Ali Dibadj

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (“Guardian”), one of America’s largest life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits, and Janus Henderson Group plc (NYSE: JHG; “Janus Henderson”), a leading global asset manager, has announced an innovative strategic partnership, whereby Janus Henderson will become Guardian’s investment grade public fixed income asset manager.

Through the partnership, Janus Henderson will manage the US$45 billion investment grade public fixed income portfolio for Guardian’s general account, which will include investment grade corporates and securitised credit. As part of the agreement, Guardian investment professionals currently supporting the in-scope asset classes will have the opportunity to join Janus Henderson, providing continuity in the management of these assets while further enhancing Janus Henderson’s specialised insurance investment capabilities.

At the completion of this transaction, Janus Henderson will manage over US$147 billion in fixed income assets globally^[1] and over US$109 billion for global insurance companies^[2], greatly expanding the firm’s institutional reach and insurance presence. The partnership positions Janus Henderson as a top-15 unaffiliated insurance asset manager.^[13]

In addition, Guardian will commit up to US$400 million of seed capital to help accelerate Janus Henderson’s continued innovation in securitised credit and high quality active fixed income products, as well as other leading fixed income capabilities. This builds on the success of Janus Henderson’s active fixed income ETF suite. This partnership will benefit from Janus Henderson’s innovative investment approach as a leading active asset manager and a pioneer in active fixed income ETFs.

As part of this strategic partnership, Guardian will receive equity warrants and other economic consideration designed to support a shared goal of accelerating growth and driving value creation.

Guardian and Janus Henderson will also co-develop proprietary, multi-asset solution model portfolios for Guardian’s dually registered broker-dealer and registered investment advisor, Park Avenue Securities (PAS), which has over 2,400 advisors covering approximately US$58.5 billion of client assets under management.^[4] As a key partner to PAS, Janus Henderson will develop investment solutions for PAS clients, bringing together Janus Henderson’s full suite of global investment allocation and solutions capabilities, including Janus Henderson EdgeTM, the firm’s award-winning proprietary analytics platform from its Portfolio Construction & Strategy team.^[4] This is expected to broaden and enhance investment opportunities for PAS clients and provide dedicated support and practice management for Guardian’s team of national financial representatives and their clients.

Andrew McMahon, Guardian Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “This strategic partnership with Janus Henderson enhances Guardian’s investment and solutions capabilities and aligns our organisations for long-term, mutual growth. Our shared culture of collaboration and dedication to our clients make them a natural partner for Guardian. By combining Guardian’s exceptional experience with Janus Henderson’s market-leading investment strategies, resources, and capabilities, we will be able to offer innovative investment and wealth management strategies that will benefit customers and policyholders for years to come.” 

Ali Dibadj, Chief Executive Officer of Janus Henderson, commented, “Janus Henderson is honored to partner with Guardian, one of the largest and most respected life insurers in the US. Together we will work to help shape the financial futures of millions of customers, creating a brighter future together. This multifaceted, innovative partnership, founded on a shared set of client-focused values, leverages our complementary strengths, creates alignment for mutual growth, and intends to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for policyholders, our clients, shareholders, and employees. This strategic partnership also supports the execution of Janus Henderson’s client-led vision of amplifying our strengths in fixed income, multi-asset solutions, and model portfolios, while greatly expanding our presence in the institutional market and insurance space. Guardian’s selection of Janus Henderson speaks to the trust that the most sophisticated asset owners in the world have placed in Janus Henderson.”

This partnership transaction is expected to close at the end of the second quarter of 2025.

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Ali Dibadj

Janus Henderson Group (NYSE: JHG; “Janus Henderson” or the “Company”), a leading global active asset manager, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Victory Park Capital Advisors, LLC (“VPC”), a global private credit manager with a nearly two decade-long track record of providing customised private credit solutions to both established and emerging businesses. VPC complements Janus Henderson’s highly successful securitised credit franchise and expertise in public asset-backed securitised markets, and further expands the Company’s capabilities into the private markets for its clients.​

Founded in 2007 by Richard Levy and Brendan Carroll and headquartered in Chicago, VPC invests across industries, geographies, and asset classes on behalf of its long-standing institutional client base. VPC has specialised in asset-backed lending since 2010, including in small business and consumer finance, financial and hard assets, and real estate credit. Its suite of investment capabilities also includes legal finance and custom investment sourcing and management for insurance companies. In addition, the firm offers comprehensive structured financing and capital markets solutions through its affiliate platform, Triumph Capital Markets. Since inception, VPC has invested approximately US$10.3 billion across over 220 investments^[1], and has assets under management of approximately US$6.0 billion.^[2]​

The Company expects that VPC will complement and build upon Janus Henderson’s US$36.3 billion in securitised assets under management globally.^[3] This partnership is highly synergistic and will enable mutually beneficial growth opportunities. VPC’s long-standing partnerships with global institutional clients, including insurance companies, pensions, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, will enhance Janus Henderson’s position in the global institutional market. In addition, VPC’s investment capabilities tailored to insurance companies will expand Janus Henderson’s product offering for the Company’s growing insurance clientele. Janus Henderson’s global institutional and private wealth distribution platform and significant relationships with financial intermediaries will support the distribution and development of VPC products globally.​

