Guggenheim's Pat Walter, Brother of CEO, to Depart

(Bloomberg) -- Pat Walter, Guggenheim Partners’s head of human resources and brother of the firm’s chief executive officer, is leaving the company after a series of disputes among employees.

Walter, 69, is retiring after 17 years as the firm’s first human resources head, according to a memo to employees sent Thursday. Peggi Sturm, a senior managing director, will take over on Aug. 1.

Walter, whose brother is Guggenheim CEO Mark Walter, has served as a senior managing director at the firm since September 2001, according to his profile on LinkedIn. The last year has featured turmoil at the company, including financial settlements with senior money managers.

“My time at Guggenheim has been rewarding beyond measure,” Pat Walter said in the memo. “When I think of where we were almost 20 years ago, building everything from the ground up, and where we are now, it’s truly incredible.”

Guggenheim agreed in August to pay $30 million to Anne Walsh, chief investment officer for fixed income, and her lawyers to settle a discrimination claim, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. In February, the firm agreed to a settlement with James Michal, a portfolio manager who resigned after an investigation into his conduct unrelated to his work duties, according to another document seen by Bloomberg.

Guggenheim, which oversaw about $305 billion as of March 31, has headquarters in Chicago and New York and divisions in asset management, investment banking and insurance.

Before joining Guggenheim, Pat Walter worked as manager of human resources at Mitsubishi Motor Manufacturing of America. He resigned in 1996. Two years later, Mitsubishi agreed to pay $34 million to compensate victims of sexual harassment at the firm, still the largest such settlement in the history of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A representative for Guggenheim declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: John Gittelsohn in Los Angeles at johngitt@bloomberg.net;Sonali Basak in New York at sbasak7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, ;Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Vincent Bielski

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