Bond giant TCW Group Inc. is parting ways with two of its top executives after key employees threatened to quit the firm earlier this year.
TCW said Wednesday that Tad Rivelle, who ran the firm’s bond-investing business, would retire at the end of the year. TCW’s chief executive, David Lippman, is expected to leave after his current contract expires in December 2022, people familiar with the matter said.
Steve Kane and Bryan Whalen will succeed Mr. Rivelle as investment chiefs for the firm’s fixed-income division, TCW wrote Wednesday in a note to clients. Messrs. Kane and Whalen, along with Laird Landmann, will remain portfolio managers, the firm said.
Patrick Moore, who runs TCW’s client-services group, and Mr. Kane told colleagues earlier this year they planned to resign in part over longstanding squabbles between the firm’s senior leaders, including Messrs. Rivelle, Lippman and Landmann. They rescinded their resignations after the firm assured them they would soon act on a succession plan that had been in the works for some time, the people said.
TCW is one of a handful of California money managers whose growth helped shift the U.S. bond-investing world’s center of gravity westward. Founded in 1971, TCW now manages a record $266 billion, including $230 billion in fixed-income assets overseen by Mr. Rivelle’s team. Pacific Investment Management Co., the firm endured the loss of star managers, including Howard Marks and Jeffrey Gundlach, only to reach new heights.
