At a $79.3-billion-AUM (as of June 30), multi-boutique asset manager under new ownership, a familiar new chief and his team continue to seek out "undiscovered investment excellence" after making a new alliance. Watch for a key new leadership addition soon even as the new chief hunts for more boutiques to team up with or acquire.

Gregory John "Greg" Stumm, Jr. Resolute Investment Managers, American Beacon Advisors President and CEO

"We're open to a wide range of partnerships ... We are still very much open architecture," Greg Stumm, president and CEO of Resolute Investment Managers, tells MFWire. "I think we'll be bringing in more partners to the platform."

Stumm, a 12-year veteran of Resolute and its America Beacon arm, took over the Irving, Texas-based firm back in June, succeeding interim president and CEO Becky Harris, a 33-year Resolute/American Beacon veteran who became chief operating officer after passing Stumm the reins. That handoff followed Harris' ascension to interim CEO in May, along with the resignation of prior chief Jeff Ringdahl. The leadership changes come after new owners took over Resolute last December in a recapitalization deal.

Rebecca L. "Becky" Harris Resolute Investment Managers, American Beacon Advisors Chief Operating Officer

"Our ownership group is very supportive of our business and the outlook and plan that we put together," Stumm says. "We are in growth mode. We are in a great spot right now."

Now Stumm, who previously served as senior vice president and head of distribution and splits his team between the Dallas and Philadelphia areas, is updating Resolute's distribution leadership team. He confirms that three key leaders will each divide up responsibility. Dallas-based Emily Dowden and Saratoga Springs, New York-based Jay Schilling are filling two of those roles, while the third executive is expected to join Resolute soon.

"This new person will be our head of retail, working with externals, internals, and also our partner firms," Stumm says, adding that this new retail chief will join Resolute "in a couple of weeks."

Meanwhile, Dowden joined Resolute this summer as vice president and head of marketing, after leading distribution services at Westwood Holdings Group. And Schilling, a 10-year Resolute veteran who has worked with Stumm for 14 years, now serves as Resolute's institutional advisory chief.

"We've built a great culture at the organization and a really unique respect at the organization," Stumm says. "People want to come here."

"We have this mentality of 'Love what you do and love who you do it with,'" Stumm adds. "We're able to add top talent."

Resolute's core competencies, Stumm explains, boil down to three things: finding and picking boutique allies, adopting and building investment products (including CITs, ETFs, SMAs, and traditional mutual funds), and marketing and distributing those products.

"We find great managers, we put them in the right vehicle for the client base, and then we go out and educate our partners about," Stumm says. "We're almost a turnkey solution for managers to access the U.S. wealth and retirement markets, and every manager that does not have a solution for the U.S. wealth and retirement markets is currently trying to figure one out."

Resolute currently owns five affiliates (including American Beacon, its multi-manager fund firm), and together they have 199 employees (including 44 investment professionals), a spokesperson for Resolute confirms. Resolute also works with dozens of third-party subadvisors who are independent allies of the multi-boutique.

Looking forward, Stumm stresses that Resolute can do a variety of types of boutique partnerships, including fund adoptions and launches (using a third-party manager as subadvisor), third-party marketing and distribution relationships, and acquisitions.

"It's all on the table," Stumm says.

"We have made great strides in our fixed income and liquid alternatives solutions," Stumm adds. "There are still areas of green space for us today."

The Resolute team looks for active managers whose strategies offer "institutional quality and enduring value," Stumm explains. Some key questions the Resolute team asks include "Is their strategy scalable?" "Does their strategy generate consistent alpha?" and "Can a retail client own this?" A particular strategy "may be a great investment solution, but is it a great investment solution that clients can own?" Stumm asks.

Stumm highlights Resolute's new alliance with Ninety One, a Cape Town-born, 33-year-old, $162.5-billion-AUM (as of June 30), multinational asset manager based in London. Back in February, Stumm unveiled a strategic partnership with Ninety One North America, with Resolute taking over distribution for a pair of Ninety One SMA strategies. Then last month, the Ninety One team revealed plans for Resolute's America Beacon Advisors to acquire and adopt three Ninety One U.S. mutual funds while keeping Ninety One on as subadvisor.

Before serving in distribution and marketing leadership roles with Westwood and Resolute, Dowden worked with Crestone Capital Advisors and Community Banks of Colorado. She is a former middle school math teacher and an alumna of the University of North Texas.

Schilling joined Resolute's sales team in 2014 after working with RS Investments and Lockwood Advisors. He attended the State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego).

Ringdahl joined American Beacon and Resolute as COO in 2010, after serving as VP of product management at Touchstone. Earlier, he worked with Fidelity, Western & Southern, the Penobscot Group, and SSGA. He is an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and of Boston University.

Since joining American Beacon in 1991, Harris has served in several leadership roles, including CFO, product management director, mutual fund treasurer, and head of product management, corporate development and affiliate relations. Earlier, she worked with Sabre Travel Information Network and Ernst & Yong. She is an alumna of Texas A&M University.

Before taking over distribution at Resolute, Stumm served as national sales manager and VP of national advisory sales. He joined American Beacon in 2012, also after working with RS, and earlier he held a post with the Hartford. He is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania. 

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