About us
Our People
Global leadership team
Executive Office
Ted Truscott is the chief executive officer for Columbia Threadneedle Investments, a leading global asset manager that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. Under his leadership, the firm uses a consistent and collaborative investment approach that strives to provide better outcomes for clients.
Before joining the company in September 2001, he was chief investment officer with Zurich Scudder Investments, Americas, and managing director — Zurich Scudder Investments. He joined Scudder, Stevens & Clark in 1992 as a portfolio manager and equity research analyst, focusing on Latin American countries and securities. Prior to Scudder, he was with Chemical Bank from 1983 to 1992, first as a credit analyst and banking officer covering Asian banks and corporations at Chemical Bank. Later, he joined Chemical's LDC structured finance group, concentrating on the creation and management of Chemical's debt/equity swap portfolio in Latin America. He serves on several boards across the Columbia Threadneedle and Ameriprise Financial businesses. In addition, he serves on the Investment Company Institute’s Board of Governors, as chair of the board of trustees of Middlebury College, as chair of the board of directors of The Greater Boston Food Bank and as chair of Boston Medical Center’s philanthropic trust.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from Middlebury College and an MBA in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Katie Bender is the Chief Administrative Officer at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. In this role. she defines the strategic direction of the organisation and translates it into actionable business priorities. She works closely with the CEO, proactively identifying issues, fostering collaboration and recommending solutions to support key objectives.
Katie also leads annual business planning and oversees governance and operating processes, continuously improving effectiveness and decision-making to drive growth.
Katie is a member of the Global Executive Group. She joined the organisation in 2011 and has been part of the investment community since 2004. Previously, she worked as a business manager at Octavus Group, a small firm specialising in alternative investment products. Prior to this, she spent six years working in HR for Guggenheim Partners.
Katie earned a Bachelor of Science in communication studies and history from Northwestern University and a MBA from Loyola University, Chicago.
Francine Asselta is Head of North America Institutional at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, responsible for Relationship Management, Institutional Sales, Consultant Relations, and the Global Contract Office. She assumed the role in 2023 after serving as Co-Head since 2022.
Francine has extensive experience in institutional client service and sales having previously led the North America Relationship Management team at Columbia Threadneedle. Prior to this, she served as Managing Director for the Taft-Hartley Sales and Service Channel from 2004 to 2010, overseeing existing Taft-Hartley client relationships and new sales nationally.
Her career in the investment industry began in 1978 at one of Columbia Threadneedle’s legacy firms. She has also held leadership roles at Bank of America, Fleet, NatWest and National Bank of North America.
Francine holds Series 3 (NFA), and Series 7, 24, and 63 (FINRA) licenses.
Jim Bumpus is the Head of North American Intermediate Markets and Marketing for Columbia Threadneedle Investments. His responsibilities include overseeing all sales channels in North American wealth including broker dealer, independent advisor, private client advisor and defined contribution investment only. Additionally, he is responsible for the home office relationships in North America, the sales desk and the North American Marketing team.
Jim joined Columbia Threadneedle in 2015 as national sales manager for the broker dealer and independent advisory teams. Prior to that, he spent 17 years at Putnam Investments where he held several executive roles, including head of strategic accounts, head of wirehouse channel and East region director. He has been a member of the investment community since 1989. He also serves on the board for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Jim received a B.A. in English from the University of New Hampshire and holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation which he obtained at the University of California, Berkeley.
David Logan is Head of EMEA and Global Business Operations at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. In this role, he co-ordinates and has general oversight of EMEA activities, including serving as business lead for regulatory engagement. He also sets and drives regional priorities in collaboration with Columbia Threadneedle’s Global Executive Group and regional staff function heads. He joined the company in November 2021 following the acquisition of BMO’s EMEA asset management business.
Previously, David was Global Chief Operating Officer at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, responsible for ensuring operational teams and processes consistently deliver within the context of our business, risk management and client service goals.
Prior to this, David worked as Head of Distribution for BMO Global Asset Management. He was appointed to this role in 2016, having been Chief Operating Officer of BMO GAM in EMEA since 2014. David was made Chief Financial Officer of F&C Asset Management plc in 2006 and was instrumental in the company’s acquisition by BMO Financial Group, and subsequent integration.
David spent 12 years prior in the accounting profession, including four years as a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP and three years as a partner at Andersen. He has worked in the financial services industry since 1994. David holds a BA in Accounting and Economics and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland.
Jon Allen is the Head of Asia Pacific and is responsible for leading the firm’s business in Asia Pacific. He joined the firm in 2010.
Jon has extensive experience in global asset management. He previously held senior roles at Prudential Asset Management and Royal & Sun Alliance Investments, both in Asia and the United Kingdom. He also started two alternative investment companies. In total, Jon has lived and worked in Asia for more than 20 years.
Jon is a Board Member of Threadneedle Investments Singapore (Pte.) Limited, Threadneedle Portfolio Services Hong Kong Limited and Columbia Threadneedle Investments Japan Co., Ltd. He is also a member of Columbia Threadneedle Investments' Global Executive Group.
