Former Merrill Lynch chief operating officer, Frank Salerno, has joined the board of directors of Index Development Partners, an Exchange-tr...

Former Merrill Lynch chief operating officer, Frank Salerno, has joined the board of directors of Index Development Partners, an Exchange-traded funds boutique. Index is a start-up firm with some heavy weight board members including former hedge-fund manager Michael Steinhardt and Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel as well as James D. Robinson IV, co-founder of private equity firm RRE Ventures. The company plans to manage exchange-traded funds based on proprietary stock indexes. It has recently raised an additional $7.5 million by issuing common stock, and has announced that it plans to change its name to WisdomTree Investments. The company’s chief executive, Jonathan Steinberg, son of corporate raider and former chairman of Reliance Group Holdings, Saul Steinberg, said it has also hired three more executives to strengthen its management team. Ray DeAngelo, who previously worked for Barclays Global Investors, joins as director of distribution. Marc Ruskin has been brought on board as the firm's chief financial officer, and Michael Jackson joins as director of fund services.