Cristobal Conde has been elected chief executive of SunGard, the global financial services IT company, completing a transition to the top job that began in 1998.

Conde succeeds James Mann, who will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors. Conde joined SunGard, based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, in 1987 when it acquired Devon Systems, the derivatives systems developer which he co-founded. Devon now trades as SunGard Trading and Risk Systems, the division Conde launched.