Fund industry veteran brings more than a decade of experience in ETF product development, business strategy, marketing and relationship management to the fast-growing VIA platform.
ATLANTA, (BUSINESS WIRE) – Vident Investment Advisory (VIA), a subsidiary of Vident Financial LLC, today named asset management industry veteran Amrita Nandakumar as the new President of the firm.
Ms. Nandakumar will oversee all strategic initiatives and will provide daily oversight and management of the VIA sub-advisory business. She will lead a dynamic, highly experienced team of portfolio managers, traders, and operations and compliance professionals with expertise across a variety of asset classes, including international and domestic equities, fixed income and commodities. Ms. Nandakumar will be actively engaged in the industry.
She joins VIA after several years with VanEck, where she held a number of senior roles including that of ETF Product Manager and, most recently, Director of Corporate Strategy & Development. Prior to VanEck, Ms. Nandakumar held Senior Investment Consultant, Product Development, and Corporate Strategy roles with Vanguard.
Ms. Nandakumar’s hiring comes after an in-depth search conducted by Vident Financial following the untimely passing of Denise Krisko this past June.
“Denise was a giant of our industry, and it is an incredible honor to step into the role she built. It is particularly exciting to be joining VIA at this stage of not only the firm’s continued growth but amidst such an exciting period of change in the fund industry overall,” said Ms. Nandakumar.
“The ETF ecosystem is quickly coming to understand the value of a trusted sub-advisory relationship, and we’re seeing the same kind of interest from across the rest of the ‘40 Act space and private funds as well,” she added. “The depth and breadth of VIA’s service offerings and the strength of the team that was already in place has me thrilled about all we are going to accomplish together going forward.”
“As we embarked upon our search to fill this key role, we relied heavily on input from our friends and colleagues across the fund industry, including those in senior roles with major exchanges, trading firms, sponsors and elsewhere; and the more people we spoke with, the more one name came kept coming up: Amrita Nandakumar,” said Vince Birley, CEO of Vident Financial. “Her reputation already precedes her, and we welcome her to this role and look forward to the leadership and creativity she will bring to VIA going forward.”
VIA currently partners with close to 20 Advisors, including some of the largest asset managers in the United States. VIA’s sub-advisory business experienced asset growth of more than 26% through the first three quarters of 2020 and now totals over $5.42 billion of assets under management, including passive and active transparent ETF strategies, UCITs vehicles, separately managed accounts and private funds.
“To add someone of Amrita’s caliber to the Vident executive team in this role is a tremendous step towards stewarding the ongoing growth of the VIA business. She is an inspiring leader who will focus on continued growth and managing the business wisely, and I have no doubt that she will continue Denise’s legacy of excellent service to each of our clients and partners,” added Deborah Kimery, CFA, Chief Executive Officer of Vident Advisory. “I join Vince and all of my colleagues in giving Amrita the warmest of welcomes to the Vident family. I am very excited about all we will accomplish together applying Vident’s corporate values of WIISER – Wisdom, Integrity, Innovation, Stewardship, Excellence and Respect.”
About Vident Investment Advisory
Vident Investment Advisory (VIA), a subsidiary of Vident Financial formed in 2014, provides subadvisory services for a variety of index-based and actively managed strategies. VIA’s capabilities extend across multiple asset classes, including U.S. and international equities, fixed income, commodities, as well as long/short, inverse, and managed futures strategies. More information is available at videntinvestmentadvisory.com.
