WSJ names new personal finance editor

Wall Street Journal managing editor Robert Thomson sent out the following announcement Tuesday evening:

“We are pleased to announce the appointment of the excellent Rob Hunter as the Journal’s new Personal Finance Editor. Rob joins us from Bloomberg BusinessWeek where he’s worked since 2005 and was clearly the most outstanding journalist of his generation.   He replaces Neal Templin, who will become an editor on Page One. Neal very capably ran the group for five years over two tours of duty, and has played a key role in improving our personal finance coverage.

“Rob is a seasoned and sophisticated journalist who most recently was assistant managing editor for features, essentially overseeing the magazine’s most important stories. Before that he was a senior editor in charge of finance coverage, including banks, hedge funds, private equity, markets, and corporate finance. During Rob’s tenure he edited more than 40 cover stories on subjects ranging from cyber war to emerging markets.

“He honed his skills at SmartMoney, where he was editor of the website. Before joining SmartMoney in 2000, he was Managing Editor of Derivatives Strategy magazine, so he can go toe to toe with the geekiest among us on CDOs, CDSs and whatever else is concocted by the derivatives deities. Rob got his start at Army magazine and the Waterford (N.Y.) Good News.

“Rob will oversee our newly launched but already successful personal finance section, Weekend Investor, and manage our personal finance staff. His mandate is to expand our coverage, both in print and online, while coordinating with Newswires and MarketWatch to give readers the best information possible about their finances. He will start on March 15 and report to Ken Brown. Please join us in welcoming Rob to the Journal.”