Peter J. Allegrini has joined Prudential Mutual Fund Management Co. as a managing director and senior portfolio manager, the company said yesterday.
Allegrini, 41, will manage the $1.2 billion Prudential Municipal Bond Fund -- High Yield Series. He will replace Liz Forsyth, who will remain with the company in the tax-exempt group.
Allegrini's move to Prudential, where he is expected to begin work around July 25, marks the second high-level addition for the company in the past two weeks.
Last week, Prudential welcomed Barbara L. Kenworthy, former director of taxable fixed income at Dreyfus Corp., to its taxable fixed-income group as senior portfolio manager. Kenworthy, who had been with Dreyfus since 1985, will manage the $2 billion Prudential Government Plus Fund, the firm's flagship government fund.
At Dreyfus, Kenworthy was president of several taxable fixed-income funds and oversaw the management of all of Dreyfus' taxable fixed-income funds, with $2.5 billion of assets.
Kenworthy also is expected to help develop and manage several new funds, Prudential said.
Allegrini and Kenworthy are well known and highly visible in the investment community. Their addition is pan of Prudential's plans to expand its tax-exempt, taxable, and equity mutual fund offerings, a spokeswoman said.
"We are absolutely delighted to have a portfolio manager of Peter A1legrini's caliber join our tax-exempt fixed-income group," said Richard A. Redeker, president and chief executive officer of Prudential Mutual Funds.
"His extensive experience and outstanding track record will make him a valuable addition to the municipal bond team," Redeker said.
Most recently Allegrini worked at Fidelity Investments, where he managed the Fidelity Advisor High-Income Municipal Fund, with more than $800 million in assets. Allegrini joined Fidelity in 1982 and became a portfolio manager in 1985.
"High-yield is an area that we've emphasized and that is an area where we wanted to add some strength," said Jerry A. Webman, managing director of the municipal investment group for Prudential Investment Advisors, a division of Prudential Mutual Fund Management Co.
Expansion in the tax-exempt area could include the creation of some new single-state funds or some new high-yield funds, Webman said. Adding high-profile mutual fund managers such as Allegrini is only one part of the expansion plan, Webman said.
"The strategy is not exclusively to look for talented managers on the outside because we have done a good job of growing the managers inside," Webman said.
Allegrini could not be reached for comment. Fidelity officials did not return calls for comment regarding who would replace Allegrini.
Prudential Mutual Funds, a division of the Prudential Insurance Co., manages 18 long-term municipal bond funds and seven tax-exempt money market funds with total assets of about $12 billion. Over all, the firm has approximately $67 billion in assets under management.
The addition of the two portfolio managers may help Prudential spruce up its tarnished image, one source said. Another Prudential Insurance Co. of America unit, Prudential Securities, has suffered credibility problems and faced lawsuits related to limited partnerships sold to investors. The securities firm has agreed to pay about $330 million in civil penalties.
