Jenny Johnson has picked a new chief dealmaker for her $1.4-trillion-AUM (as of January 31) titan.

Jennifer M. "Jenny" Johnson Franklin Resources, Inc. (dba Franklin Templeton) President, CEO

On Monday, Matthew Nicholls, executive vice president at Franklin Resources, Inc. (dba Franklin Templeton [profile]), confirmed that Leeor Avigdor has been promoted to senior vice president, global treasurer, and head of M&A. New York City-based Avigdor will report to Nicholls at the San Mateo, California-based, publicly traded fund firm.

Avigdor most recently served as managing director and head of strategic development at Benefit Street Partners (BSP), an alternative credit asset manager that Franklin bought four years ago. Nicholls lauds Avigdor as "invaluable in [Franklin's] recent expansion and related acquisitions in alternative asset management."

"Over the past several years, we have been particularly deliberate in further diversifying our investment capabilities and solutions for clients through organic investments and acquisitions," Nicholls states.

Avigdor, for his part, praises Franklin as "well-positioned with a strong balance sheet and ... a track record of investing for long-term growth."

"I look forward to working with our leadership team on optimizing our capital allocation strategy and M&A execution," Avigdor states.

Avigdor joined BSP in 2015 after working in investment banking with Barclays and UBS. He is an alumnus of Cornell University. 

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