News

Voya IM CEO Christine Hurtsllers spoke with Ignites editor Emily Laermer about how Voya educates both their advisors and their clients. Hurtsellers says it is important for Voya advisors to “have good education, good material to then help their client base.” In order to give their clients the best advice, Hurtsllers says Voya is “spending more time on education and educational resources that advisors need in order to make some of this more understandable and easier for their clients.”

Pensions & Investments reports, “Jake Tuzza has been promoted to head of distribution at Voya Investment Management.” Tuzza will report to Voya IM CEO Christine Hurtsellers “and will oversee all aspects of Voya Investment Management’s distribution efforts, ‘including those tied to the firm’s institutional, insurance, intermediary and international clients,’ said a news release Thursday.” P&I also says Voya IM promoted Connor Sullivan to head of U.S. institutional distribution and Dina Santoro to COO.

Ignites provides the transcript for an interview with Voya Investment Management CEO Christine Hurtsellers. When asked about the “tech trends that have most impacted mutual fund distribution,” Hurtsellers said, “It really goes to customized portfolios, customized advice and model portfolios. So one of the things that we’ve done is developed a partnership with a large wealth manager where we provide model portfolios for less-high-net-worth individuals. So think about people that have fewer assets.”

Appearing on Bloomberg TV Voya Fixed Income CIO Matt Toms spoke on the market’s reactions to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s comments on how the Fed is planning to fight inflation. Toms said the market is currently reacting to a “calm, measured” reaction from the Fed as Chairman Powell announced the doubling of tapering and expected rate hikes. Toms said the market is still expecting inflation to be “moderating” over the next few years. Toms believes that while it is hard to predict an exact timeline, he believes the Fed’s current timeline of ending tapering in March and beginning rate hikes is a good estimate. Minus a sharp rise in inflation that would deserve a more harsh reaction, Toms believes the current plan from the Fed is good for the equity market. Toms also believes that increasingly higher prices will push consumer spending down, which will get rid of some of the “inflationary push.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that investors seeking higher yields have pushed fixed-income sales to record highs, especially for riskier debt offering higher payouts. The uptick in inflation has pushed price increases above average junk bond yields, an inversion of the way investors traditionally think of the bond market. Voya Investment Management Chief Investment Officer Matt Toms believes that investors are looking more at each individual issuer rather than categories, saying, “It is now about which companies can manage supply and pricing pressures and less so whether they can survive through the pandemic.”

Ignites spoke with Voya Investment Management CEO Christine Hurtsellers on the impact of the pandemic on Voya’s distribution and sales teams. Hurtsellers said that, as the pandemic has carried on, it has made establishing relationships with clients “harder and harder.” At the same time, Hurtsellers said the new challenges “massively accelerated our digitization.”

Voya Investment Management has named Vincent Costa Co-Chief Investment Officer for Equities effective Jan. 1, according to a statement. Costa “will work closely with Michael Pytosh, who has been CIO of equities since 2017 and head of equities since 2010, the release noted.” Voya spokesman Kristopher Kagel “confirmed by email that Mr. Costa will also retain his current positions as head of the quantitative equity team and portfolio manager in Voya’s large-cap value strategy group.” Voya “also named James Dorment and Kristy Finnegan as co-heads of fundamental research in the equities platform, both newly created positions. Both Mr. Dorment and Ms. Finnegan will keep their portfolio management responsibilities on the value and growth strategies teams, respectively, the release added.”  

MarketWatch reports that airlines are starting to use frequent flyer programs as “collateral for bondholders.” Airlines are making the pledges against their programs because they can generate cash by selling frequent flyer miles to credit card issuers, who, in turn “offer them as part of their reward programs to their customers.” The article says that “the revenues earned from selling the miles” to credit card issuers “are much higher than the cost of any flight travel redeemed by passengers.” Voya Investment Management Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Cliff Andrus said, “The customer doesn’t realize the margins are quite high.” According to the article, “Even with reduced demand for air travel, the mileage programs still hold their value.” Andrus said, “You’re going out to spend money on your credit card, whether or not you’re flying.” According to some analysts, using frequent flier programs as collateral “represents a desperate move by airlines that are looking for any assets that they can pledge.”

Pensions & Investments reports Voya spokesperson Kristopher Kagel confirmed that Voya Investment Management Managing Director and Head of Product Management and Development Bill Golden assumed Stephen Dougherty’s responsibilities as a managing director and head of structured assets and alternatives. Pensions & Investments mentions that “Dougherty was named global head of product at Aegon Asset Management.”

Bloomberg TV What’d You Miss? featured an interview with Voya Investment Management CEO Christine Hurtsellers, who discussed her thoughts on stock market performance and macroeconomic trends. According to Hurtsellers, the U.S. “still has a long way to go before” the economy returns to its pre-pandemic level, especially as the unemployment rate remains above 10%. However, Hurtsellers said that the “underlying fundamentals and momentum” of the economy “are actually quite good,” with “retail spending rebounding,” and more activity on the restaurant-reservation platform OpenTable. When asked about the relative strength of the stock market, and if the Fed’s liquidity actions are obscuring some risks to investors, Hurtsellers answered, “I would say, for the most part, no,” adding that “when you peel back the covers and look deeper into the market ... we are still seeing a tale of two cities, meaning that” some sectors, such as commercial real estate “have really lagged.”