This acquisition marks another milestone in Janus Henderson’s client-led expansion of its private credit capabilities following the Company’s recent announcement that it will acquire the National Bank of Kuwait’s emerging markets private investments team, NBK Capital Partners, which is expected to close later this year.​

“As we continue to execute on our client-led strategic vision, we are pleased to expand Janus Henderson’s private credit capabilities further with Victory Park Capital. Asset-backed lending has emerged as a significant market opportunity within private credit, as clients increasingly look to diversify their private credit exposure beyond only direct lending. VPC’s investment capabilities in private credit and deep expertise in insurance align with the growing needs of our clients, further our strategic objective to diversify where we have the right, and amplify our existing strengths in securitised finance. We believe this acquisition will enable us to continue to deliver for our clients, employees, and shareholders,” said Ali Dibadj, Chief Executive Officer of Janus Henderson.

“We are excited to partner with Janus Henderson in VPC’s next phase of growth. This partnership is a testament to the strength of our established brand in private credit and differentiated expertise, and we believe it will enable us to scale faster, diversify our product offering, expand our distribution and geographic reach, and bolster our proprietary origination channels,” said Richard Levy, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Founder of VPC.​

“As a leading active asset manager with a diverse, global presence, Janus Henderson is an ideal partner to support our high-calibre team and VPC’s continued expansion. We have known the Janus Henderson leadership team for many years and believe our organisations are aligned in our client-first mentality, commitment to disciplined investing, and shared values. This partnership creates tremendous value for clients through accelerated product development and cross-selling opportunities. We look forward to building on VPC’s successful track record together with Janus Henderson to continue to deliver differentiated private credit solutions for current and prospective investors and portfolio companies,” added Brendan Carroll, Senior Partner and Co-Founder of VPC.

The acquisition consideration comprises a mix of cash and shares of Janus Henderson common stock and is expected to be neutral-to-accretive to earnings per share in 2025. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

———

Notes:
[1] As of July 31, 2024
[2] As of June 30, 2024
[3] As of June 30, 2024

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Michelle’s deep knowledge and experience in ESG will help deliver on clients’ needs, create true business value, build long term partnerships with our investment and product teams, and drive further integration of appropriate sustainable practices across Janus Henderson. Michelle will work closely with Janus Henderson’s existing ESG teams to define the optimal approaches and frameworks for our responsible investing and corporate responsibility efforts, drawing together and amplifying the work that Janus Henderson already does in this space.

Michelle joins Janus Henderson from AllianceBernstein, where she has spent the last eighteen years in a variety of roles, including as global equities Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst, and most recently as Chief Responsibility Officer. In that role, she developed and maintained AllianceBernstein’s Corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy, and co-created and co-managed one of their ESG-focused equity portfolios. In a former role, Michelle devised AllianceBernstein’s Responsibility policies, where she steered their ESG governance strategy, ESG integration process, engagement escalation, and stewardship policies.

In joining Janus Henderson, Michelle adds yet more exceptional talent to our senior leadership team and follows the recent appointments of John Cassaday as Chair of the Janus Henderson Board, Brian Baldwin of Trian Partners, as an Independent Non-Executive Director, and Michael Schweitzer as our new Head of Retail Distribution, North America.

Ali Dibadj, Chief Executive Officer at Janus Henderson, said: “With Michelle’s hire as Janus Henderson’s Chief Responsibility Officer, the firm is taking another big strategic step forward to deliver on behalf of our clients. I’ve known Michelle for many years; she is a hugely talented and dynamic figure. Michelle augments our existing capabilities with her experience and leadership skills and will further embed corporate responsibility and responsible investing capabilities across our company. I know she will be an effective advocate for appropriate sustainability work both within the company and in the industry at large.”

Michelle Dunstan, Chief Responsibility Officer at Janus Henderson, said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Janus Henderson. It is an exciting time of great change and positive momentum – both for Janus Henderson and for Responsibility. Janus Henderson’s rich history of providing differentiated insights and disciplined investments places it well to lead in developing both the ESG thought leadership and the portfolio solutions that will help our clients achieve their goals. I look forward to working with Janus Henderson’s existing talented teams to continue to advance and strengthen the organization on its Responsibility journey.”

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The team comprises long-standing and well-respected portfolio managers Bent Elvin Lystbaek, Jacob Ellinge Nielsen, Thomas Haugaard, and Sorin Pirău. The team joins from Danske Bank Asset Management, where they managed EUR 6 billion in hard currency EMD pooled vehicles and segregated accounts for both institutional and retail clients. They will join Janus Henderson by 1st September 2022 and report to Jim Cielinski, Global Head of Fixed Income. The team will be based in Copenhagen, Denmark, further expanding the firm’s northern European footprint.

Mr. Cielinski says the EMD team acquisition emphasises Janus Henderson’s focus on meeting clients’ needs for standalone emerging market debt strategies and enhancing Janus Henderson’s overall global fixed income franchise and ability to build multi-sector fixed income solutions.

