AllianceBernstein goes outside for new finance chief

AllianceBernstein Holding LP today named John B. Howard as its new chief financial officer, marking one of the first major hires overseen by Peter Kraus, who became chief executive 15 months ago. Mr. Howard, who was CFO at privately held investment firm AQR Capital Management, replaces Robert Joseph, who is retiring at the end of this year but will have a senior advisory role until his departure, according to a release. Mr. Joseph, 62, had been CFO at AllianceBernstein since 1994. Mr. Howard, 40, will report to David Steyn, AllianceBernstein’s chief operating officer. Prior to his stint at AQR, Mr. Howard spent about 10 years at Knight Capital Group, including four years as CFO. "I would like to thank Bob Joseph for his more than 25 years of dedicated service to AllianceBernstein, during which he made innumerable contributions to the firm's success,” Mr. Kraus wrote in the release. Mr. Kraus replaced Lewis A. Sanders as CEO in December 2008, a year in which AllianceBernstein lost half its assets. He had been co-head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and, briefly, a member of the management committee at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. AllianceBernstein has $484 billion in assets.