The OppenheimerFunds Inc. executive who oversaw big leveraged bets that backfired has left the company.
Senior Vice President Angelo Manioudakis, who headed the firm's Core Plus team, resigned Friday. The team managed more than $16 billion in individual-investor-oriented fund assets. Under Mr. Manioudakis, investments in the likes of mortgage-backed securities and credit-default swaps went awry.
Those woes fueled an 82% drop at its flagship junk-bond mutual fund, Oppenheimer Champion Income, one of the worst showings among the roughly 150 U.S. junk funds that invest in high yield, or below-investment-grade, bonds. The average junk-bond fund is down 32% in 2008.
The situation is a rare black mark for OppenheimerFunds, a unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. that recently had $195 billion in assets. OppenheimerFunds is no longer part of Oppenheimer & Co. But OppenheimerFunds owns Tremont Capital Management, an investment-management firm that put hundreds of millions of investors' dollars into funds overseen by Bernard Madoff, who, authorities said, admitted to carrying out a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Mr. Manioudakis, 42 years old, couldn't be reached for comment. He joined OppenheimerFunds in 2002 and was previously with a unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
The firm earlier this month said it is bringing in Geoffrey Craddock as new director of risk management and asset allocation. Mr. Craddock, who formerly headed market risk management at Canadian bank CIBC, will monitor risk for OppenheimerFunds' stock and bond offerings.
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