Mairs & Power, one of St. Paul’s oldest investment firms, names new CEO

St. Paul-based Mairs & Power, which calls itself Minnesota’s oldest investment firm under private ownership and management, has promoted a new CEO with a familiar name.

The company announced Tuesday that Rob Mairs, grandson of company founder George Mairs Jr., will be the next CEO. Rob Mairs succeeds Mark Henneman, who has been chief executive since 2018.

“Our board was unanimous in that choice,” Henneman said. “Rob has the strengths that we need going forward.”

Rob Mairs, a lawyer by training who worked at the Minneapolis law firm Gray Plant Mooty for 16 years, joined Mairs & Power in 2015 as general counsel and became president in 2018.

While the firm has about 55% of assets under management in the mutual fund, Mairs said he’ll concentrate on growing the firm’s managed accounts for individuals and institutions.

“The growth will come when we do right by our clients,” Mairs said, echoing the motto of his uncle, George Mairs III.

The focus on building up the managed account side of the business is part of a broader shift from actively managed mutual funds to low-cost, passively managed mutual funds. According to a report from Morningstar, in the past 10 years, more funds have flowed into passive funds than have flowed into actively managed funds.

Henneman will continue to serve as chair of the board and said he doesn’t have a firm exit date in mind but expects to retire at the end of 2026. He joined Mairs & Power in 2004 as a co-manager and lead manager of the firm’s signature Mairs & Power Growth Mutual Fund. He’s also served as chief investment officer and president.

Under his tenure, assets under management grew from $2 billion to $12 billion. When he was CEO, the firm added new products, boosted employment, diversified its investment managers and, in 2022, launched Mairs & Power Venture Capital. Mairs & Power even changed addresses under Henneman, moving in 2022 a couple of blocks from the First National Bank building in downtown St. Paul where it had resided for 80 years to Wells Fargo Place.

George Mairs Jr. founded the firm in 1931 as a sole proprietor initially investing family wealth in railroad bonds. Today, the firm — which made its mark as active investors with a disciplined, long-term approach, concentrating on companies it knew well — has nearly $12 billion in assets under management and employs 55 people. Mairs & Power provides investment services for individuals and institutions, has three mutual funds — the Mairs & Power Growth Fund, Balanced Fund and Small-Cap Fund — and a Minnesota Municipal Bond ETF.