Fund selector Eliza Pepper out at Itaú; no successor officially named

The head of offshore fund selection for Itaú Asset Management, Eliza Pepper, has left the Brazilian firm after seven years.

While her departure has been announced, it is not yet known whether this will take place immediately. Meanwhile, her potential replacement, Jeff Lombardi (photo), has already present at the group’s New York office. Most distributors of global fund firms seeking allocations from Itaú are familiar with the office, as a visit to Pepper was an important part of the process.

Lombardi is a former global head of private-bank portfolio managers at Citi and is now a member of Itaú AM’s international fund selection team.

Pepper joined the Brazilian group in 2008 to work in its New York office. Prior to this, she was head of investment manager research at UBS Wealth Management for two years.

Between 1999 and 2006 she was at Citi, where was appointed head of research on its global investments platform for the wealth management division.