Eric Pan, president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute, is leaving after six years, the trade association said in a statement on Monday.
Pan’s tenure has been marked by high staff turnover and criticism of his leadership style. The Investment Company Institute did not give a specific reason for his departure, but Pan said in a statement that “six years is a long time for a CEO.”
“Being the head of ICI has been a remarkable role for which I am grateful for the opportunity, but I never wanted to make this role the last position of my career,” Pan wrote. “I am proud of what I have been able to achieve at ICI and believe I am leaving ICI a stronger and more effective advocate for our industry and the investors they serve.”
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Pan is staying on until June 2027 or until a successor is identified, according to the statement from the trade group, whose member companies include financial giants Vanguard, Fidelity and BlackRock. Bloomberg Government first reported Pan’s departure.
The Washington Sun — then NOTUS — first reported in April that Pan allegedly created a “toxic” work environment and stoked a “crisis of confidence” within the trade association, according to anonymous letters sent to the organization’s board of directors and interviews with five sources with direct knowledge of the workplace.
One letter accused Pan of “inappropriate behavior” toward a former female Investment Company Institute lobbyist, Kristin Solheim, who was later fired in an alleged “act of retribution.”
The Investment Company Institute denied the allegations at the time and dismissed “attacks from anonymous sources.”
Erica Richardson, Pan’s chief of staff, told The Washington Sun at the time that an independent legal investigation commissioned by the trade association determined the organization’s decision to terminate Solheim was legally justified and based on performance failures documented by Tom Quaadman, chief of government affairs and public policy.
“During his tenure, Pan has strengthened ICI’s influence in Washington and around the world, expanded its advocacy on behalf of funds and investors, and delivered significant policy achievements that have helped shape the future of the asset management industry,” the Investment Company Institute wrote in the statement Monday announcing his departure.
Since November 2020, Pan has led the trade association, which represents the asset management and investment industry.
Pan made more than $2.8 million for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, according to the trade association’s latest annual nonprofit report to the IRS. That’s down from $3.2 million the previous year.
Another anonymous letter from the “Washington Office of a Fellow SIFMA-ICI Member,” referring to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, to other member companies in August made the case for merging the two.
“With consolidation and full service firms dominating the industry, the costs no longer justify the utility of separate organizations,” according to the anonymous letter, which was first reported by Politico.
While the trade associations do have some overlapping members, it would be surprising for them to actually merge.
The Investment Company Institute spent around $2.5 million on federal lobbying during the first six months of 2026, according to federal lobbying disclosures.
“Eric has been a tireless advocate for our industry and the millions of Americans who depend on it to achieve their financial goals,” said Andrew Schlossberg, chair of the trade association’s board of governors and president and CEO of Invesco. “We are grateful for his many contributions and look forward to celebrating his accomplishments as he concludes his tenure.”
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