Butterfield Fulcrum has announced the appointment of William Montgomery as Director of Business Development, and Maribel Montero Cowell as Senior Business Development Manager. “Compliance and regulatory pressures are raising the profile of operational risk management amongst funds” said Joost Lobler, Managing Director Business Development for Europe, Middle East and Asia. “A growing number of alternative managers are seeking a more full service offering, especially middle office services, in order to demonstrate to their investors that their systems, controls and governance are effective. As a result we see an increased interest in our services, and have decided to invest further in business development.” Based in the firm’s London office, Montgomery and Montero Cowell will both report to Lobler. Montgomery brings 15 years experience in global fund administration to Butterfield Fulcrum, most recently serving as Vice President for JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services. He has also held roles in Daiwa Securities and PFPC International. “I am excited to be joining a top five independent administrator that has the knowledge and experience to meet current fund requirements.” said Montgomery.
The International Centre for Financial Regulation has announced the appointment of Nicole Hergarten as Director of Training with immediate effect. Commenting on the appointment, Barbara Ridpath, Chief Executive of the ICFR said, “Nicole has an excellent understanding of educational issues which further adds to the expertise of our growing team. The current crisis has demonstrated the ongoing need for training on regulation, compliance and risk management. One of the ICFR’s top priorities is to help financial professionals and regulators to access training that suits their needs.” Hergarten joins the ICFR from McKinsey & Company were she most recently held the post of practice manager at the Capital Markets and Investment Banking division. Prior to joining McKinsey & Co, she was Executive Director of Goldman Sachs FICC from 2000 and before that served as Executive Director at CIBC World Markets. In addition Hergarten has several years of consultancy experience with financial institutions across the Asia Pacific region, including two years with a leading e-learning provider for financial products in Hong Kong.
Tim Steer will join the Artemis multi-cap investment team at the end of June 2009. He will be joined by his colleague Stephen Yiu. Based in the London office, his prime responsibility will be as the appointed manager of the Artemis UK Growth Fund. He will assume this responsibility following a short period of familiarisation. The current manager, Adrian Paterson, will return to his investment trust roots by joining John Dodd managing the Artemis Alpha Trust plc – Artemis’ “best ideas” investment trust. Additionally, Steer will manage a UK Hedge Fund, the details of which will become available once he has joined the company. Commenting upon the announcements, Mark Tyndall, CEO of Artemis, said: “I am delighted that Tim is joining us. His pragmatic and flexible approach to investing will provide benefits for clients as well as an additional intellectual input to the multi-cap team.”
Armajaro Asset Management has announced the appointment of Michel Danechi to manage a new emerging markets hedge fund. Danechi was previously the head of the emerging markets desk at Lehman Brothers International (Europe) and has over 15 years experience in trading emerging markets. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Danechi was Head of the London Office and Head of EMEA Equity Trading at CA-IB International Markets (part of Bank Austria Creditanstalt) where he was responsible for trading equities and derivatives. Additionally, Danechi was in charge of pricing, structuring and trading of EMEA equity derivatives for investors and corporates. Commenting on Danechi’s appointment and the launch of the Armajaro Emerging Markets Fund, Richard Gower, Chief Executive Officer, Armajaro Asset Management, said: “We are extremely pleased that Michel has joined Armajaro. He is a highly skilled trader and has successfully navigated the turbulent environment in emerging markets since 1994. The forthcoming launch of the Armajaro Emerging Markets Fund expands our fund range to combine emerging markets trading with a macro-based strategy that has an equity derivatives bias. In combining the commodity expertise of Armajaro Asset Management with the emerging markets knowledge of an investment professional of Michel’s calibre, we believe the Armajaro Emerging Markets Fund offers investors a unique and exciting investment opportunity.”
Guernsey’s Attorney General Nik van Leuven has been appointed Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. He will replace Peter Neville who retires in June. Peter Harwood, Chairman of the Commission, said: “Having concluded an extensive recruitment search we were delighted when Advocate Nik van Leuven accepted our invitation to become the next Director General. Nik has extensive practical knowledge and experience of the financial services sector in Guernsey. He has also worked closely with our present Director General and other colleagues in dealing with government and international bodies. I feel sure that Nik’s background and experience will usefully complement the regulatory expertise of the other executive members of the Commission.”
Newedge has announced the appointment of three Managing Directors in Asia-Pacific. Toby Lawson has been appointed Managing Director of Newedge Hong Kong. Lawson relocated from Sydney, where he was Managing Director of Newedge Australia. He joined Fimat, which merged with Calyon Financial in January 2008 to form Newedge, in 2000 as head of futures. He also worked at Deutsche Bank and has 16 years of industry experience. Nick Scarf has been appointed Managing Director of Newedge Australia, joining Newedge in February 2009 from MF Global in Sydney. He was formerly Managing Director and CEO of BrokerOne Australia from 1998 until September 2007, when the company was acquired by MF Global and was responsible for integrating the business into MF Global. Scarf, who also has 16 years of industry experience, reports to Toby Lawson. Jerome Burban has been appointed Managing Director of Newedge Singapore. While based in Singapore, he will also maintain his position as Managing Director of Newedge’s Mumbai office. Burban started his career as an OTC Equity Derivatives Broker in 1995, mostly in Japan and Hong Kong. He joined Fimat in 2004 and was appointed Head of Sales in Mumbai. Burban and Lawson report to Pierre Gay, CEO of Newedge Asia-Pacific, based in Hong Kong.
