Blair Welcomes Back Balkin

On June 30, Chicago-based William Blair & Company announced that Mike Balkin is returning to the firm as co-manager of the Small-Cap Growth strategy, rejoining Karl Brewer and Colin Williams–both principals and co-managers. Balkin joined William Blair in 1990 and was one of the co-managers, along with Karl Brewer, of the Small-Cap Growth product since its inception in 1999. In 2005, Balkin left the firm to join Magnetar, a hedge fund firm, where he was most recently chief investment officer of Magnetar Investment Management.

At the same time as Balkin's return, both the institutional small-cap product and the William Blair Small-Cap Growth Fund will re-open to new investors. Michelle Seitz, head of Investment Management and a member of the firm's executive committee, made the announcement saying, "We are delighted to welcome Mike back to our firm and remain very positive about the long-term investment opportunities in the small-cap growth asset class. We believe it is an opportune time to re-open this strategy to new investors."