Jon has a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Western Australia.
Michaela Collet Jackson joined the company in 2021 as Head of Distribution for Europe, Middle East and Africa, responsible for our client business as well as driving our commercial growth across all products and client segments in EMEA. She is also jointly responsible for Marketing across the region and is a member of the Global Executive Group, reporting into our Global CEO, Ted Truscott.
Michaela has more than 20 years’ experience in the asset management industry, including 16 years at BlackRock across a variety of roles, most recently as Deputy COO for their Client Businesses. Prior to this she was Head of EMEA Retail Solutions & Partnerships. In addition, she has held a broad range of sales roles across the client spectrum including Head of Nordic Wholesale, based in Copenhagen, Senior Sales Director Nordic Institutional and Business Development Officer for iShares ETFs in UK & Switzerland. Prior to this she was Marketing Manager for E-Crossnet Ltd.
Michaela holds a MA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) from Brasenose College, Oxford University and a Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching.
William Davies is Global Chief Investment Officer at Columbia Threadneedle Investments since January 2022. He was previously Chief Investment Officer, EMEA, a role he performed since 2019, with responsibility for the oversight of all EMEA investment strategies.
William joined Threadneedle Investments as a European Equities portfolio manager at the company’s inception in 1994. He became Head of European Equities in 1999 and Head of Global Equities in 2011. In 2016, William became Head of Equities, EMEA and in 2017 he became Global Head of Equities, assuming responsibility for the company’s equity teams across all regions. William performed this role until October 2021. Before this William worked for Eagle Star Investments. He has also worked for Hambros Bank as a European Investment Manager where he led the European equity team.
William holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from Exeter University.
Stewart Bennett is Global Head of Alternatives at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. He joined the company in November 2021 following the acquisition of BMO’s EMEA asset management business. In this new role, Stewart has oversight responsibility for our real assets business that includes UK, European and US (Lionstone) real estate and European infrastructure, along with the private equity business, the US-managed Seligman hedge funds, Thames River Capital (real estate securities) and Pyrford (absolute return, international and global equities).
Previously, Stewart had been Global Head of Alternatives at BMO Global Asset Management since May 2019, where he was responsible for its private equity, real estate and real estate securities businesses. Stewart joined BMO GAM with 25 years’ experience in investment banking and private equity, including 10 years as a partner and Head of the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) at Ondra Partners, the London based independent investment banking firm. His previous experience includes Dresdner Kleinwort, where he was Managing Director and Head of FIG, Strategic Advisory, and the private equity firm Botts & Company. Stewart has worked in the financial services industry since 1994.
Richard Vincent is Head of Product & Solutions, EMEA. He joined the company in 2013 as Head of Wholesale Solutions. Richard’s key responsibilities are to develop the product strategy and propositions, as well as ensuring all existing products are managed through the product life-cycle.
Prior to this, Richard spent 10 years as Proposition Director at Skandia/Old Mutual Wealth and before this he was Head of eBusiness – Institutional Asset Management for Mellon.
Richard holds a degree in Financial Services.
Marc Zeitoun is the Head of North America Product & Business Intelligence for Columbia Threadneedle Investments. He is responsible for developing and managing the firm’s product offering in North America, serving US Intermediary and Institutional markets. He is also responsible for NA's data analytic and sales enablement efforts, supporting the region's distribution and marketing teams.
Marc has over 25 years of experience in asset management distribution and the development of wealth management platforms. Before joining Columbia Threadneedle, he held senior roles including the Head of Intermediary Distribution at Guggenheim Investments, Executive Director for Investment Solutions at UBS (focused on fee-based advisory platforms) and Product Manager at J.P. Morgan.
He received a B.A. in history from Vassar College and a M.I.A. in international business and finance from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. He holds the CFA® designation.
Basant Nanda is Global Head of Asset Management Technology for Ameriprise Financial with over 25 years of financial technology experience. He is responsible for the technology solutions for all of the asset management functions. Prior to his role with Ameriprise, he was responsible for leading the Information Technology group at CPP Investment Board in Toronto, Canada. Prior to CPPIB, he held senior technology leadership roles with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs. Significant roles include Global Head of Technology for Prime Services, Equity Finance and Clearing, Global Head of Investment Research Technology and Global Head of Prime Brokerage, Fund Administration and Risk Technology.
Basant earned a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor of Engineering degree from MNIT, India.
Julie Frisoli is Vice President of Human Resources at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. As Lead Global HR Business Partner for the Asset Management business, Julie is responsible for strategically partnering with senior and executive leaders to drive transformative organisational initiatives across a global, matrixed environment. Her focus is on influencing and executing sophisticated talent management strategies, facilitating organisational design and enhancing leadership development to deliver impactful HR solutions that align with overarching business objectives.
Prior to joining Columbia Threadneedle, Julie held a variety of HR leadership roles at Accenture, EMC Corporation and BNY Mellon.
She has been a member of the financial services industry since 2007. She received a B.Ed. from Boston College, with a concentration in human resources.
