By Niket Nishant and Davide Barbuscia
(Reuters) - Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer at investment and advisory firm Guggenheim Partners and a prominent Wall Street bond investor, has died, his firm said on Thursday.
Minerd, 63, suffered a heart attack during his regular workout on Wednesday, the company said in a statement.
During his 25-year stint with Guggenheim, Minerd became a prolific commentator on financial markets and was often quoted by the media. He also held the role of managing partner at Guggenheim.
"Scott was a key innovator and thought leader who was instrumental in building Guggenheim Investments into the global business it is today. He will be greatly missed by all," Mark Walter, chief executive and a founder of Guggenheim Partners, said in the firm's statement.
Guggenheim said it had implemented a succession plan, with Anne Walsh, managing partner and CIO of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, assuming many of Minerd's responsibilities on an interim basis.
Minerd was regarded in the past few years as one of the U.S. "bond kings," along with Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine, and Dan Ivascyn, chief investment officer of bond giant PIMCO.
As CIO at Guggenheim, which manages assets worth over $285 billion, Minerd led investment strategies and oversaw client accounts across fixed-income and equity securities.
Prior to joining Guggenheim, Minerd held fixed-income trading and risk management roles at financial firms including Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), according to his LinkedIn profile.
He was a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets, a forum for discussions on financial, economic and public policy issues.
Top Wall Street figures paid tributes to him on Thursday.
"Scott was a great colleague who called them as he saw them," said Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC). "We will miss him."
Billionaire investor William Ackman said on Twitter: "I am deeply saddened to hear about @ScottMinerd’s death. He was a brilliant man whom I got to know in the last five or so years. He was an old fashioned handshake businessman whose word was his bond. He was also a lot of fun."
Bill Gross, co-founder of PIMCO, wrote on Twitter: “Scott Minerd was a fixed income master -- brilliant at deciphering intermediate and long-term changes in interest rates. He was a dear friend and supporter. I will miss him”
"He was one of the architects of an independent investment firm that achieved global scale," said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at the Roosevelt Investment Group. "In his public facing role, Scott was unafraid to buck consensus. His views on the capital markets were well thought out, supported by data, and always capable of sparking a larger discussion."