Federated Hermes announces two promotions in the fixed income area
14 JAN, 2026
By Joanna Piwko from RankiaPro Europe
Federated Hermes has announced a planned handover in its fixed income platform: R.J. Gallo, CFA, will assume the role of Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of global fixed income following the retirement of Robert Ostrowski, CFA, on May 1, 2026. In parallel, Ann Ferentino, CFA, will be the director of the Municipal Bonds Group. Both moves are part of the manager's long-term succession plan.
In his new role, Gallo will oversee all global fixed income investment processes, which include multisector, short-duration, high-yield, U.S. Government, U.S. corporate credit, international and global strategies, as well as mortgage-backed strategies. His responsibilities will include the development of investment teams, portfolio oversight and risk management, as well as communicating the firm's fixed income positioning to stakeholders, especially clients.
Gallo will continue as senior portfolio manager and chairman of the duration committee, setting the tactical duration positioning based on macroeconomic, cycle and valuation analysis. In this role, he works with the chairmen of the sector allocation, curve strategy, currency and stock selection committees, integrating top-down and bottom-up approaches in portfolio construction.
With 31 years of experience, Gallo joined Federated Hermes in 2000 after his stint at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a financial analyst and trader.
R.J. has been an integral member of the Federated Hermes fixed income team for decades [...], not only does he have extensive experience in a wide variety of areas, but also the ability to clearly articulate Federated Hermes' fixed income strategies.
John Fisher, President and CEO of Federated Advisory Companies
Municipal Bonds and Ostrowski's Legacy
Ann Ferentino, currently senior portfolio manager and co-director of the Municipal Bonds Group, will take over the group's leadership alone with Ostrowski's retirement. She will have full oversight of the $7.1 billion in municipal assets (as of September 30, 2025), and will continue managing seven investment funds and other client portfolios. Ferentino has spent 30 years at Federated Hermes.
Ostrowski retired after 38 years as an investor, all at Federated Hermes. Under his leadership, the firm consolidated a fixed income team with extensive experience and a collaborative process for both funds and separate accounts. Since his appointment as CIO in April 2004, managed fixed income assets grew from 29.5 billion to 101.8 billion dollars as of September 30, 2025, an increase of 72.3 billion.
The global fixed income team at Federated Hermes consists of 107 professionals with an average of 19 years of experience in the sector and 14 in the company. The municipal fixed income team has nine members (average of 18 years of experience in the sector and 16 in the firm), while the municipal SMA team, with eight members and led by Matthew Andrews —senior portfolio manager who reports to Ferentino—, has an average of 26 years of experience in the sector, including 15 combined years at Federated Hermes and CW Henderson.
Ann Ferentino brings to her new position a broad knowledge of the municipal bond markets. She has been instrumental in the performance of these assets and we are confident that the team will continue to benefit from her skills, experience and perspective.
We thank Bobby for his extraordinary contributions during his 38 years at the company. Throughout his career in investment management, Bobby consolidated and increased our reputation for the solid risk-adjusted results of our multisector products throughout the economic cycles.
John Fisher, president and chief executive officer of Federated Advisory Companies
