Mitchell Harris is already reshaping BNY Mellon Investment Management [profile], and he just picked a chief to lead distribution in North America.

Mitchell Harris BNY Mellon Chief Executive Officer of Investment Management

Harris, who in February succeeded Curtis Arledge as CEO of BNY Mellon IM, has reorganized the multi-boutique asset manager. The new structure, a BNY Mellon spokesman confirms in an emailed statement, focuses "on five core Business Groups: Distribution, Product Strategy & Performance Management, Infrastructure, Wealth Management and Investment Management Governance."

Within that realigned structure, Harris has appointed Mark Santero as CEO of Dreyfus, which includes North America distribution. Santero most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for BNY Mellon IM.

Santero is now one of Harris' direct reports. The others include: Jamie Lewin, formerly head of manager research, not head of the product strategy and performance management group; Don Heberle, still CEO of wealth management; Greg Brisk, head of investment management governance; Matt Oomen, still head of international distribution; and the CEOs of BNY Mellon IM's 13 investment boutiques. Harris will also name a new chief operating officer to lead BNY Mellon IM's infrastructure group.

"This reorganization will increase efficiency and balance our focus between our wealth, institutional and intermediary businesses," the spokesman states.

The BNY Mellon spokesman also confirms that Americas distribution chief Kim Mustin and institutional chief John Herlihy are both leaving the company. The spokesman offered further clarification on the distribution side.

... [W]e have not changed our distribution strategy for the intermediary and institutional markets in which we are as committed as ever. Institutional clients in North America and internationally will deal directly with the same distribution teams and portfolio managers that they always have. For the intermediary market, our clients will work closely with the Dreyfus and International Distribution teams, where we will continue to offer them specialized investment solutions from across our suite of boutiques. The overall goal with the organizational change is to be more focused on the elements that drive our success, streamline the organizational structure to speed up decision making, improve collaboration, and ensure we take full advantage of our unique multi-boutique model.

Santero joined BNY Mellon IM two years ago. An alumnus of Fordham, he previously worked at OpFunds, Tremont Group Holdings, Ivy Asset Management, Atlantic Trust Company, and AIM Management Group (now part of Invesco).

Lewin previously served as head of manager research at BNY Mellon IM, and prior to that as head of asset allocation. Lewin is an alumnus of the University of Bath and worked at UBS before joining BNY Mellon more than eight years ago. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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