Franklin Templeton has appointed George Stephan as the global chief operating officer of wealth management alternatives, a newly created role aimed at bolstering the firm’s position in alternative investments.
In this position, Stephan will report to Adam Spector, executive vice president and head of global distribution at Franklin Templeton.
Stephan’s responsibilities will include overseeing alternative investments product innovation and investor services. He will also assist with business development, management, and operations. Collaborating closely with the firm’s distribution leaders worldwide, Stephan will help drive the overall distribution strategy and enhance advisor education for the alternative investments business within the private wealth channel.
Before joining Franklin Templeton, Stephan spent five years at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), where he served as head of strategy and business development for the firm’s global client solutions business. Prior to that role, he was chief operating officer and head of investor relations for KKR’s Global Wealth Solutions business in the Americas. His experience also includes nine years at Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division.
Stephan holds a Bachelor of Science in finance and an MBA from Wagner College.
“With more than 40 years of experience in alternatives and 382 alternative investment professionals around the world, we have been deliberate about building our capabilities in multiple ways – through acquisitions of specialists like Benefit Street Partners, Lexington and Clarion and by onboarding our offerings to key advisor platforms to make them more accessible to investors,” Spector said. “The result is that Franklin Templeton is one of the few traditional asset managers to build a successful alternatives business spread across a broad range of strategies and geographies.”
