Nigel Webber has been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Alternative Investments Ltd. He will be undertaking this role in addition to his current role of CIO of the HSBC Private Bank. Webber began his career with KPMG and then joined Citigroup International Bank Limited for five years in London and New York. Thereafter he specialised in portfolio management and private equity with a number of privately held firms. In 1993, he began working in Hong Kong as a partner in Crosby Asset Management before joining Republic National Bank in 1998, which later became part of HSBC Private Bank. There he served as Head of Investment Management, where he oversaw a rapid growth of investment in alternative investments and discretionary portfolios. He was appointed CIO of HSBC Group Private Bank, based in London, in November 2006.
The Board of Directors of Crédit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) and CAAM Group have appointed Yves Perrier as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the two companies. Perrier joined Société Générale during its privatisation in 1987, where he was appointed Head of Accounting Department (1987-1991), Financial Controller (1991-1995), and Chief Financial Officer (1995-1999). In September 1999, Perrier joined Crédit Lyonnais at the time of its privatisation supervising Finance, Risk and Internal Audit. At the end of 2002, acting on behalf of Crédit Lyonnais, he oversaw the financial operation that led to the merger with Crédit Agricole. He directed the splitting up of Crédit Lyonnais' retail banking and investment banking activities, and the latter's subsequent merger with Crédit Agricole Indosuez to form Calyon on 1 May 2004. At this date, he was named Chief Executive of Calyon in charge of structured finance, brokerage, risk and support functions. In 2005, Perrier took the responsibility of the international network, while maintaining responsibility for structured finance and support functions.
Montier Partners has added Nidhi Huyberechts to its Investment Advisory team with specific responsibilities for Asia and Japan. She joins with 12 years experience within investment banking and asset management and was most recently at Investor Select Advisors where she co-managed a pan-Asian fund of hedge funds. Prior to this role, she was at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston as an analyst in Equity research. Huyberechts joins Montier's Investment Advisory team which includes Dominique Montier, Jeremy Alun-Jones and Patrick Wills.
Permal Group, one of the largest fund of hedge funds organisations in the world has appointed Glyn Clark, formerly of Goldman Sachs, as Director of UK Operations, where he is responsible for the setup, review and quality control of operational procedures relating to institutional and intermediary clients, as well as third party service providers. At Goldman Sachs New York, Clark was an Executive Director in the Compliance Department, with responsibility for the development of compliance procedures and the management of compliance policy development. Before this, he was Head of Asset Servicing. Clark has over 25 years experience at Goldman Sachs, having also worked in London, Tokyo and Zurich. The Permal Group today manages $35 billion and has offices in New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.
Polar Capital Holdings has announced that it has hired Nick Evans, who was until recently at Axa Framlington Investment Management, as a senior fund manager in its Technology team. Evans joined Axa Framlington in August 2000 and was lead manager of both the AXA Framlington Global Tech Fund and AWF Framlington Global Tech Fund. Previously, he spent just under 3 years at Hill Samuel Asset Management most recently as an Investment Manager of Pan-European equities and formerly as an Assistant Investment Manager of UK Pension Funds.
Isle of Man Finance has appointed John Spellman as Director and Head of Isle of Man Finance (IOMF). Isle of Man Finance is the division of the Treasury with responsibility for promotion and development of the financial services sector of the Isle of Man economy. Spellman has joined the Isle of Man Government on a two year contract with a core brief to review the strategy and operations of Isle of Man Finance going forward. A qualified accountant and banker by training, in the first 15 years of his finance career, Spellman built his international experience in banking, fund management and accountancy, specialising in various parts of the offshore industry. He has wide experience liaising with both UK and overseas regulators. Spellman was formerly Managing Director of HBOS Financial Services, an operating division of Halifax Bank of Scotland. He returns to the Isle of Man after five years in the UK, where he holds a number of directorships.
TriAlpha Investment Advisors, the Asset Management Division of the Stonehage Group, has announced that Cobus Kruger has been appointed a Director and will join the company in November. Kruger will join TriAlpha from New Star Asset Management where he is currently Director, Mutual Funds, and will assume overall responsibility for institutional business development.
