Introducing the Decade of Distinction nominees!

As part of this year’s Global Pensions Awards, GP put out a call for individuals who have made a dramatic impact on the asset management industry over the past ten years. Pension fund managers from around the world submitted their picks and we’re happy to say the nominees represent the best in their industries in North America, Europe and Australia.

Congratulations to those who made the shortlist:

John Coombe
JANA Investment Advisers, Head of Consulting in Sydney
Australia

John is Head of Consulting in Sydney, Australia. This involves overseeing the advice that JANA gives to clients. He is also a member of the Global and Australian equities research teams. John is JANA longest serving employee having joined the firm in 1988.

Prior to joining JANA, his experience included ten years at the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV), where he worked in the superannuation, treasury and accounting areas. At the SECV Superannuation Fund, John was involved in the internal management of Australian equities and bonds.
John holds a Diploma of Business Studies from Footscray Institute of Technology and is a qualified accountant.

Howard Marks
Oaktree Capital Management, Chairman
USA

Since the formation of Oaktree in 1995, Mr. Marks has been responsible for ensuring the firm's adherence to its core investment philosophy, communicating closely with clients concerning products and strategies, and managing the firm. From 1985 until 1995, Mr. Marks led the groups at The TCW Group, Inc. that were responsible for investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, and convertible securities. He was also Chief Investment Officer for Domestic Fixed Income at TCW.

Previously, Mr. Marks was with Citicorp Investment Management for 16 years, where from 1978 to 1985 he was Vice President and senior portfolio manager in charge of convertible and high yield securities. Between 1969 and 1978, he was an equity research analyst and, subsequently, Citicorp's Director of Research. Mr. Marks holds a B.S.Ec. degree cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a major in Finance and an M.B.A. in Accounting and Marketing from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Chicago, where he received the George Hay Brown Prize. He is a CFA® charterholder and a Chartered Investment Counselor.

Anton van Nunen
Van Nunen & Partners, Founder
Netherlands

Since 1998, Anton has been the director/owner of Van Nunen & Partners, an advisory company for institutional investors. Activities centre around governance and restructuring of investment processes at investment companies, corporate and industry-wide pension funds in Holland and abroad (size from 1to 14 billion euro) and other financial organizations. Next to that he advises major companies such as Allianz Global Investors and Cariplo. Current assignments are in the Netherlands, the UK and Italy. He is an advisor to five pension funds and three other financial organizations.

In 2008, Anton won the European Pensions Award for Personality of the Year, 2009 the IPE Gold Award for outstanding industry contribution.

Prior to this, from 1988 to 1992, he set up the research department and was a director of Institutional Sales of Rabobank International. From 1992 to 1998 he was vice president of Interpolis Insurance Company, responsible for investments. During 2001 and 2002 he provided expert advice in financial affairs for a Dutch court.

Anton received his Ph.D. in macroeconomics and the theory of money, credit and banking at Tilburg University, working as an assistant professor, and published in the fields of macroeconomics, banking and financial markets. After introducing the fiduciary concept (2001), he wrote "Fiduciair Management" (2007, second edition 2008), which was translated into English (Wiley & Sons 2008), Japanese (2009) and German (2009). An Italian edition is foreseen 2011. He wrote numerous articles for dedicated magazines and regularly publishes in Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

Harindra de Silva
Analytic Investors, President and Portfolio Manager
USA

Harindra ("Harin") de Silva is responsible for the firm's strategic direction and the ongoing development of its investment processes. As a portfolio manager, Harin focuses on the ongoing research effort for equity and global asset allocation strategies.

Harin has authored several articles and studies on finance-related topics including stock market anomalies, market volatility and asset valuation. He, along with his colleagues Roger Clarke and Stephen Thorley, was recognized with the prestigious Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence for their research published in the Financial Analysts Journal in 2002 and 2005. Prior to joining Analytic Investors, Harin was a Principal at Analysis Group, Inc., where he was responsible for providing economic research services to institutional investors including investment managers, large pension funds, and endowments.

- Joined firm in 1995
- 24 years of investment experience
- Ph.D. - Finance, University of California, Irvine; M.B.A., M.S. - Economic Forecasting, University of Rochester; B.S. - Mechanical Engineering - University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
- Associate Editor, Financial Analyst Journal

The winner will be announced at the 10th annual Global Pensions Awards 2011.
Click here to read more about the awards.
Click here to see the which service providers made the shortlist.