Featured Executive:
James Zelter
James Zelter is ExecRank's Top Investment Executive for 2012. Mr. Zelter’s experience in managing assets for some of the largest companies in the world and his strong record of success in risk management and driving return on equity have propelled him to number one on this year's list.
Mr. Zelter joined Apollo in 2006. Mr. Zelter is the Managing Director of Apollo's credit business, Chief Executive Officer and director of Apollo Investment Corporation, and director of AP Investment Europe Limited. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Zelter was with Citigroup Inc. and its predecessor companies from 1994 to 2006. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Zelter was Chief Investment Officer of Citigroup Alternative Investments, and prior to that he was responsible for the firm’s Global High Yield franchise. Prior to joining Citigroup in 1994, Mr. Zelter was a High Yield Trader at Goldman Sachs & Co. Mr. Zelter is a board member of DUMAC, the investment management company that oversees the Duke Endowment and Duke Foundation. Mr. Zelter has a degree in Economics from Duke University.
2012 Chief Investment Officers
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There are over 10,000 Chief Investment Officers and C-Level Investment Executives in the United States. Only the very best are awarded the distinction of being a part of ExecRank’s “Top Chief Investment Officer Rankings” for 2012. The number one area of focus for Top CIOs in 2012 has been their role in developing company wide investment strategies that improved ROE while successfully managing risk. ExecRank also weighed heavily the recommendations provided by external analysts and CFOs. In addition, we saw a significant uptick in the number of CIOs that served on boards of directors and displayed a skill set that is applicable to multiple industries. The CIOs that made this list represent the best of the best in their field.
Chief Investment Officers and Investment Executives were ranked according to our patent-pending proprietary CIO Ranking Algorithm that calculates points for 24 key categories, in addition to the insights and feedback from evaluation committees featuring some of the world’s most renowned business leaders. Like all of our position specific ranking algorithms, the CIO Ranking Algorithm serves as an objective standard for executive performance and is designed to produce results that act as leading indicators for future executive and team performance. Feedback from past award winners includes:
Brian Pellegrino, CIO, UPS – “It is truly an honor to be identified by ExecRank as a leader in the industry. It speaks volumes of the outstanding work done by the investments team at UPS and I find myself extremely fortunate to be associated with such a talented and dedicated group of individuals.”
Brent P.W. Burgess, Managing Director & Chief Investment Officer, Triangle Capital Corporation – “It’s a great honor to be recognized as one of the top CIOs in the country. In my case, it’s very much of a team effort responsible for our company’s results, so I’m extremely grateful for the talented and dedicated people that I get to work with every day.”
Jeff Lorenzen, SVP and CIO, American Equity Investment Holding Company – “It’s a privilege to be recognized by ExecRank’s as one of its leading CIO’s. This distinction is a direct reflection of the outstanding team of professionals at American Equity and their desire to be a high performance organization.”
Daniel Knutson, CFO, Land O’Lakes – “It is an honor to be among this distinguished group of financial leaders on ExecRank. It is really a reflection of the expertise and dedication of the entire team at Land O’Lakes.”
Arthur Minson, CFO, AOL – “This accolade from ExecRank is a reflection of all of the hard work my five thousand teammates have put in at AOL and I am honored to accept it on their behalf.”
Rob Lloyd, EVP & CFO, Gamestop – “I am honored to be included with the outstanding leaders in my field in the ExecRank CFO rankings…”
See more praise and media mentions for ExecRank rankings…
| 1. James Zelter, Apollo Global Management, LLC | 2. Daniel Cook, Mercantile Bancorp, Inc. |
| 3. Kathleen Gallagher, Ford Motor Company | 4. Chris Li, Lockheed Martin Corporation |
| 5. Nathan Partain, Virtus Investment Partners | 6. David Dale-Johnson, Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc. |
| 7. Raymond Kanner, International Business Machines Corporation | 8. Lisa Haag, The Boeing Company |
| 9. Andrew Ward, The Boeing Company | 10. Mark Kajita, Baker Boyer Bancorp |
| 11. Rick Rieder, Blackrock Inc | 12. Jeffrey Lorenzen, American Equity Investment Life Holding Company |
| 13. Marcum Eli Khouri, Kilroy Realty Corporation | 14. Shane Garrison, Retail Properties of America, Inc. |
| 15. Brian Pellegrino, United Parcel Service, Inc. | 16. Duncan Richardson , Eaton Vance Corp. |
