MutualFundWire.com: That Was a Remarkable Day in the History of Calamos

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Friday, September 11, 2015

That Was a Remarkable Day in the History of Calamos

John Calamos just promoted a new president, replaced his co-chief investment officer with four new ones, and bought a hedge fund. Whew!

John Calamos
Calamos Investments
Chief Executive Officer, Global Co-Chief Investment Officer, Chairman

"It's a remarkable day in the history of Calamos [Investments]," Bob Behan tells MFWire. Behan had served as executive vice president and head of distribution, and now he's president of the Naperville, Illinois-based, publicly-traded mutual fund shop.

Meanwhile, co-CIO Gary Black is "going to move on" from the firm by the end of October. John Hillenbrand, David Kalis, Nick Niziolek, and Eli Pars will each rise to co-CIO alongside Calamos himself, who also remains CEO of the company. Hillenbrand is head of multi-asset strategies and co-head of convertible strategies, Kalis is head of U.S. growth equity strategies, Niziolek is head of international and global strategies, and Pars is head of alternative strategies and co-head of convertible strategies.

As for the acquisition, Calamos [profile] is buying San Francisco-based Phineus Partners, with a target closing date of September 30. Like Black's departure, by the end of Phineus will take over Calamos's U.S. long-short product. Phineus is an active, global, long-short hedge fund, and Calamos' long-short product has been actively managed by Black. Phineus also subadvisors some multi-strategy funds and will continue to do so. Michael Grant founded Phineus in 2002.

"This deal was sourced directly through our corporate development efforts," Behan says. "The only acquisition we've done would be when we took on Gary's firm [in 2012]. We really targeted Gary ... This is really a bit of a new path for us."

"It's an amicable departure," Behan says of Black leaving the firm. "He'd done what we needed him to do. His job was complete."

Behan describes the new five co-CIO investment leadership structure as a broadening of the Calamos leadership ranks. And he notes that the four new co-CIOs are also senior PMs.

"We're a team of teams. Our teams collaborate across structures," Behan says. "The team has done a magnificent job turning around performance. Our clients have noticed."

Behan, who first joined Calamos almost nine years ago, himself will continue to oversee distribution, as well as marketing and corporate development.

"I've got a fantastic distribution structure," Behan says. "I'm really focused on how we grow the business."

Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=52597

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