A C-suiter is passing the reins at a Midwestern boutique with $16.2 billion in AUM (as of March 31), and the strategic counselor who inspired Scandal is joining the boutique's board.

Carlos Calderon Ariel Investments, LLC Chief Financial Officer

John Rogers (founder, chairman, co-CEO, and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Ariel Investments, LLC [profile]) and Mellody Hobson (president and co-CEO) confirm that Carlos Calderon joined the firm today as chief financial officer. Calderon succeeds Ariel's current CFO, Maureen Longoria, who is expected to leave the firm at the end of the month.

Boston-based Calderon now serves on Ariel's operating committee, reports to Hobson, and is expected to relocate to Chicago. He most recently served as vice president and director of financial planning and analysis at Eaton Vance, which was recently acquired.

Hobson lauds Calderon as "a tremendous asset to Ariel's operational leadership, bringing his deep expertise in financial strategies and systems." Rogers adds praise to the exiting Longoria for her "16 years of exceptional partnership and service to the firm and our clients."

Hobson and Rogers also confirm that, on July 1, Washington, D.C.-based Judy Smith will join Ariel's board of directors. Smith is the founder and CEO of Smith & Company, and her move to the Ariel Investments board comes as several board members and executives are moving over to a new, sister venture: Ariel Alternatives, LLC.

"Judy will add incredibly rare and diverse experience to our team," Rogers and Hobson state.

Calderon joined Eaton Vance in 2017. Prior to that, he worked at State Street, BNY Mellon Wealth Management, and Trudeau & Trudeau Associates. He is an alumnus of UMass Amherst's Isenberg School of Management.

Longoria joined Ariel in 2005 as a financial analyst, and she has since served in a variety of roles, rising to CFO in 2012. Earlier on, she worked with CBIZ. She is an alumna of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Gies College of Business.

Smith is a formal federal prosecutor and former Deputy Press Secretary to the first President Bush. Since then, she has built her own strategic advisory firm, specializing in crisis management to politicians, celebrities, and Fortune 500 companies. She is an alumna of American University and of Boston University. 

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