Allspring Global Investments has announced a new CEO as the asset manager looks to move into a new era and build on recent strategic changes to its offerings.
Kate Burke is set to take the role on July 1, having been president and a director of the board since 2023. Joe Sullivan, the current CEO, will continue to serve as executive chair of the board and will maintain a close relationship with his Burke as the succession plan unfolds.
The move comes just days after the manager announced the launch of its first two active equity exchange-traded funds, the Allspring LT Large Cap Growth ETF and the Allspring Special Large Value ETF, both of which are large-cap strategies already managed by the firm.
Allspring, which is the rebrand of Wells Fargo Asset Management, only entered the ETF market last December with the launch of three actively managed fixed income ETFs.
Collin Roche, Co-CEO of GTCR, which has owned Allspring since 2021 when GTCR partnered with Reverence Capital to acquire Wells Fargo Asset Management, told II that there would be more active ETFs to come following the new appointment.
“One of the ways you win in asset management is through technology and efficiency, when considering a business’ growth potential it comes down to having a platform for the future,” he said. “Our upcoming CEO, Kate Burke has proven experience innovating within ops and tech . She was at AllianceBernstein for 18 years including as COO, before she joined Allspring two years ago. now she is stepping up and will continue that migration of technology for the company.”
Technology helps you serve clients better, he added. “When you can do custom composite offerings for the specific investment priorities of a client, your technology can help facilitate that, for example,” he said.
At AllianceBernstein, Burke was responsible for overseeing strategy, global technology and operations, quantitative research, and data science.
When GTCR acquired the asset management business from Wells Fargo it decided it would do better as an independent, standalone entity rather than one that was owned by a bank, which Roche said has indeed proven to be the case. Wells Fargo has a 10 percent stake in Allspring.
Allspring, which currently holds around $600 billion in assets, is diversified across money market funds, stable value, fixed income, and equities. The firm currently operates 18 offices globally but has plans to expand.
In a press release, Burke said: “Since Allspring began its journey as an independent firm, Joe Sullivan’s vision and leadership has had profound impacts on the organization, its strategy, and momentum. His guidance, people-orientation, and the culture he established will continue to serve our leadership team, Allspring employees, and, most of all, our clients. With this solid foundation, I am honored and humbled to be tasked with leading Allspring into our next chapter.”