“Emerging markets debt is a fast-growing segment of the market that many investors look to for higher income and risk-adjusted returns. We believe this is a critical component of a global fixed income platform that supports single-strategy and multi-sector portfolios.”

“Adding this EMD hard currency capability to Janus Henderson’s global fixed income platform complements our existing strengths in Emerging Market corporate credit, global bonds, and Emerging Market equities. We are excited to welcome our new colleagues Bent, Jacob, Thomas, and Sorin to Janus Henderson and look forward to generating risk-adjusted returns for our clients,” Mr. Cielinski said.

The EMD team’s investment process has consistently delivered for clients since its inception in 2013. It seeks to generate alpha through country allocation and security selection, focusing on credit risk premia. The team integrates environmental, social, and governance factors into the research process and considers quantitative and qualitative factors to determine an internal, forward-looking score.

Ali Dibadj, Chief Executive Officer at Janus Henderson, commented: “Hiring a world-class EMD team demonstrates our commitment to responding to our clients’ needs and supporting the growth of our firm. We will continue to look for organic and inorganic ways to do this.”

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Ali Dibadj

Janus Henderson Group plc (NYSE/ASX: JHG) (“JHG” or the “Company”) announced that Ali Dibadj has joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”). Additionally, Mr. Dibadj has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors.

He succeeds Roger Thompson, Chief Financial Officer, who had served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from 1 April 2022 to 20 June 2022.  Mr. Thompson will continue in his role as Chief Financial Officer.

Ali Dibadj, 47, was Chief Financial Officer and Head of Strategy at AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (“AB”), where he also has served as a Portfolio Manager for AB Equities, working with portfolio companies to improve their operational, ESG, and capital allocation performance. Prior to that, as senior research analyst with Bernstein Research Services, he was ranked as the number one analyst twelve times by Institutional Investor. Before joining AB, he spent almost a decade in management consulting, including at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Dibadj holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering sciences from Harvard College and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Richard Gillingwater, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, “We are excited to welcome Ali to Janus Henderson as our new CEO.  His track record, experiences, accomplishments, and vision are all invaluable assets that will benefit clients as we support their goals. We look forward to his contributions and leadership as Janus Henderson pursues its next stage of growth in a rapidly evolving marketplace.”

Ali Dibadj, Chief Executive Officer, said, “I am humbled and proud to have been asked by the Board to join the talented Janus Henderson team and have long admired Janus Henderson’s intellectual honesty, depth of research, and client-focus. Janus Henderson is a resilient and forward-thinking firm, and I am confident that our employees, the current executive team, the Board, and I will be able to identify and capture growth and innovation that creates value for our clients, employees, shareholders, communities, and all stakeholders.”

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Ali Dibadj

Janus Henderson Group plc (NYSE/ASX: JHG) (“JHG” or the “Company”) has announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously appointed Ali Dibadj as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of the Company effective no later than 27 June 2022.

Ali Dibadj succeeds Dick Weil, who, as previously announced, will retire as CEO and a member of the Board as of 31 March 2022. Effective 1 April 2022, the Board has appointed Roger Thompson, Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), to serve as Interim CEO until Mr Dibadj joins JHG. To assist in an orderly transfer of responsibilities, Mr Weil will serve as an adviser to the Company through 30 June 2022.

Ali Dibadj, 46, joins the Company from AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (“AB”) where he has served as CFO & Head of Strategy since February 2021 as well as Portfolio Manager for AB Equities since 2017. Previously, he served as AB’s Head of Finance and Head of Strategy from April 2020 to February 2021. He co-led AB’s Strategy Committee in 2019 and served as a senior research analyst with Bernstein Research Services from 2006 to 2020, a period during which he was ranked as the number one analyst twelve times by Institutional Investor. Prior to joining AB, he spent almost a decade in management consulting, including at McKinsey & Company and Mercer. Mr Dibadj holds a Bachelor of Science in engineering sciences from Harvard College and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Richard Gillingwater, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, “We are pleased to appoint Ali Dibadj as the Company’s next CEO. As part of our CEO transition planning, we conducted an extensive internal and external search to identify an executive who both understands our business and has the necessary strategic expertise to help drive the firm’s next phase of growth for the benefit of our clients and shareholders. The Board is confident that Ali is the ideal choice to lead this great company into its next phase of growth and value creation.”

Ali Dibadj said, “I am delighted to join Janus Henderson and look forward to having the opportunity to lead such a talented group of professionals at an important time for the Company and the industry. I have long admired Janus Henderson’s commitment to deliver for its clients with investment and servicing excellence. The executive team, the Board, and I look forward to identifying, expediting, and capturing growth and innovation that creates value for our clients, employees, shareholders, communities, and all stakeholders.”

Mr Gillingwater added, “On behalf of the Board, I also want to extend my appreciation to Roger Thompson for stepping into the role of Interim CEO during this important period of transition. Roger is representative of the deep bench of talent we have at Janus Henderson.”

Mr Gillingwater continued, “We thank Dick Weil for his leadership over the years and wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”

Mr Dibadj is also expected to join the Board after he commences employment with the Company.

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