First Eagle Investments has established a new High Yield Municipal Credit team. John Miller will join First Eagle on 2 January 2024, as head and chief investment officer of the team, reporting to First Eagle president and chief executive officer, Mehdi Mahmud. The new High Yield Municipal Credit team expands the range of investment choices First Eagle is providing to clients alongside its Global Value, Small Cap, First Eagle Alternative Credit and Napier Park teams.
“At First Eagle, we want to be a gravity well for superb talent; it’s not often that someone of John’s calibre becomes available,” said Mahmud. “He is an exceptional investor, business builder and team leader, with a client-centric mindset aligned with First Eagle’s key tenets. Municipal bonds are an important part of the investment toolkit for all types of retail and institutional investors, and particularly for the financial advisors we serve. We believe our new High Yield Municipal Credit team, under John’s leadership beginning in January 2024, will represent a strong complement to our current investment offerings.”
Miller has spent nearly three decades in the municipal bond arena, with more than 23 years managing portfolios on behalf of clients. Beginning in 2007, he was head of municipals at Nuveen, where he leveraged his specialised expertise to build and lead one of the most prominent high yield municipal credit platforms in the industry. Miller oversaw approximately US$190 billion in assets under management and had direct portfolio management responsibility for about US$35 billion, including the flagship US$18.3 billion Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund. After 27 years with Nuveen, John departed the firm on June 1, 2023.
“As I considered my next career challenge, First Eagle really stood out due to its investment-led culture and commitment to active portfolio management rooted in fundamental, bottom-up research,” said Miller. “I believe the new High Yield Municipal Credit capability will represent an attractive investment solution. I’m excited to join the firm in January 2024 and begin building the business from the ground up.”
Additionally, Carl Katerndahl will join First Eagle as chief operating officer of the new High Yield Municipal Credit team, effective 2 October 2023. He will be responsible for overseeing the team’s day-to-day operations and will lead the effort to build the foundation for the business in advance of John’s arrival. Katerndahl will report to Miller, with whom he has worked closely in the past; Katerndahl spent 20 years at Nuveen, departing in 2019 as head of US advisory services responsible for distribution. Most recently, Katerndahl was senior managing director of private investment firm Winnick & Company.
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