Firm also announces additional senior hires with significant experience in capital markets communications which further advances U.S. Offering
Edelman today announced the appointments of Mike Geller as U.S. lead for Asset Management and Deb Wasser, IRC, as U.S. lead for Investor Relations. Both Geller and Wasser most recently served as EVPs within the firm’s financial communications & capital markets practice in New York.
Geller will be responsible for extending Edelman’s reach across the investment management industry, ranging from hedge fund, private equity and venture capital firms, to traditional asset managers. He will work closely with leaders throughout the firm to help expand Edelman’s suite of capabilities in support of these capital markets participants which spans brand building, reputation management, executive positioning, thought leadership development and digital communications.
Geller joined Edelman’s financial communications & capital markets practice in 2011 as an SVP with a focus on advising founders, C-Suite executives and business leaders of private investment firms and publicly-traded financial institutions on strategic communications. During his tenure, he has spearheaded the firm’s business initiatives to become one of the leading communications marketing advisors to hedge funds via the creation of an integrated offering, which has garnered awards from leading industry publications, including HedgeWeek and HFMWeek.
Wasser will be focused on further expanding Edelman’s investor relations capabilities and services for publicly-listed companies—on par with investor relations boutiques—as part of the firm’s broad offering which includes M&A, strategic financial communications, corporate governance and crisis advisory. In addition to her U.S. focus, she will continue to collaborate with Edelman’s financial communications teams in key global financial markets to support client IR needs.
Wasser joined Edelman’s financial communications & capital markets practice in 2015 as an EVP following an over 20-year career that spanned both in-house and consultancy IR roles. She has led the creation of a dedicated investor relations practice, expanding the firm’s IR expertise, portfolio of products and thought leadership. Wasser, an award-winning IRO, serves on the National Investor Relations Institute’s (NIRI) NY chapter board and recently became one of less than 100 investor relations executives in the U.S. to become NIRI certified.
“Edelman has strong capabilities spanning asset management communications as well as investor relations, and there is a compelling growth opportunity ahead,” said Lex Suvanto, global managing director, financial communications & capital markets. “Mike and Deb have each demonstrated clear leadership and have rapidly up-tiered Edelman’s visibility and profile within these specialized areas to the point where we are now out-competing large firms and specialized boutiques.”
Rich Myers, general manager, financial communications & capital markets, added, “Bringing dedicated expertise and a more concerted focus to our asset management and investor relations offerings will create new opportunities for us to advise existing and prospective clients on their strategic communications needs, while enabling us to serve as an even stronger resource across Edelman’s global network. We look forward to building out our capabilities across these important businesses.”
The promotions of Geller and Wasser build on additional senior hires that Edelman has recently made to expand the breadth and depth of expertise across its financial communications and capital markets practice. This includes:
- The addition of two new EVP’s to help grow the firm’s capital markets and asset management business: Neil Shapiro who joined from Intermarket, a boutique public relations agency focused on financial services, and David Franecki who previously held senior corporate communications and journalism positions at Goldman Sachs, Sandler O’Neill, BlackRock, Lord Abbott, Barron’s and Dow Jones Newswires.
- Jennifer Stroud, who previously worked at Sard Verbinnen & Co and before that Abernathy MacGregor, joined the firm as an SVP to lead Edelman’s financial communications and capital markets practice in San Francisco.
About Edelman Financial Communications & Capital Markets
Edelman financial communications & capital markets is a specialized strategic consultancy with the reach and resources of the world’s largest public relations firm. We advise public and private companies on strategic and capital markets communications to help effectively position them with the financial community during transformative events as well as during the normal-course business.
For more information, contact:
Rich Myers
General Manager, Financial Communications and Capital Markets
Rich.Myers@edelman.com