| 17. Andrew Haddock, Lake City Bank | 18. Gary Kain, American Capital, Ltd. |
| 19. Philip Sanders, Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. | 20. Richard Harris, Cummins Inc. |
| 21. A. William Stein , Digital Realty Trust | 22. John Simms, Piedmont Trust Company |
| 23. John Calamos, Calamos Asset Management, Inc. | 24. Matthew Lentz, Simon Property Group, Inc. |
| 25. Bryan Dunnivant, Eli Lilly and Company | 26. Carsten Quitter , Allianz North America |
| 27. Brain Oakes, Avis Budget Group, Inc. | 28. Brian Rogers, T Rowe Price Group Inc |
| 29. Eric Kirsch, Aflac Incorporated | 30. Harsh Bausal, Honeywell International Inc. |
| 31. Judy Mares, Alliant Techsystems Inc. | 32. Ranking Update |
| 33. Richard Forde, CIGNA | 34. Howard Ward, GAMCO Investors, Inc. |
| 35. Roger Gorham, Alleghany Corporation | 36. Edward Antoian, Urban Outfitters Inc |
| 37. John Meder, Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. | 38. Steven Rodgers, Bank of Hawaii Corporation |
| 39. James Groch, CBRE Group, Inc. | 40. Bill Cody, Progressive Corporation |
| 41. Brent Burgess, Triangle Capital Corporation | 42. Byron Boston, Dynex Capital, Inc. |
| 43. Judith Greffin, Allstate Corporation | 44. Jeffrey Ptak, Morningstar, Inc. |
| 45. Dean Junkans, Wells Fargo Company | 46. Aaron Diefenthaler, Rli Corp |
| 47. Burt White, LPL Financial | 48. W. Michael Pressley, Torchmark Corporation |
| 49. Christopher Pagano, Assurant Asset Management | 50. Ned Gerstman, The Chubb Corporation |
| 51. Robert Witkoff, The Chubb Corporation | 52. John Dionne, Blackstone Group |
| 53. Jesse Crews, Trinity Industries Inc | 54. Jesse Crews, Trinity Industries, Inc. |
| 55. Christopher Graves, Mercury General Corporation | 56. Clark Lauritzen, First National of Nebraska, Inc. |
| 57. Robert Lutts, Cabot Corporation | 58. Tomas Arlia, General Electric Company |
| 59. Jon Reynolds, Fifth Third Bancorp | 60. William Heyman, The Travelers Companies, Inc. |
| 61. Mark Bratt, DDR Corp. | 62. John Sturiale, The Charles Schwab Corporation |
| 63. K.C. Matthews, UMB Financial Corporation | 64. Craig Delany , JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| 65. Rick Lacaille, State Street Corporation | 66. Josh Radel, Bar Harbor Bankshares |
| 67. Carol McFate, Xerox Corp | 68. Paul Cavazos, DTE Energy |
| 69. Don Nesbitt, The Ziegler Companies, Inc. | 70. Kris Blackmon, Auburn National Bancorporation, Inc. |
| 71. David Smith , Independent Bank Corp. | 72. Rand Westlund, QCR Holdings, Inc. |
| 73. Kristopher Konrad, Annaly Capital Management, Inc. | 74. Rose-Marie Lyght, Annaly Capital Management, Inc. |
| 75. Katherine Nixon, Northern Trust Corporation | 76. Fred Matera, Redwood Trust, Inc. |
| 77. Christopher Childs, Webster Financial Corporation | 78. Lu Ann Katz, Invesco |
| 79. Ernest Dawal, SunTrust Banks, Inc. | 80. E. Robert Fernholz, Janus Capital Group |
| 81. James Hunt, THL Credit | 82. Julia Lawler, Principal Financial Group, Inc. |
| 83. Tim Dunbar, Principal Financial Group | 84. Brendan Gau, AMERISAFE, Inc. |
| 85. Chris Jones, Financial Engines, Inc. | 86. Jeffrey Weichsel, Flushing Financial Corporation |
| 87. Carl Thigpen , Protective Life Corporation | 88. Martin Hollenbeck, Cincinnati Financial Corporation |
| 89. Tom Gayner, Markel Corporation | 90. Paul Gallagher, HCP, Inc. |
| 91. Kathryn McAuley, Weyerhaeuser | 92. Leo Grohowski, Bank Of New York Mellon Corp |
| 93. William Roth, Two Harbors Investment Corp. | 94. George Calvert, Middleburg Financial Corporation |
| 95. Richard Scott, Loews Corporation | 96. Michael Hagen, Liberty Property Trust |
| 97. Patricia Scheuer, National Western Life Insurance | 98. Donald Nicholson, Northwest Bancshares, Inc. |
| 99. John Smith, Home Properties, Inc. | 100. Bernard Francis, Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. |
| 101. Susan Sweeney, Selective Insurance Group | 102. Stephen Dominiak, BRE Properties, Inc. |
| 103. John Miller, W. P. Carey & Co. LLC | 104. Michael Hartnett, Campus Crest Communities, Inc. |
| 105. Steven Goulart, MetLife, Inc. | 106. Charlie Happel, FBL Financial Group, Inc. |
| 107. Peter Schmidt-Fellner, NewStar Financial, Inc. | 108. John Cobb, Ventas, Inc. |
| 109. Richard Cookson, Citigroup Inc. | 110. George Schmidt, Glimcher Realty Trust |
| 111. Alan George, Equity Residential | 112. Michael Collins, Prudential Financial, Inc. |
| 113. Michael Mauboussin, Legg Mason, Inc. | 114. George Stelljes, Gladstone Commercial Corporation |
| 115. Mark Abrams, Presidential Life Corporation | 116. Ellen Cooper, Lincoln National Corp |
| 117. Dan Sheehan, Genworth Financial, Inc. | 118. Breege Farrell, Unum Group |
| 119. John Apruzzese, Evercore Partners Inc. | 120. Walter Muller, Bank of America Corporation |
| 121. Brion Johnson, The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. | 122. Stefan Keitel, Credit Suisse Group |
| 123. Joel Braun, Acadia Realty Trust | 124. Ronald Barin, Alcoa Inc. |
| 125. Michael Curless, Prologis, Inc. |
