Two executives have been named to fill the management chair at the top of Toronto-based Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc.

Taeyong Lee, executive chairman of Horizons ETFs, along with Stephen Hawkins, chief investment officer, have been appointed as co-chief executive officers of Horizons ETFs.

The position was left vacant when Adam Felesky, former CEO and one of the company’s founders, unexpectedly departed the company in January.

Lee serves as the president of the global business unit at Horizon ETFs parent company, Korea-based Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd., and has been dividing his time between Korea, New York and Toronto. He has more than 20 years of experience in the investment industry and has spent the past 13 years working in the ETF business in North America and Asia. Hawkins, who has been with Horizons ETFs since 2009, will oversee the company’s day-to-day business.

“The board of Horizons ETFs felt that the business would greatly benefit from a co-CEO leadership structure led by Steve Hawkins and myself,” Lee said. “I will be staying on as co-CEO to leverage my role as global head of ETFs, which allows me to focus on strategically aligning the Canadian ETF business with Mirae’s expanding global business initiatives. Steve will be heavily focused on the day-to-day operations of the Canadian ETF business. I believe this is going to be a tremendous partnership that will not only benefit Horizons ETFs, but our global ETF business.”

There is a natural division of roles between the two co-CEOs, according to Hawkins, whose responsibilities will cover Canadian-based activities such as operations, investment management, reporting and product development. Lee will travel more and manage the global aspects of the business.

“I am excited about the new opportunity and working with a strong management team to move forward and grow market share,” Hawkins said, adding there are more Horizons ETFs in the product development pipeline.

The rest of the Horizons ETFs senior management team remains unchanged. Howard Atkinson, president and global head of ETF sales and marketing, who has been with the firm since 2006, will continue to oversee the sales and marketing strategy while contributing to the development of sales opportunities across Mirea Asset’s global ETF platform.

Lee and Hawkins also were appointed co-CEOs of Horizons ETFs’ subsidiary, AlphaPro Managment Inc., which serves as manager and trustee for some of the ETFs within the Horizons ETFs family.

Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. has approximately $4.7 billion in assets under management (AUM) and 74 ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, making it one of the largest families of ETFs in Canada. Horizons ETFs is a part of the Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. of Korea, which acquired an 85% stake in the company in November, 2011.

Mirae Asset Global Investments is part of Mirae Asset Financial Group, an Asia-based global investment management firm with $US64 billion in AUM.