Matt Toms appointed first global chief investment officer of Voya Investment Management

Voya Investment Management, the asset management business of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that Matt Toms, CFA, has been appointed to the newly created role of global chief investment officer (CIO).

Toms, who has served as CIO of fixed income for Voya Investment Management (IM) since September 2016, will now lead the firm’s more than 300 investment professionals who are managing approximately $330 billion in assets under management across fixed income, equities, multi-asset solutions and alternative strategies. He will continue to report to Christine Hurtsellers, chief executive officer, Voya IM.

“By focusing on the needs of our clients and investing in our firm, we have been able to successfully expand our investment capabilities and grow while also prioritizing the continuity of our portfolio management teams and investment processes,” said Hurtsellers. “With this evolution and our focus on continued growth, now is the right time to shift to a global CIO model, and we are fortunate to have an experienced, successful and well-regarded leader in Matt to oversee our investment teams. In his 28-year career in investment management, Matt has not only gained great experience and insights into various market cycles and trends, but – equally important – he has leveraged this knowledge to develop and manage investment strategies that have delivered strong outcomes for our clients.”

“This new structure will support our focus on serving the needs of our increasingly global client base and ensure we can leverage insights across teams to invest in ways that help our clients meet their goals,” added Hurtsellers.

The fixed income investment team will continue to report to Toms, who will maintain his current portfolio management responsibilities. In addition, Chris Lyons, CFA will take on an expanded role as head of private fixed income and alternatives. Lyons had most recently served as group head of private credit and will continue to report to Toms.

Vincent Costa, CFA and Paul Zemsky, CFA will continue in their CIO roles overseeing equities and multi-asset solutions, respectively, and will now both report to Toms.

Voya IM also announced today several future changes to its investment teams that reflect the execution of the firm’s carefully developed succession plans:

• Michael Pytosh – who has served as co-CIO with Costa overseeing Voya IM’s equities platform – and Jeffrey Bianchi, CFA – who has served as a portfolio manager on several of Voya IM’s growth equities strategies – will be leaving the firm at the end of 2022. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, Leigh Todd, CFA, will serve as the lead portfolio manager for Voya IM’s equities growth strategies. Todd will work closely with Kristy Finnegan, CFA, who will continue to serve as a portfolio manager on the firm’s growth strategies.
• Richard Johnson, who joined Voya IM in connection with the firm’s acquisition of the investment advisory business and certain other assets of small cap growth specialist Tygh Capital Management in January 2022, will retire in June 2023. Michael Coyne, CFA, who also joined Voya IM from the Tygh team earlier this year, will lead the small cap equities team upon Johnson’s retirement.
• Jeff Bakalar, senior managing director, group head and CIO of Voya IM’s leveraged credit group, will retire in April 2023. Bakalar will be succeeded by Mohamed Basma, CFA, who has been named head of leveraged credit. Basma most recently served as managing director, head of senior loans and global CLOs.

“We continue to grow and expand our suite of private and alternative capabilities, which have become increasingly important to a client’s allocation. Having a dedicated leader in Chris Lyons who understands the unique aspects of these strategies will help us drive future success. At the same time, we also have continued to invest in our equity platform to bring the right tools and talent together to deliver alpha for our clients,” said Toms. “I look forward to continuing to work with our investment teams as we leverage our expertise across fixed income, equities and alternatives to help our clients achieve their long-term investment goals.”