MSCI, a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, announced today the appointment of Peter Zangari as Managing Director and Head of the firm’s Equity Portfolio Management Analytics business. In this role, Mr Zangari will be responsible for driving growth and product innovation across a broad range of equity portfolio management products, including Barra risk and performance attribution models and Barra Portfolio Manager. Based in New York, Mr Zangari will report to Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI, and will oversee a global product management team.

“Peter has an extremely impressive track record in the area of portfolio and risk management, having held senior level positions at both Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan, and we are delighted that he has chosen to join MSCI,” said Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI “He brings with him a compelling combination of equity investment process expertise and a background in risk management –indeed he was an original member of the RiskMetrics Group within J.P. Morgan. One of his primary objectives will be to develop and implement an ambitious business agenda that will focus on our client needs, further strengthening and solidifying our position as a leading provider of portfolio management analytics.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Zangari said, “Financial crises teach many lessons. With the most recent crisis, I observed first-hand just how critically important it is for investors to have access to powerful and robust risk and portfolio analytics, to help them manage their portfolios through a very difficult and challenging environment. MSCI has offered me a terrific opportunity. I now look forward to working with the entire MSCI team to drive MSCI's portfolio analytics business, and to further advance MSCI as a premier global provider of investment decision support tools.”

Prior to joining MSCI, Mr Zangari was Managing Director and Head of Risk for the Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) business at Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM). As a member of the management team, Mr Zangari worked closely with senior investment personnel to manage the business’s multi-asset class hedge funds and equity portfolios. From 2004 to 2009, Mr Zangari held various positions including senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Implementation for the quantitative equities business. As Head of Implementation his responsibilities included portfolio construction, investment risk and attribution, and information management.

From 1998 to 2003, he was the Head of the Portfolio Analysis and Construction Environment Group (PACE) at GSAM. Prior to GSAM, Mr Zangari worked at J.P. Morgan in the RiskMetrics and Firmwide Risk Groups, where he conducted extensive research in the areas of market and credit risk.

Mr Zangari has a PhD in Economics, with a specialization in Applied Econometrics and Computational Statistics, from Rutgers University in New Jersey. He graduated summa cum laude with a BA in economics from Fordham University in New York City.