Global professional services company Towers Watson has appointed industry veteran Hrach Alexanian as a senior investment advisor, further strengthening its position in the delegated investment services market. Alexanian, who is based in Chicago, will be responsible for assisting clients in setting and implementing investment strategies; which include portfolio construction, dynamic asset allocation and manager selection.
“We are delighted to have someone with Hrach’s deep knowledge and broad-based investment experience join our team,” said Debra Woida, director of Towers Watson’s delegated services in the United States. “With more than 25 years of experience, Hrach will build on our existing delegated services to clients and we look forward to his many contributions helping clients address the investment challenges they are facing.”
Assets under advice for Towers Watson’s expanding delegated business, which combines investment strategy and asset/liability modeling (ALM) capabilities with the fiduciary management of investment portfolios, are in excess of US$50 billion. In the U.S. alone, Towers Watson’s assets under advice using this approach have increased by over US$5 billion in the past 18 months.
Chris DeMeo, Towers Watson’s head of Investment in North America, said: “The addition of Hrach demonstrates our commitment to expanding our delegated services business and comes just one month after Bruce Rodio joined our delegated investment team. In the ongoing complex and volatile financial environment, our delegated investment solution can provide timely execution throughout the asset planning cycle and a transparent approach for total pool management – making it particularly attractive for investors who lack the resources, expertise or time.”
Prior to joining Towers Watson, Alexanian was a senior investment manager at BP America in Chicago where he oversaw US$1 billion in alternative and traditional investment strategies. While at BP, he spearheaded various investment-related technology and risk-management initiatives. Alexanian also spent ten years at Morningstar. Alexanian earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a CFA Charterholder.
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