Jean-Eric Mercier is to join CPR Asset Management. His appointment as Chief Executive Officer will be proposed at the next meeting of the company’s board of directors. He will also become a member of the executive committee of CAAM Group. Since August 2003, Mercier has been Chairman and Chief Executive of Fidelity Investissements SAS and Fidelity Gestion in Paris where he was principally responsible for launching new products in the fields of group pension schemes and life insurance. From 2001 to 2003 Mercier was Senior Vice-President of Mercer Olivier Wyman, after serving a five-year stint as Vice-President of A.T. Kearney (Paris). From 1992 to 1996, he was in charge of a consultancy for investment banking and asset management at Bossard Consultants, where he began his career in 1986. Mercier holds an engineering degree from Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris.
Gartmore has announced the appointment of Paul Graham as Head of Global Alternatives. Graham joins from Baring Asset Management where he was Global Head of Alternative Sales, Business Development and Client Service. Based in London, he will join Gartmore in early April, reporting to Phil Wagstaff, Gartmore’s Global Head of Distribution. Over the last 10 years Graham’s career has encompassed business development roles, predominantly with a focus on alternatives products. He will also be tasked with building on Gartmore’s hedge fund range and core European client base, whilst developing new relationships in the US, Middle East and Asia. Commenting on the appointment, Wagstaff said: “Gartmore has been a major player in the hedge fund sphere for nearly a decade. During this time we have forged strong and successful client relationships across Europe, Japan and the US and have developed a diversified range of hedge fund products with a long and distinguished track record of delivering alpha. Not only has this range proven its worth in extremely challenging markets, but we have met client redemptions without imposing gates. We are confident that such performance will act as a springboard for further growth in the US, Middle East and Asian markets.”
BlueCrest Capital Management has appointed Anne Popkin and Pete McConnon to the role of co-heads of Global Sales and Client Services. In this role they will be responsible for growing and strengthening the investor service to new and existing clients globally and across all products. Popkin joined BlueCrest in 2007 and brings great experience in business strategy and management, institutional client knowledge and new product development from her time at Financial Risk Management, a large global fund-of-funds, as well as her years at Goldman Sachs where she was in the fixed income sales and trading division. McConnon brings over 14 years of trading experience including most recently at BlueCrest in the rates team from 2004 to 2007, and prior to that from 1999 at Bank of America where he was last running interest rates derivatives proprietary trading. He was also at JP Morgan where he was a swaps market maker working with Michael Platt, BlueCrest’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. Michael Platt, said: “This combination of a broad experience of the wider client environment with a first hand knowledge of the traded products of our strategies will provide an enhanced investor experience in terms of our communication and dialogue. The co-head role will also allow our investors seamless access to one of the two principals running this part of our business at any time. Anne and Pete, both principals in the firm, have already developed a partnership which has been instrumental in starting and expanding our North American business.”
GAM has announced the appointment of Portfolio Manager, James Lindsay-Fynn. Prior to joining GAM, he worked at Bank of America as Vice President, Credit and Derivative Sales. He covered UK institutional investors on credit and fixed income products. Lindsay-Fynn was the 2007 World Rowing Championship gold medallist and represented Great Britain in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the men’s lightweight four. Charles Smyth-Osbourne, Head of Private Clients, commented: “James has an excellent background and track record and we are delighted that he has decided to join GAM.”
Tokio Marine Asset Management has announced a senior appointment in Anji Stewart as Vice President, Business Development. In this newly-created role, Stewart will report to Polly Smith, Senior Vice President, Business Development, and will have primary responsibility for investor relations as well as strategic marketing and branding in EMEA. Stewart’s previous post was as Investor Relations Manager at LNG Capital, the independent alternative asset management firm, where she was instrumental in establishing and managing all aspects of marketing for the firm. Prior to this, she worked as a Client Relationship Associate at RAB Capital Plc., the AIM-listed multi-strategy investment management company, where she assisted in marketing hedged investment funds to UK-based retail investors, and managed communications to external parties. Commenting on the appointment, Yuichi “Alex” Takayama, CEO of TMAL, said: “At a time when investors are even keener to find out about the health of their investments, it gives me great pleasure to have someone of Ms Stewart’s calibre joining the TMAL team.”
