Business Insider Prime – Vanguard Hires Brent Beardsley as Chief Strategy Officer

Vanguard just lured a BCG partner as its head of strategy, and it highlights one of the hottest new hiring areas at trillion-dollar asset managers.

The role of chief strategy officer is increasingly important for large asset managers, executive recruiters told Business Insider. In a move not previously reported, Brent Beardsley in January joined $5.3 trillion asset manager as its chief strategy officer after spending more than 17 years at BCG, where his roles included global head of asset and wealth management.

While strategy heads are common at most companies large and small, the asset management industry (with the exception of heavily diversified firms like BlackRock) has only begun to add the role in recent years, executive recruiters say.

"An asset management company used to be a pretty rudimentary business to run, with focus primarily on manufacturing and distribution," said Arnaud Tesson, the head of US asset management at executive search firm Egon Zehnder. "Now, it has become more complex, the environment is more complex and senior needs are changing."
 

Full Article: Vanguard just lured a BCG partner as its head of strategy, and it highlights one of the hottest new hiring areas at trillion-dollar asset managers. Meghan Morris, 20 Feb 2019.