Waddell & Reed hires new senior executive and terminates fund manager
Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. has named a new president to oversee the mutual fund company’s financial adviser sales force.
Derek Burke will run Waddell & Reed Inc., which has about $44 billion in assets under management and 1,737 financial advisers across the country. Burke will start Monday, the Overland Park-based company said.
He will take over a position previously held by Thomas Butch, who is also executive vice president of Waddell & Reed Financial and chief executive of Waddell & Reed Inc.
Burke was previously chief executive officer of First Investors Advisory Services LLC and president of First Investors Management Co., which manages $10 billion in assets and has more than 500 financial advisers.
Separately, the fund company announced that William Nelson, portfolio manager for the firm’s high income funds, “has been terminated for cause as set forth in his employment agreement.” Waddell & Reed said Nelson’s departure was unrelated to his portfolio management responsibilities.
The company named Chad Gunther, the assistant portfolio manager for the high income funds, as Nelson’s replacement.
| The Star
This story was originally published July 9, 2014 at 1:00 AM.