Aladdin Capital has underlined its plans for growth by announcing the appointments of John Carroll and David Attisani. Carroll, Managing Director, joins Aladdin as the Global Head of Securitized Product and Attisani joins Aladdin as Managing Director, Broker Dealer Sales and Marketing. These appointments will be based in Aladdin’s Stamford Connecticut headquarters with Carroll overseeing sales and trading staff in Stamford and London. Carroll will report directly to Neal Neilinger, Vice-Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Aladdin.
Michael Wieczorek has joined Nomura Securities International’s Fixed Income division as Managing Director and Head of US Funding. Wieczorek is based in New York and reports to Martin Brennan, Managing Director and Head of Interest Rate Trading. Wieczorek is responsible for trading and distribution of dollar denominated funding products globally. Prior to joining NSI, Wieczorek served at Fortis for three years, most recently, as a Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income Collateral Trading. Commenting on the hiring of Wieczorek, Shigesuke Kashiwagi, Chairman, President and Chief Executive of NSI stated: “I am delighted that Michael has joined NSI. He brings with him a wealth of experience that will allow us to add value to our clients. In working with our fixed income team at NSI, Michael will help expand our global platform.”
Eurasia Group has announced that David F Gordon, former Director of Policy Planning at the US State Department and Vice Chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, has joined the firm as Head of Research and Director of Global macro analysis. He will be a member of Eurasia Group’s management committee and will be based in Washington DC. Eurasia Group’s President, Ian Bremmer, praised the hire: “David has always intrinsically understood the nature of our work and the value we bring to our clients. David has spent more than 10 years working at the highest levels of US foreign and national security policy processes. His leadership capabilities and experience in international politics will be a huge asset to the firm. Many of us at Eurasia Group have collaborated closely with David, and we’ve long hoped we’d be able to work together under one umbrella.”
Phoenix Fund Services has appointed Michael Brennan as Chief Legal Counsel. Brennan is a qualified solicitor in the Republic of Ireland with 10 years experience. He joins Phoenix from Citi Hedge Fund Services in Ireland, where he acted as Legal Counsel from March 2005.
Japaninvest Group has significantly strengthened its presence in Asia equities. The research and sales business, branded ‘Ji Asia’ and based in Hong Kong, has made two senior hires to lead the business. Neil Juggins, previously Head of Research with both Cazenove and Evolution, will become Ji Asia’s Head of Hong Kong and China Research. He has over 15 years experience working in Asia, including Hong Kong and Singapore. Greg Austin, previously a senior salesman with JPMorgan Cazenove in Hong Kong, will become Ji Asia’s Global Head of Sales. He has over 13 year’s sales experience, 11 years of that in Asia.
David M Landers will join the Managed Funds Association’s (MFA) government relations team as a Vice President in its Washington office. Landers joins MFA from Credit Suisse, where he served as Director for External Affairs and Public Policy. Landers will be responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of MFA’s political and advocacy outreach efforts before the Executive Branch, Congress and relevant regulatory agencies. He will report to Roger Hollingsworth, MFA’s executive Vice President and Managing Director, Government Relations and help devise MFA’s legislative and regulatory priorities and initiatives. Richard H Baker, MFA President and CEO said, “We are very pleased to have David join our government relations team to work with Roger as we prepare to play a meaningful role in the upcoming policy discourse. David brings valuable expertise that will help MFA as we engage in constructive dialogue with the Obama administration and Congressional leaders on issues affecting our financial markets, investors and our nation’s economy.” In addition, Louis Costantino, Jr will join as Vice President, Government Relations in MFA’s Washington office. He will be responsible for assisting in the development and implementation of MFA’s political and advocacy outreach efforts before the Executive Branch, Congress and relevant regulatory agencies. Costantino joins MFA from Merrill Lynch, where he served as Director, Government Affairs.
