AllianceBernstein vet tapped as GMO’s first CEO

Marc Mayer, a 20-year veteran of AllianceBernstein LP, was tapped as the first chief executive of GMO LLC, a spokesman confirmed today. His arrival in March will mark a departure from the collective-management structure that has characterized Boston-based GMO for the past decade or so — a response, in part, to the growth in the company’s scale and complexity, market veterans said. Mr. Mayer has been serving as an executive vice president and chief investment officer of AllianceBernstein’s asset allocation group. In a career stretching more than two decades, he has held leadership positions in both AllianceBernstein’s institutional and retail divisions. The asset management firm is based in New York. Seth J. Masters, an executive vice president who heads AllianceBernstein’s defined contribution division, will become CIO of the asset allocation group while keeping his DC division duties, said spokesman John Meyers. Mr. Masters held the CIO position from 2002 to June 2008. Thomas J. Fontaine, head of research and investment design in the DC division, will assume day-to-day administration of the unit under Mr. Masters, the spokesman said.