Kristi Mitchem, president and CEO of Wells Fargo Asset Management, has brought former SSgA colleague Fred Axater to Wells as an executive vice president and head of strategic business segments, MFWire has learned. Axater was a managing director and the global head of defined contribution with SSgA where he oversaw product development, distribution, client service, operations, and marketing.

Kristi Mitchem Wells Fargo Asset Management President and CEO

At SSgA, before she joined Wells last year, Mitchem was Axater's boss and led the DC I-O team that worked in the large market and endowment-focused space. The two also worked together while with BlackRock.

"Fredrik will be building a new team focused on establishing a deeper understanding of client needs and growing three strategic business segments: Defined Contribution; Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance; and partnerships with the businesses that comprise Wells Fargo's Wealth and Investment Management division," Wells Fargo spokesperson John Roehm says. "These are areas of potential growth where we believe we can leverage our knowledge and investment capabilities to better serve both our retail and institutional clients."

While SSgA considers how to fill Axsater's position, Nigel Aston, head of European defined contribution and a senior managing director, will assume additional responsibilities, an SSgA spokesperson says. The DC I-O team will now report to Aston. During the interim, managing director and head of the ESG team, Chris McKnett, will report to head of the America's Institutional Client Group, Barry Smith.

Axater was with SSgA since June 2011.  

Edited by: Noah Zuss


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