There will soon be a new chief investment officer at Janus Capital Group. The fund firm said Monday that it has hired Gary D. Black as president and chief investment officer. Black will assume his duties at the end of April and replaces Helen Young Hayes who resigned last year. Black, who is 43, will report to CEO Mark Whiston.

The search to replace Hayes took more than a year. Whiston explained that the length of the search was because of its deliberateness. However, since last September Janus has also been operating under a cloud of improper trading allegations brought by state and federal officials.

"We've been deliberate with this search because we wanted to find just the right person to fill this important role," Whiston said. "Given his blend of investment acumen and leadership skills, Gary was well worth the wait. I know his insights and focus on delivering for shareholders will help us build on the steps we've taken to deliver strong fund performance."

Though Black has not directly overseen mutual funds, he has spent a career working with institutional investors, first at Sanford Bernstein (later Alliance Capital) and most recently Goldman Sachs.

Black joins Janus from Goldman Sachs, where he has been the chief investment officer for Goldman Sachs Asset Management's (GSAM) Global Equities business since 2002 and a managing director since 2001. As part of that job, he managed all GSAM CIOs, portfolio managers and analysts who specialized in growth, value, blend and international equities.

Before coming to Goldman Sachs he worked at Alliance Bernstein and its predecessor firm, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. from 1992 to 2001. He was a tobacco sector analyst for six years and moved into senior management in 1999 as executive vice president and head of Institutional Asset Management at Alliance Bernstein. In that job he was responsible for a 75-member global team in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

At Janus, Black will be responsible for the performance of all Janus Capital Group products and investment-management activities, including overseeing Janus portfolio managers, research analysts and trading personnel, according to Whiston. He will also work with Janus' subsidiaries -- INTECH; Perkins, Wolf and McDonnell; and Bay Isle Financial -- on product development and investment performance. In addition, he'll help Whiston continue to broaden the company's product lineup and leverage its global distribution network.

"I've always considered research the essence of portfolio management -- and nowhere is that more true than at Janus," Black said. "They have a lot of talented people, a strong brand and a well-deserved reputation for fundamental research. My role is to help a good company get even better."  

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