QMA, the $130 billion quantitative equity and asset allocation arm of PGIM, is expanding its business outside of the U.S. and has hired Adam Broder, a veteran of Och Ziff Capital Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, to lead global distribution, a new position.
With investors flocking to quant strategies in recent years, QMA, founded in 1975, is leveraging its long track record in the industry to attract non-U.S. institutional clients. PGIM is the $1.2 trillion investment management business of Prudential Financial.
In his first interview since becoming CEO of QMA in October 2016, Andrew Dyson, who is also chairman of the company, tells Institutional Investor that Broder’s ability to help the business expand internationally is a key part of his growth strategy for the firm.
“QMA focuses on two things: quantitative equity and dynamic asset allocation, or multi-asset,” says Dyson, who joined QMA from Affiliated Managers Group. “There aren’t than many areas of growth in the industry, but those are two areas, and we have them both right here. The opportunity is to grow this around the world, not just the U.S.”
Non-U.S. clients represent five percent of QMA’s assets under management. Broder will join QMA on October 16th.
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Last month, QMA hired George Patterson, who was most recently managing director of corporate strategy at consultant Axioma. Patterson now co-heads global equities platform with Peter Xu, who also runs U.S. core strategies. In creating the two new positions, QMA consolidated U.S. value, U.S. core, and non-U.S. core investments under one team.
Dyson says he joined QMA because of PGIM’s multi-boutique structure, which allows the investment managers to be independent but also access the kinds of shared services that a large firm can afford to support.
“Part of Adam’s role will be to take advantage of local resources that PGIM already has in place. We can then stay focused on QMA as a boutique, but also compete on a level playing field,” says Dyson.
Broder — who most recently ran his own consultancy for hedge funds, financial technology firms and others — will develop sales and client service, marketing, and consultant relations for QMA and will also draw on PGIM’s shared distribution network, such as the investment manager’s offices around the world. At Och Ziff, Broder was tasked with expanding global sales and marketing and helping to build the hedge fund’s growth strategy. During a 15-year career at GSAM, Broder was most recently chief operating officer of Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in London.
