John G. Popp
About John G. Popp
John G. Popp (Year of Birth: 1956) is an Interested Director of Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund, Inc. (CIK) and serves as the Fund’s Chief Investment Officer since 2024; he previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President from 2010 to 2024 and has been a Director since 2013 . He is a Managing Director of UBS Asset Management (Americas) LLC, Global Head and Chief Investment Officer of the Credit Investments Group, and has been associated with UBS AM (Americas) and Credit Suisse since 1997, bringing 30+ years of financial services experience . As an Interested Director (by virtue of his UBS AM role), he is not independent, and he does not serve on the Fund’s independent committees; independent directors chair the Board and all committees . Officers (including Popp) are compensated by UBS AM (Americas), not by the Fund; CIK does not disclose TSR- or financial metric-linked executive pay and has no compensation committee .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund, Inc. (CIK) | Chief Investment Officer | 2024–present | Leads investment oversight for CIK and another closed-end fund in the complex . |
| Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund, Inc. (CIK) | Chief Executive Officer and President | 2010–2024 | Led Fund operations across Credit Suisse Fund Complex funds . |
| Credit Suisse Asset Management Income Fund, Inc. (CIK) | Director | 2013–present | Board member across changing fund complex; 7 portfolios overseen in 2025 (9 in 2024) . |
| UBS Asset Management (Americas) LLC | Managing Director; Global Head & CIO, Credit Investments Group | 1997–present | Firm-wide leadership of Credit Investments Group and portfolio strategy . |
| Credit Suisse/UBS Fund Complex (Open-end Funds) | Trustee | 2017–present | Governance across open-end funds in the complex . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| (None disclosed) | — | — | No other public company directorships disclosed in the past five years . |
Fixed Compensation
Officers (including Popp) are employees of and compensated by UBS AM (Americas) and receive no compensation from CIK; the Fund has no bonus, profit sharing, pension, or retirement plans for officers.
| Component | FY2023 | FY2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary (from CIK) | $0 | $0 | Officers are compensated by UBS AM (Americas), not the Fund . |
| Target/Actual Cash Bonus (from CIK) | N/A | N/A | No officer compensation paid by the Fund . |
| Pension/Deferred Comp (from CIK) | N/A | N/A | No such plans at the Fund level . |
Performance Compensation
CIK does not pay officers performance-based incentives; any UBS AM-linked metrics, vesting, or payouts are not disclosed in the Fund’s proxy.
| Incentive Type | Metric(s) | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout/Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund-paid STI/LTI | — | — | — | — | Not applicable; officers compensated by UBS AM (Americas) . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| As-of Date | Dollar Range of Popp’s CIK Holdings | Aggregate Dollar Range Across Credit Suisse/UBS Fund Family | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2022 | A (None) | E (Over $100,000) | Director/nominee dollar ranges as disclosed; aggregate directors/officers owned <1% of CIK . |
| 02/29/2024 | A (None) | C ($10,001–$50,000) | Aggregate directors/officers owned <1% of CIK . |
| 02/28/2025 | A (None) | E (Over $100,000) | Aggregate directors/officers owned <1% of CIK . |
- The Nominating Committee Charter tasks the committee with analyzing the appropriateness of establishing minimum shareholding levels for Directors (ownership guidelines consideration), but no formal guideline is disclosed .
Board Governance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Independence status | Interested Director due to UBS AM (Americas) officer role . |
| Committee memberships | Not a member of Audit or Nominating; both committees comprise all Directors except Popp and are fully independent . |
| Board leadership | Independent Chair (Laura A. DeFelice); Board largely independent . |
| Meeting cadence/attendance | Board met 24 times in FY2023; 9 times in FY2024; each Director attended at least 75% of meetings in each year . |
Director compensation framework (context; Popp receives none from the Fund)
| Component | FY2023 | FY2024 | Effective 1/1/2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Interested Director annual fee | $23,100 | $23,100 | Annual retainer of $70,560 for four quarterly meetings and one special meeting . |
| Per meeting fee | $2,100 | $2,100 | Included in 2025 retainer structure . |
| Chair of Board | $5,250 | $4,764 | Included in 2025 structure . |
| Audit Committee Chair | $2,100 | $2,609 | Included in 2025 structure . |
| Nominating Committee Chair | $2,000 | $1,072 | Included in 2025 structure . |
| Extraordinary 2023 fee (merger work) | $25,000 (one-time) | — | — . |
| Popp Fund-paid director comp | $0 | $0 | Interested Director; no Fund compensation . |
Governance note: The Fund does not have a Compensation Committee; independent oversight is via Audit and Nominating Committees .
Employment Terms
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Employer | UBS Asset Management (Americas) LLC (not the Fund) . |
| Current role at CIK | Chief Investment Officer since 2024; Director since 2013 . |
| Prior role at CIK | Chief Executive Officer and President, 2010–2024 . |
| Contracts, severance, change-of-control | Not disclosed by the Fund; officers are UBS AM employees (no Fund-level severance/CoC terms disclosed) . |
| Non-compete/non-solicit | Not disclosed by the Fund . |
| Clawbacks/pledging/hedging | No pledging/hedging policy disclosure for directors in DEF 14A; no officer pay/clawback terms disclosed at Fund level . |
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Popp holds no CIK shares (range A = None), and officers receive no Fund-paid compensation; linkage between his pay and CIK shareholder returns is indirect through UBS AM employment, reducing direct pay-for-performance alignment at the Fund level .
- Governance mitigants: Board leadership is independent; Popp is excluded from Audit/Nominating Committees, which are fully independent—reducing dual-role concentration risk despite his Interested Director status .
- Retention/transition: The 2024 transition of CEO/President responsibilities to Omar Tariq and Popp’s shift to CIO signal a leadership re-alignment post Credit Suisse–UBS integration; continuity risk is moderated by Popp’s long tenure since 1997 across UBS/Credit Suisse platforms .
- Trading signals: High outside ownership concentration (First Trust at ~22%) can influence governance outcomes; however, executive insider ownership is de minimis at the Fund (aggregate directors/officers <1%), limiting insider-driven trading cues for CIK .
- Pay governance: Absence of a compensation committee and lack of Fund-paid executive compensation means traditional pay-for-performance diagnostics (metrics, vesting schedules, severance) are unavailable at the Fund level—focus diligence on adviser-level incentives and investment results under Popp’s CIO remit .
Sources: 2025 DEF 14A (published 2025-03-17) ; 2024 DEF 14A (published 2024-03-15) ; 2023 DEF 14A (published 2023-03-14) .