The Buffalo Sabres have named an executive without prior ties to an NHL organization to a new leadership role on the team’s business side.
John Roth, who’s worked at Fidelity Investments for the past 24 years, will assume the role of chief operating officer for the Sabres and Pegula Sports & Entertainment, which runs the affairs of both the Bills and Sabres for owners Terry and Kim Pegula.
John Roth has been named the COO of the Buffalo Sabres and Pegula Sports & Entertainment.
He’ll report directly to ownership and assume day-to-day leadership of the PSE offices and business side of the Sabres.
For months the Sabres have gone without the presence of Kim Pegula as team president since she suffered a serious illness and was hospitalized in October due to “unexpected health issues.”
However, a spokesperson for the Sabres said Tuesday that the hire of Roth has “nothing to do” with Kim Pegula's health or her absence from PSE affairs.
People are also reading…
Roth and Terry Pegula have known each other for 12 years and during that time, Pegula said in a statement, Roth has “continuously shown exemplary leadership traits.” However, Roth has not worked with a NHL team or in sports management before this hire.
Terry Pegula said he’ll work with Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams leading the hockey side of the organization and Roth will lead the team's business operations.
"He brings to the table a vast wealth of knowledge and business experience that will greatly benefit both PSE and the Sabres,” Terry Pegula said.
"I am appreciative of the support the Pegulas have shown me and will work diligently to further their vision for our organizations,” Roth said.
At Fidelity, Roth was a high-profile fund manager, though he announced last fall that he would be retiring from Fidelity at the end of last year. Roth served as portfolio manager of the Fidelity New Millennium and Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund and as co-manager of Fidelity Advisor New Insights Fund.
Roth has also served as a portfolio manager of Select Chemicals Portfolio and Select Utilities Portfolio and was an equity analyst. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colby College and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Roth tries to choose industries about to enjoy a spike in demand when picking value stocks, and he looks for companies that dominate their industries when picking growth stocks,” Morningstar’s Russel Kinnel wrote in an October report that put Roth’s New Millennium Fund on his list of 31 “great funds.”
"Roth shied away from pricier tech stocks and favored more-traditional value sectors such as energy and financials," Morningstar analyst Paul Ruppe said in a report after Roth disclosed his retirement plan.
"Roth had pursued a blend of secular growth, economically sensitive, and cyclical companies. On the growth side, he looked for firms with superior products and strong earnings potential," Ruppe wrote. "He also considered established companies that are out of favor, look attractively valued, and might have a catalyst for improvement."