RBC Capital Markets has hired Tim Harvey as Director and Head of Cash Equities Trading in its London office. Harvey joins RBC Capital Markets from Credit Suisse, where he worked for over 11 years, most recently as Managing Director and Head of European Marketing to hedge funds and institutions. Harvey was previously at DLJ London and Wood Gundy.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has announced the appointment of Anne Simpson as Senior Portfolio Manager for Corporate Governance. Simpson served most recently as the Executive Director of the International Corporate Governance Network, which represents investors responsible for $15 trillion in global assets. “In Anne Simpson, we are getting one of the world’s most influential investor activists,” said George Diehr, Chair of the CalPERS Investment Committee. “She is widely recognized in the global corporate governance community, which knows her for her many appearances before political, policy and regulatory bodies.” Furthermore, Joseph A Dear, currently Executive Director of the Washington State Investment Board and Chairman of the Council of Institutional Investors has been named Chief Investment Officer of the $178 billion pension fund.
Revere Capital Advisors has announced the appointment of Giles McClelland as Head of Hedge Fund Development and Andrew Godfrey as Head of Manager Selection in its North American office. Daniel Barnett, CEO of Revere, a New York and London based investment group focused on emerging hedge fund managers, said the new appointments reflected its commitment to investors to source the most talented emerging hedge fund managers. McClelland takes responsibility for a series of core functions at Revere, including investment strategy, manager sourcing, due diligence and post-transaction monitoring and will be based in the London office. He joins from the Man Group plc, where he spent nearly 14 years, most recently in the Investment Management Division.
Alterama has hired veteran hedge fund marketer, John Carlin to lead the business development efforts for the Alpha Plus FoF. Carlin, most recently Managing Partner of Claremont Fund Management and former Director of Alternative Investments for Ladenburg Thalmann has raised over $800 million in assets over his career. “I am very excited about the opportunity with Alterama and Alpha Plus” said Carlin. “Although Alpha Plus is a small and young fund I think the structure is what is needed in today’s market. The managed account format offers investors transparency and liquidity while allowing the portfolio managers the ability to conduct stringent risk management to achieve our objectives of preservation and growth of capital.”
Stenham has appointed Damian Cocking as Senior Relationship Manager for the Channel Islands and Isle of Man and Marco Gebhard as Senior Relationship Manager for Europe. Stenham has a growing institutional client base in the Channel Islands and Europe working closely with family offices, asset managers, private banks, trust companies as well as institutions both on a direct basis and via consultants. Cocking and Gebhard recently joined Stenham’s Institutional Business Development team to reinforce the presence of Stenham and further develop the company’s long-term growth strategy in these key markets.
The Alternative Investment Management Association has announced the appointment of Christen Thomson as its Director of Communications. Thomson was most recently responsible for coordinating global PR for Colliers Macaulay Nichols, the international real estate services provider. Previously, he worked for the BBC in international and UK news as a reporter, news editor and senior producer for more than a decade. Andrew Baker, CEO of AIMA, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Christen to the AIMA team. We have secured a senior, expert communicator who has demonstrated the skills needed to build further the infrastructure and messages we will deliver to our stakeholders.”
Mourant International Finance Administration has appointed John Wiencek as the Managing Director of its New York office and as the Head of US Fund Administration. Wiencek has more than 20 years of experience in the funds market and his career has included periods at Coopers & Lybrand, SS&C Technologies, BISYS, and private equity funds. A Certified Public Accountant, he received his bachelor degree from New York University and his juris doctorate from Fordham University. He has been admitted to the bar of New York and Connecticut. Ian Lambert, CEO of Mourant International Finance Administration said: “We are delighted to be making this announcement as John has a wealth of experience working for ‘blue chip’ firms.”
Ramius Fund of Funds Group has announced that Stuart Davies, former Managing Director and Global Head of Investments at Ivy Asset Management, has joined the firm as a Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer. Davies will also be a member of the group’s Investment Management Committee. Thomas W. Strauss, Chief Executive Officer of Ramius Fund of Funds Group and a Managing Member of Ramius LLC, stated: “Global financial markets and the hedge fund industry experienced tremendous upheaval in 2008, which will create significant investment opportunities in the years to come. To better position Ramius’ Fund of Funds Group to capture these opportunities for our investors, we have segregated executive duties and we are very pleased to be able to name someone of Stuart’s calibre as our Chief Investment Officer.”
