The Allstate Corporation has expanded its senior investment team with the hiring of Russell Mayerfeld as a new senior managing director, reporting to Judith Greffin, chief investment officer. In another personnel move, Peter Keehn has been promoted to managing director, private equity investing, reporting to Mr. Mayerfeld.
“We expect to capture additional higher-returning investment opportunities by leveraging Russ’ leadership, broad expertise and extensive experience,” said Ms. Greffin. “We have an excellent track record, and our team is in a strong position to increase the breadth and size of Allstate’s portfolio in these asset classes.”
Allstate is expected to expand its alternative investment portfolio over the next several years, with much of the growth coming from direct investments. “Allstate will continue to be a fund investor while leveraging its relationships to generate additional direct investments. Ultimately, this dual approach is designed to produce more favorable risk-adjusted returns for the benefit of Allstate’s shareholders and policyholders,” said Mr. Mayerfeld.
Mr. Mayerfeld will oversee approximately $10 billion of Allstate’s investments, including private equity, infrastructure and real assets, real estate and commercial mortgage loans. Throughout his career he has worked with insurance companies and other financial institutions. Recently, he served as an independent consultant to private equity funds and corporations and as a board member for private and public companies. Mr. Mayerfeld was managing director, investment banking of UBS and its predecessors from 1997 to 2003, and managing director, investment banking of Dean Witter Reynolds from 1988 to 1997. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois.
Mr. Keehn will continue to lead Allstate’s global private equity investing group, which includes the infrastructure and real assets team, managing a portfolio of approximately $3 billion. Recently, he shifted the focus of Allstate’s private equity activities to include more direct investing and co-investments. Mr. Keehn joined Allstate in 2003 as a director to head the company’s then $450 million alternative assets portfolio. Earlier in his career, he was a principal at Waud Capital Partners and a director at Northwestern Investment Management Co. Mr. Keehn has an MBA from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University.
“I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to continue expanding Allstate’s private equity investments and further developing the expertise of our portfolio team,” said Mr. Keehn. “We see strong opportunities throughout the world in this asset class.”
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 10-16-14
