A new chief is taking over Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo (GMO [profile]) next month, and not just temporarily.

Andy Martin GMO Investments

Peg McGetrick, interim CEO of the Boston-based asset manager (which is a 40-year-old private partnership), confirms that on February 13 Scott Hayward will become CEO of GMO. McGetrick will remain on the GMO board of directors. In other GMO news, Cambridge Associates veteran Andy Martin is joining GMO as head of investment teams, a new role. And GMO is also prepping a series of strategies themed around the climate change issue.

Hayward most recently served as CEO of Prudential [profile] boutique Quantitative Management Associates (QMA). In October 2016 David Hunt, president and CEO of PGIM (Pru's asset management arm), confirmed that in April 2017 Andrew Dyson would succeed Hayward as QMA's CEO.

Martin most recently served as non-profit practice managing director and global head of hedge fund research at Cambridge.

McGetrick stepped up as interim CEO of GMO last summer after then-CEO Brad Hilsabeck stepped down. At the time GMO was reportedly cutting about 10 percent of its then-650-person workforce.

As for the climate change issue, GMO describes founder Jeremy Grantham as "a steadfast and passionate advocate for addressing the climate change on the environment." Grantham predicts that "global warming will be the most important investment issue for the foreseeable future." Watch for GMO's first climate change-themed strategy, the Climate Change Fund, to launch this quarter.

"GMO has been doing fundamental research on investment implications and opportunities relating to environmental factors for years, and we are confident that now is the time to partner with our clients and provide investment solutions," states Arjun Divecha, partner and chairman at GMO.

Hayward is an alumnus of Boston College. He spent 16 years at J.P. Morgan before heading to Pru, where he worked at QMA and Jennison Associates.

Martin is an alumnus of both Yale and Dartmouth. He worked at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and at Credit Suisse First Boston before joining Cambridge Associates in 2006. 

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