Press Release

SEC DIVISION OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT NAMES ROBERT PLAZE AS DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DIANE BLIZZARD AS MANAGING EXECUTIVE

Washington, D.C., July 1, 2011 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Robert E. Plaze has been named Deputy Director in the Division of Investment Management and Diane C. Blizzard has been named Managing Executive of the Division.

As Deputy Director, Mr. Plaze will play an integral role in the Division's regulatory program under the Investment Company and Investment Advisers Acts of 1940. This includes rulemaking, granting orders exempting entities from requirements of the Acts, and issuing interpretive positions under the Acts.

Mr. Plaze has been a member of the Division staff for more than 27 years. He has served in a number of positions, most recently as Associate Director for Regulatory Policy. Mr. Plaze has led numerous regulatory policy and rulemaking initiatives, and has engaged extensively with other financial regulators on behalf of the Commission on important and timely projects related to investment advisers and investment companies.

"I'm very pleased that we will have the benefit of Bob’s great experience and talent deployed across a broader scope of the Division's work," said Eileen Rominger, Director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management. "In his new role, Bob will help me and other leaders in the Division appropriately prioritize our near-term regulatory agenda and longer-term initiatives, and help the Commission identify the best possible solutions to the challenging issues we face in our mission of investor protection."

Mr. Plaze said, "This is a great opportunity to work with Eileen Rominger to further investor protections and our ambitious regulatory agenda."

Mr. Plaze is a past recipient of the SEC's Distinguished Service Award, and twice received the agency's Law and Policy Award. He holds an AB and JD from Georgetown University.

Ms. Blizzard has been appointed to the newly created position of Managing Executive of the Division. Formerly the Senior Adviser to the Director, Ms. Blizzard has 11 years of experience at the SEC. Ms. Blizzard will now be responsible for the overall management of all administrative, resource allocation, and strategic planning initiatives in the Division. She also will be responsible for assessing the effectiveness of the Division’s work processes and overseeing business improvement projects to streamline workflow.

"Diane is a dynamic manager with excellent knowledge of the Division’s work," said Ms. Rominger. "I look forward to working with her to remove any impediments to productivity and move toward the very highest standards of management practice."

Ms. Blizzard said, "This is a critical time to examine our operations in order to optimize our resources in fulfilling our mission on behalf of the investing public. I look forward to working with the excellent staff in the Division on this very important effort."

Earlier in her career, Ms. Blizzard served as counsel to an affiliate of the Investment Company Institute. She holds an AB from Duke University, and a JD from Georgetown University.