade group's board has hired Russell Reynolds Associates to help find ICI's next chief.

Stevens has led ICI since 2004. During his tenure, the ICI has expanded its reach overseas (with the 2011 launch of ICI Global), the U.S. industry alone has grown from $8 trillion in AUM (in 2004) to nearly $21 trillion (in November 2019), and the ETF side of the industry has exploded from $203 billion (in 2004) to $4.42 trillion (at the end of 2019). In terms of the changing legal environment, Stevens' tenure has seen the passage of the PPA (and the continued rise of TDFs) and the implementation of two rounds of money market mutual fund regulations. He has been a prominent spokesperson and lobbyist for the industry, speaking to a host of audiences around the globe and even testifying before both houses of Congress.

George Gatch, CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management's global funds and institutional businesses, and chairman of ICI's board, lauds Stevens' "ability to navigate complex regulatory and policy matters while maintaining the industry's focus on serving fund shareholders has strengthened ICI's ability to advocate across the globe on issues of importance to funds and investors alike."

"Paul's steadfast leadership and keen intellect have been key factors in the successful growth of ICI and its work for nearly two decades," Gatch states. "I look forward to working with the Board and Paul to identify the next leader of the Institute, who will continue building on the strong foundation ICI has laid under Paul's leadership."

An alumnus of UVA's law school and of Yale University, Stevens worked in the Reagan administration with the National Security Council and Secretary of Defense, and in the White House on national security affairs. (He worked on the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.) In 1989 he went into private practice at Dickstein Shapiro & Morin, where some of his clients were mutual funds. In 1993, he joined ICI as general counsel, serving for four years before holding senior roles at Schwab and Dechert. He returned to ICI as chief in 2004.

"It has been a privilege for me to lead our talented and dedicated staff, and to work alongside so many outstanding leaders in our industry," Stevens states. "Retiring from such rewarding work will be bittersweet, but I have every confidence that I will leave ICI in a very strong position for the next president." 

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