Conifer Securities has announced that Sal Campo has joined the firm’s management team as a partner and head of prime brokerage sales. Campo will focus on helping Conifer expand its reach within the hedge fund community. “We are seeing two compelling trends in the hedge funds industry. Investors are demanding greater operational integrity and transparency while the costs associated with providing this calibre of infrastructure are prohibitive for many funds. Conifer’s à la carte solutions enable managers to leverage our independence and 20 years of expertise in a variable, cost-effective manner,” said Jack McDonald, CEO of Conifer Securities. “The addition of Sal will help us take advantage of the growing demand for our services. His broad industry relationships will generate greater awareness among funds seeking operational efficiency and the requisite transparency needed to attract investors.” Campo comes to Conifer after a 27-year tenure with Citigroup. Most recently, he served as the Managing Director of Equity Finance and Prime Brokerage Sales, where he was responsible for all equity sales and marketing, including prime broker and capital introductions. He also served on the Senior Management Committee of Citigroup Alternative Investments Group.
IKOS has announced a series of new appointments to its international management team. In particular, it appointed Steven Posner, formerly Executive Director of Market Risk Management with Morgan Stanley in New York and London and prior to that with Goldman Sachs, as Risk Manager and a member of the company’s Risk Committee, reporting to the Board of Directors. Dr. Posner has 13 years of experience in the financial markets, and brings to IKOS a cross-asset, cross-discipline background in equities and derivatives, as well as experience in trading strategy development, risk management methodology, and derivatives modelling knowledge. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University, and both an M.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto. The company has appointed six further professionals in research and development, bringing the headcount of the IKOS professional team in Cyprus to more than 55 and it continues to recruit for its technical and business teams. Elena Ambrosiadou, Co-Founder and CEO of the IKOS Group explained, “Steven Posner’s appointment is highly significant. Our industry, as it evolves, requires more exacting standards. IKOS has embraced multiple regulation, by reporting to no fewer than five international regulators, namely the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC), the Irish Stock Exchange (with regard to the IKOS Funds and classes) and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and adheres to the EC Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) regime. Each brings its own requirements, but also benefits.”
Rothstein Kass has announced that Jeffrey Kollin has joined as a Director in the Advisory Services Group. In this role, Kollin will supervise the growth of the Financial Services Advisory practice, bringing together resources across business groups and office locations to offer a full complement of strategic services to firm clients. Kollin brings over 20 years of financial services industry expertise to his new position. Prior to joining Rothstein Kass, Kollin was Senior Vice President, Head of Business Development at R3 Capital, a multi-billion dollar global credit-focused hedge fund spun-off from Lehman Brothers Inc. in 2008, where he was responsible for implementing and managing operational and technological infrastructure. Previously, Kollin spent over 10 years at Lehman Brothers as US head of hedge fund consulting, a practice that he launched. During his tenure at Lehman Brothers, Kollin focused on providing advisory services and new product development for hedge fund and investment managers. Previously, Kollin held positions in Lehman Brothers’ US Equity Sales & Trading and Global Equity Capital Markets businesses. He earned a MBA in Finance / International Business at the New York University Stern School of Business and a BS in Industrial Engineering at Lehigh University. “Jeff’s first-hand experience, deep financial services industry relationships, and expertise in areas ranging from infrastructure and capital formation to new product development will enhance the range of services provided by our Financial Services Advisory practice. As the director of the Financial Advisory Services practice, Jeff will work in coordination with Rothstein Kass audit, tax and advisory Principals to introduce new products and services that will help our clients stay ahead in a rapidly changing competitive environment,” said Howard Altman.
Glyn Jones has been appointed Chairman of Hermes BPK Partners. During his career, Jones has pioneered the development of the fund of hedge funds area when he was CEO of Coutts, Gartmore and latterly of Thames River Capital. His experience will be particularly important in advising on the building of third party business. Commenting on his appointment, Glyn Jones, said “The Hermes BPK team has particular expertise and an excellent track record in distressed and credit hedge fund strategies – and so should be in a good position to exploit the upside potential of this historical opportunity in the credit markets. This bias, together with a rigorous emphasis on transparency and governance, along with the strong backing of Hermes, should stand the boutique in good stead following the recent upheavals in the hedge fund sector. I look forward to working with Matteo and his team to provide much needed innovative, groundbreaking products that address the needs of third party institutional investors.” Matteo Perruccio, CEO of Hermes BPK, commented: “I am delighted that Glyn with his invaluable experience will be so directly involved in Hermes BPK. The combination of the long-term investment from BTPS as well as the backing of Hermes presents us with a unique opportunity to be thoughtful and deliberate in developing new products and exploiting the investment opportunities in the market. Being able to draw on Glyn’s wealth of experience will be an invaluable resource for us as we build our third party base.”
Cheyne Capital Management has announced the appointment of Chris Goekjian as partner and Chief Investment Officer reporting to Jonathan Lourie, Chief Executive. As CIO, Goekjian will have overall responsibility for risk management of all Cheyne funds and investment products, oversight of portfolio management teams and development of new investment products. “Chris Goekjian’s appointment is an important strategic addition to our investment and risk management capabilities at Cheyne and we are pleased that he is joining our strong team of investment professionals,” said Jonathan Lourie, Chief Executive. “Current market conditions are opening up interesting new opportunities and we are delighted to have someone with Chris’s experience to help us execute the continuing development of our business,” commented Stuart Fiertz, President. Chris Goekjian said: “It is a great privilege to be joining Cheyne, one of the leading alternative asset managers in Europe. The firm has a reputation for innovation and 2009 is going to be a very exciting time to be at the forefront of change in the alternatives industry.” Goekjian has over 25 years experience in investment and risk management. His previous experience includes serving as head of the global fixed income division of Credit Suisse’s investment bank where he oversaw more than $300 billion of trading positions. Most recently, Goekjian was CEO and CIO of Altedge Capital (UK) Ltd, a London based fund of funds manager he founded in 2001 and whose business is intended to be integrated into Cheyne over the next six months, subject also to legal and regulatory approvals.
