Jennison Associates announced, with great sadness, the death of Spiros “Sig” Segalas, co-founder and long-time Large Cap Growth portfolio manager. Segalas was a pioneer in growth equity investing and built one of the industry’s longest growth equity track records.
Segalas founded Jennison Associates in 1969 along with six co-founders and managed Jennison client portfolios for more than five decades. He was instrumental in building Jennison from its beginnings as a large cap growth specialist manager to becoming a preeminent institutional investment management firm with world-class equity and fixed income capabilities and clients around the world. Over his career, Segalas earned industry accolades including Institutional Investor’s Money Manager of the Year and U.S. Investment Management Awards.
Segalas served as an officer in the U.S. Navy before starting his investment career. Beginning as a bank research analyst, he learned the value of independent research and long-term investment thinking, which remain at the core of Jennison’s investment philosophy today. The firm’s investment approach across teams continues to be driven by proprietary, fundamental investment research dedicated to building deep knowledge of industries and companies. This approach has served clients well for more than 50 years.
Segalas built a firm steeped in values which are foundational to Jennison’s culture to this day. He understood the importance of inclusion long before it took the meaning it has today, hiring some of the first women investors in the industry in the 1970s. Independent thinking, diversity of perspectives and experiences, and talent development remain essential to Jennison’s culture and hiring and promotion practices.
Segalas remained an active contributor and Large Cap Growth portfolio manager until his death at age 89. Jennison has always had robust succession plans in place to ensure seamless oversight of the investment teams and client portfolios. Kathleen McCarragher will continue to lead the Large Cap Growth team alongside Blair Boyer, who together have more than 50 years’ experience with the firm. McCarragher has led the Large Cap Growth team for nearly 20 years, with Boyer as co-head since 2019. They, along with Jennison portfolio managers and analysts, who average 20 years at the firm, have continued to practice the team-oriented approach in which Segalas so firmly believed. CEO Jeffrey Becker, who joined Jennison in 2016, will continue to lead the firm. There will be no change to the investment process and no impact to the daily management of client portfolios.
Becker said, “I have deep respect and admiration for Sig and the legacy he has left at Jennison and across the industry. He will be greatly missed by all of us at Jennison. Our team feels a deep responsibility to live up to the values and commitment to excellence he embodied.”