Aspect Capital, the systematic investment manager, has announced the appointment of Chris Stuart to the position of Senior European Sales Executive. Stuart will work alongside Jamil Ismail and Ted Frith to further develop Aspect's institutional investor client base in Europe and the Middle East. Stuart will report to John Wareham, Aspect's Chief Commercial Officer. Stuart has over 20 years of institutional and corporate sales experience with a strong focus on currency, fixed income and derivatives. He joins from Standard Chartered Bank where he was most recently European Head of Corporate FX, IRD, Commodity and Equity Derivatives Sales. Prior to this, Stuart worked for Royal Bank of Scotland as Co-Head of European FX Sales and Head of Corporate FX Sales. He has also held positions as Head of FX Sales for Europe at UBS and Senior FX Options Sales at Goldman Sachs.
Kinetic Partners has announced a new member to the team. Neil Griggs, previously a senior manager in the banking & capital markets group at Ernst & Young's alternatives practice. He has 15 years' experience in audit, assurance and related advisory services. "I am delighted that Neil, an excellent professional and recognised specialist in the hedge fund area, has decided to join Kinetic Partners," said David Butler, a founding member of Kinetic Partners. In a further announcement, Kinetic announced the promotion of Andrew Shrimpton to Member of the Firm. Prior to joining Kinetic Partners as a senior consultant in June 2007, Shrimpton spent eight years at the Financial Services Authority (FSA), latterly as Head of Alternative Investments Supervision, responsible for hedge funds and private equity firms. Since June, he has been leading Kinetic's advisory services around regulatory compliance, particularly in relation to the EU's Individual Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP), due for full implementation from 1 January next year.
Odyssey Financial Technologies, a provider of private wealth and asset management solutions and services, has announced the appointment of André M Boisvert to its board of directors. Boisvert, who has over 30 years' experience in the field of technology, will bring valuable input into formulating Odyssey's aggressive growth strategy, which includes both geographical and product expansion. Regarding his new role, Boisvert commented, "I am very pleased to have been invited to join the Odyssey board of directors which will oversee further international growth, fuelled by using the latest technology to help customers implement enterprise-wide wealth and asset management solutions."
Mercer has elevated its Chief Executive for Australia and New Zealand, Peter Promnitz, to the role of Region Head for Asia Pacific, expanding his responsibilities to support the growth and expansion of Mercer in Asia. Promnitz was appointed as Chief Executive for Mercer Australia and New Zealand in 2004, after working for Mercer for four years in a variety of roles. Prior to joining Mercer in 2000, he owned his own consulting practice providing strategic advice and consulting services to a number of well-known Australian corporates. Promnitz said he is looking forward to the new challenge, having already gained a good understanding of working across the Asia Pacific region in his capacity as Asia Pacific Retirement leader which he performed in addition to his role as Chief Executive of Australia and New Zealand. "It is an exciting time to be leading Mercer's Asia Pacific business. Growth in this region is currently outpacing Mercer's global growth rate, and we expect this to continue as we bring the best of the global model to the Asian region."
Eclectica Asset Management has announced the appointment of James Du Boulay to the position of Sales & Marketing Executive. Du Boulay will focus on the development of Eclectica's hedge and authorised investment funds (OEICS), the CF Eclectica European Fund, CF Eclectica Continental European Fund and the CF Eclectica Agriculture Fund. He joins from BDT Invest Plc where for four years he was responsible for growing their long only, long only absolute return and long/short products. Prior to that he was at ABN Amro for six years. Commenting on the appointment, Simon Batten, CEO of Eclectica Asset Management, said: "We are extremely pleased to welcome James to Eclectica. His extensive industry and sales expertise will play a major role in further developing our presence within the UK and European marketplace. This is an important area of our business and this appointment reflects the growth potential we believe we have there."
HSBC Investments has appointed Barbara Rupf Bee to the new position of Global Head of Institutional Sales. In this role, Rupf Bee is responsible for devising and executing an ambitious institutional business development strategy for HSBC Investments, which acts as the global distributor for HSBC's asset management businesses including Halbis, Sinopia and HSBC Multi Manager. She manages all the institutional business development teams of HSBC Investments worldwide. Rupf Bee is based in London and reports functionally to Mark McCombe, Global Chief Executive of HSBC's asset management businesses. McCombe said: "Barbara's appointment reflects the importance we attach to developing our institutional business, which has considerable scope for growth. She brings the experience, focus and drive needed to help us succeed in this fiercely competitive market. Barbara has an impressive career spanning over 20 years in investment banking and asset management."
