Asset manager National Investment Services said its CEO transition will take place later this year, following the decision of Robert Brooks, who joined the firm shortly after its inception in 1993 and was quickly offered partial ownership, to step down.
Bartlett McCartin will take the mantle officially on January 1. McCartin has been at the firm for 16 years and currently holds the role of principal and managing partner.
“It was a long time in the making. Sometimes the plans don’t always come true the way you expect them to — but this one really has,” said Brooks. “It is good timing for the organization and for our people to have a natural transition.”
The firm did not want to hire from the outside, instead focusing on a natural progression that would alleviate any fears or concerns that clients or staff might have about a change in strategy.
NIS, an active fixed income asset manager with $12.9 billion in assets, has several strategies, including short duration, liability driven, and socially responsible investing portfolios. Texas-based Resolute Investment Managers acquired a majority interest in the company in 2019. Resolute, which has more than 30 affiliated managers, provides help with succession and distribution, including mutual fund platforms.
The succession process started around a year and a half ago when Brooks decided the time to step aside was closing in, and following discussions with Resolute and McCartin.
“Bart’s got a lot of relationships with senior consultants, some of our biggest clients,” said Brooks, who added that “one day flipping the switch and he is all of a sudden CEO” didn’t make sense and the firm wanted an “orderly, proprietary transition.”
NIS encourages collaboration among its team and hasn’t had much turnover. “Whether it is the CEO role, CIO, or anything else like a portfolio manager, we view it as how we can best support our people so that they can best support our clients,” added McCartin.
McCartin said that once the transition is complete, he has no plans to dramatically change the direction of travel for the firm and will continue to guide it along the growth trajectory it has been on for the last thirty years. He does not see that as maintaining the status quo, however.
“We look at it as continuing to have our firm evolve both in resources and in the way that we’re managing assets,” he said. “The biggest thing to focus on is ensuring succession planning around all the portfolio management aspects. As we continue to grow, we want to make sure that we have the proper resources in place to support that growth.”
He added that the firm will continue to look for additional institutional buckets to expand into while maintaining its focus on Taft-Hartley plans, which represent 75 percent of its assets.
Texas Taft-Hartley Resolute Investment Managers National Investment Services Robert Brooks
