Influential financial strategist and thought leader Bob Doll has been appointed chief investment officer at Crossmark Global Investments, a faith-based investment management firm based in Houston.
The appointment is part of Crossmark’s expansion plans. Doll will open a new Crossmark office in Princeton, N.J., and report directly to Crossmark CEO and president Mike Kern, Crossmark announced Wednesday.
In his new executive role, Doll will lead the firm's investment team and will be responsible for growing and expanding the firm's investment product offerings, specifically focusing on several new actively managed products, Crossmark said.
Previously, Doll was chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager at Nuveen Asset Management, where he managed the Large Cap Equity Series, consisting of long and long-short strategies. Before joining Nuveen, he held similar roles at other large asset management firms, serving as chief equity strategist at Blackrock, as president and chief investment officer of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and as chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds.
A leader in the financial services industry, Doll has become known for creating his annual 10 New Year’s predictions, which forecast key themes and risks driving equity markets, monetary policy and the global economy.
Kern noted in a statement, “Bob is a powerhouse and thought leader among the investment community and will bring his outstanding 41-year track record to our investment team here at Crossmark.”
In accepting the position, Doll said in a statement, "I am pleased to be joining a firm that holds its investment products to a high ethical standard and embeds its values into its overall business model. I am excited to continue my journey in this industry in a way that is also significant for the common good.”
Doll recently noted that corporate “profit margins will eventually come under pressure [and] accelerating productivity growth will be needed to contain inflation and support profit margins.”
In addition, “the S&P 500 has failed to break above its May 7 all-time high. This stagnation is consistent with indications that the rally was vulnerable to some profit taking. The easy money has been made since the March 2020 trough as the S&P 500 has risen nearly 90%.”
Doll also predicted, “Beyond [President Joe] Biden’s infrastructure plan, his additional initiatives are in jeopardy. The higher tax plans are encountering resistance from every Republican in the Senate, the business community and a handful of moderate Democrats.”