Cadogan Management has announced the appointment of John Trammell to a new position as President of Cadogan, where he will work together with Stuart Leaf, Cadogan's Chief Executive Officer, to manage and oversee the firm's business.Trammell joins Cadogan's New York office, bringing a global perspective from his diverse experiences in investing, institutional sales, operations and research. He spent the last seven years at Investor Select Advisors, an independent fund of funds. Most recently, Trammell served as Chief Executive Officer, overseeing the strategic planning and day-to-day business functions, including linking together the research, sales, administration and legal aspects of the company. He helped to build up the global institutional business initiative, specifically with Japanese and other large global institutions and distributors. In his new role with Cadogan, Trammell will leverage his expertise by helping the firm increase the potential of the combined Cadogan/Fortis Investments' brand on a global basis. Cadogan, a Registered Investment Advisor, is a New York-based $4.7 billion global provider of alternative investment solutions to institutional and family office investors. Fortis Investments holds a 70% interest in Cadogan.
Chris Woods, investment chief of State Street Global Advisors hedge fund arm, has left to join Man Group, the UK-listed hedge fund group. A Man spokesman said Woods would become a strategist at Man Global, the $17bn hedge fund manager.
The EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre has announced the appointment of Dr. Michel Verlaine as Business Analysis Director. Verlaine holds a PhD in Economics and Management from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers in Paris. His research interests focus on portfolio optimisation and risk management, with a special emphasis on behaviour under uncertainty and statistical robustness, and his research in these areas has given rise to several articles and conference presentations. He is working notably on the elaboration of robust asset management solutions, and his current research concentrates on the robust pricing of CDOs. Prior to joining EDHEC, Dr. Verlaine worked for several financial and public institutions, including Ernst & Young's Risk Advisory Services where he was a consultant in charge of developing risk management solutions and processes, and for the Ministry of Economics in Luxembourg where he was in charge of preparing the Ecofin meetings. He also worked on financial modelling issues in the Strategic Capital Allocation Department of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations. He holds a certificate of specialisation in Finance from HEC in Paris, where he lectured on strategic asset allocation and risk management. He has also lectured at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, and at Humboldt University in Berlin.
Fidessa Group plc, provider of the Fidessa and Fidessa LatentZero trading solutions for the sell-side and buy-side, has announced the appointment of Katy Birch as sell-side marketing manager. Reporting to Simon Barnby, global marketing communications director, Birch will be responsible for Fidessa's sell-side marketing activities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She commenced her new role on 1 October 2007 and is based in London. Birch will focus on working with the sales and product management teams to identify key target segments and provide marketing support to drive sales growth throughout the EMEA region. Birch has 15 years' experience working in the financial technology sector. Her career includes senior marketing roles at Rolfe & Nolan, Monis (now part of SunGard), Future Dynamics (now part of FFastFill), Sophis and OpenLink. Birch combines expertise across all areas of product, marketing and marketing communications with solid experience in multi-asset trading and risk management systems. Simon Barnby, global marketing communications director, comments: "Over the years, we have invested heavily in our technology and established an unrivalled reputation for our multi-asset trading and connectivity solutions. As the company looks to expand its presence across the EMEA region Katy, with her extensive industry knowledge which bridges the front to back office and her strong marketing experience, was the perfect candidate for us." Katy Birch adds: "Having worked in the trading technology space for 15 years, I have watched Fidessa go from strength to strength. I look forward to playing a pivotal role, building on Fidessa's momentum and helping to further grow the business across EMEA." Fidessa provides integrated multi-asset trading, market data and connectivity solutions to over 16,000 users at around 500 clients around the world, and serves over 85% of global, tier-one equity brokers. Fidessa's connectivity network provides links to over 230 brokers, 1,300 buy-sides and 83 exchanges globally.
