J.P. Morgan Expands Municipal Bond Team with Hire of Wayne D. Godlin

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- J.P. Morgan Asset Management today announced the appointment of Wayne D. Godlin as Managing Director and Head of High Yield Municipal Bond Strategies within the firm's Global Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Business, which manages over $500 billion globally.

Based in New York and reporting to Richard Taormina, Head of Tax Aware Strategies, Mr. Godlin will be responsible for establishing a high yield municipal bond platform, leveraging existing and new client relationships to offer innovative investment strategies in this asset class.  With over $62 billion in municipal assets, 22 portfolio managers and 9 credit analysts, J.P. Morgan Asset Management is one of the largest municipal managers in the industry.  The firm manages approximately 20% of all municipal separate accounts and is the fourth largest manager of municipal insurance assets in the industry¹.

"The municipal bond market is undergoing a once-in-a-generation change, and we are committed to providing our clients with access to managed municipal bond portfolios that provide durable income streams," said Mr. Taormina.  "Wayne's expertise will allow us to expand opportunities for municipal bond investors willing to take risk. His investing style is a natural fit with J.P. Morgan's existing approach, which focuses on delivering superior risk-adjusted returns through active management of highly diverse portfolios that leverage deep credit research." 

Mr. Godlin's expertise includes both credit analysis and portfolio management, with a focus on analyzing and managing high yield municipal bond portfolios. Previous roles included Senior Portfolio Manager and a member of the Investment Policy Committee at AllianceBernstein Asset Management and portfolio management and credit research at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and its acquired firm, Van Kampen Funds.  He is a graduate of Union College and Columbia University. 

About J.P. Morgan Asset Management
J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with assets under management of $1.7 trillion (as of December 31, 2017), is a global leader in investment management. J.P. Morgan Asset Management's clients include institutions, retail investors and high net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. J.P. Morgan Asset Management offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), the parent company of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is a leading global asset management firm with assets of approximately $2.5 trillion (as of December 31, 2017) and operations worldwide. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

¹ The Insurance Investment Outsourcing Report, May 2017, published jointly by Asset Outsourcing Exchange and Insurance AUM.

SOURCE J.P. Morgan Asset Management