Godlin Joins AllianceBernstein Muni Portfolio Team

Wayne Godlin, a municipal veteran with 26 years of experience, has joined the global investment management firm AllianceBernstein LP as a member of its municipal bond portfolio management team.

Godlin’s experience in the industry has included roles as investment-grade and high-yield portfolio manager, muni bond team leader, chief municipal strategist, research analyst, and public finance professional.

In his new role, he will help design and manage the firm’s municipal investment strategies and customized mutual fund products that are sold to customers by third-party financial advisers, according to a press release.

The firm has $28 billion in municipal assets under management, said spokesman John Meyers.

“The firm has had a large, long, and solid municipal presence relative to the private client and wealth management area,” Meyers said. “What the firm is looking at Wayne for is to bolster our presence on the retail side of the business.”

Meyers could not comment on the possibility of any further future expansion of the firm’s municipal bond management area, or how long the firm had been considering Godlin for the new position.

Godlin’s 26 years of industry experience includes 21 years with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he was head of the municipal bond team.

Most recently, Godlin was the chief municipal strategist and portfolio manager for the high-yield municipal fund at Van Kampen Investments, a unit of Morgan Stanley.

He also worked at Hanifen, Imhoff & Co. in Denver, where he structured new issues and refundings, and at the former First Interstate Bancorp headquartered in Los Angeles, where he was a muni research analyst in public finance.

Guy Davidson, director of municipal fixed income at AllianceBernstein, said Godlin’s extensive experience augments the team’s ability to provide municipal bond mutual fund products to clients.

“We are pleased to have Wayne join our firm as we continue to enhance and expand our municipal bond offerings,” Davidson said in the release.

AllianceBernstein employs more than 500 investment professionals and, along with subsidiaries and joint ventures, serves institutional, individual, and private clients in major markets in more than 20 countries.

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