GLG Partners has announced the appointment of David Waller as the firm’s first Director of Communications. Waller has spent the last two years as a Partner at Maitland, the financial public relations firm where he acted for a number of clients including UKFI, the body that manages the UK Government’s investments in the banking sector. Prior to joining Maitland, he worked in a number of senior roles within the Allianz Group including as Group Head of External Relations. Waller started his career at the Financial Times where he held a number of roles over eight years including Deputy Head of the Lex Column where his responsibilities included financial institutions.
36 South has announced a senior hire from Barclays Global Investors, Maya Abou Zeid, who joins 36 South as Head of Sales for the UK and EMEA. At BGI, Abou Zeid was a Senior Associate and Investment Strategist in the Client Solutions Group. She has particular experience as a product specialist in multi strategy fund of hedge funds and smart beta strategies covering fixed income, global macro and equities. Maya is an experienced financial services professional who has previously worked for HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd, Byblos Bank Europe SAL and the Central Bank of Lebanon.
Spencer House Partners has announced that Knut Eirik Dahl formerly of J.P. Morgan has joined the firm as a Partner. Dahl who has 18 years of investment banking experience will focus on providing the firm’s merchant banking and advisory services to clients in the investment management industry. “Knut brings a wealth of industry knowledge and an extensive relationship network to Spencer House Partners,” said Jeremy Sillem, Managing Partner of Spencer House Partners. “His financial services expertise, as well as his significant M&A and capital markets experience, will be highly valuable to our clients who are seeking the independent advice, industry knowledge, and capital sources that Spencer House Partners aims to provide. We are extremely pleased to have him join the firm.”
The Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s second largest private sector pension fund, has announced the appointment of Roger Gray as Chief Investment Officer. Gray succeeds Peter Moon, who is retiring after 17 years at USS. Gray was previously Chief Investment Officer at Hermes Investment Management. Before joining Hermes in 2006, he was Global Head of Asset Allocation/Currency at UBS Brinson and Chief Investment Officer at Rothschild Asset Management. He has more than 25 years of investment management and institutional advisory experience. Roger holds an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University and an AM in Economics from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Tom Merchant, Chief Executive of USS, said: “We would like to acknowledge and thank Peter Moon for his enormous contribution to USS over the years and welcome Roger Gray to his new role. Roger brings a strong background in global and multi-asset investment and risk management to USS. We are very excited about this new phase in USS’ leadership.”
Carne Global Financial Services has further strengthened its London team with the appointments of Bill Blackwell and Aman Jairath, product development and regulatory compliance specialists respectively. Blackwell joins from J.P. Morgan and will be responsible for product development in London with capacity to work with clients across Carne’s other offices. He has more than 17 years of experience as an operations and business manager within the fund investment management industry, most recently focusing on UCITS structures. He has been responsible for the launch of innovative fund products and the implementation of client servicing processes over the duration of his career. Jairath joins Carne from The CCL Partnership LLP, a compliance services provider. He has in-depth knowledge of regulation and compliance in hedge fund and traditional asset management, private equity, brokerage and corporate finance in the UK.
Conyers Dill & Pearman has announced the appointment of Craig Fulton as Head of its Mauritius office. Fulton will focus on generating business in the burgeoning markets of India and Southern Africa as the firm continues its major business development push into these regions. Fulton has relocated from Conyers’ Bermuda office, having worked for several years prior to that in the firm’s Cayman Islands office, where he specialised in hedge funds and private equity investments. Prior to joining Conyers, Fulton was Head of Legal Affairs (Western Hemisphere) for Fortis Bank and Fortis Prime Fund Solutions in the Cayman Islands. Fulton holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Natal, Durban.
Martin Currie Investment Management Limited has announced two senior hires; Alastair Barrie joins in the newly created role of global head of hedge fund sales and Clayton Cheek joins as US head of hedge fund sales. Barrie joins Martin Currie from RBS where he was director of institutional business. In this new position at Martin Currie he will be responsible for growing their global hedge fund business. Prior to RBS he was director of global hedge fund sales and UK wholesale distribution at Henderson. Cheek joins Martin Currie’s office in New York. Previously he worked for Man Investments in New York where he was head of institutional sales for the US. Prior to Man, he was managing director, head of client development Americas for Ivy Asset Management.
Halbis, the active management specialist within HSBC Global Asset Management, has further strengthened its emerging markets expertise through the appointment of Omar Negyal. He joins as a Senior Portfolio Manager and will work closely with the existing Global Emerging Markets equity team, headed by Nick Timberlake. Negyal, who will lead the development of HSBC’s alternative Emerging Markets capabilities, is based in London and reports to Timberlake. He joins from the hedge fund specialist Lansdowne Partners, where he spent three and a half years as a senior member of the team managing long/short global emerging markets funds. Negyal has more than ten years experience in global emerging markets equities, having previously spent seven years at F&C where he was a member of the Emerging Markets Asian team.
BlueMountain Capital Management has announced the expansion of its Fundamental Credit Research team with the hire of four seasoned credit research analysts: Agata Andrevski, Michael Kass, Omar Vaishnavi, and Vincent Cooper. Led by Head of Research Scott Lessing, the team utilises a disciplined approach to fundamental analysis to uncover relative value throughout the capital structure. “BlueMountain aspires to build the leading, fundamentally-driven, cross-capital structure research team among credit-focused asset managers.” said Lessing. “We relentlessly pursue distinctive insight through collaboration among analysts with deep expertise, who focus in specific industry sectors, particular research disciplines and geographies.”
Mick Moloney has been appointed global head of Mercer’s Financial Strategy Group. Moloney, a worldwide partner at Mercer, has relocated to New York City from Dublin where he led the European group since its inception in 2007. In addition to his new global leadership responsibility, he will head up the US FSG leadership team. “Mick brings with him a wealth of experience in dealing with pension risk issues for European plan sponsors. Under his leadership, the Financial Strategy Group in Europe and the UK have grown substantially, and established a well-earned reputation for thought and delivery leadership in the marketplace,” added Simon O’Regan, global head of Mercer’s retirement, risk & finance business.
Insparo Asset Management has strengthened its operational capabilities with the appointment of James Gore as Finance and Operations Manager. Gore will work alongside Jon Laidlow, who took up an expanded COO role in April. Laidlow will assist Gore in meeting Insparo’s tax, legal, compliance and regulatory requirements. Additionally, Gore will be responsible for aspects of business development. Gore joins Insparo from Gandhara Capital. In his role as Finance Manager, he had responsibility for the firm’s tax, accounting and audit procedures. Additionally, James was responsible for the firm’s regulatory reporting. Prior to this, Gore was Manager of the Fund Accounting team at Marathon Asset Management. Here he oversaw fund accounting and net asset valuation, as well as playing a role in the firm’s business development.
SEB has announced that Peter Kubicki has been appointed head of SEB in Luxembourg, in addition to Frederick Johansson being appointed head of SEB in New York. Kubicki has been made head of Trading and Capital Markets and SEB Enskilda Equities at SEB in Copenhagen. He succeeds Lars Friberg as new head of SEB in Luxembourg. Johansson has been head of SEB Venture Capital in Stockholm and prior to that worked in various positions in Client Relationship Management, both in Stockholm and London. Frederick Johansson succeeds Christian Dahlberg as new head of SEB in New York.
Newscape Capital Group has appointed Paul Molere as a Board Director and Head of European Institutions. Molere joins Newscape from Credit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) in Paris, where he was Head of Institutional Business. At CAAM, he had overall responsibility for all French Pension Fund business, counting the majority of the largest Corporate and Government funds amongst his clients. Molere has over 40 years’ industry experience, the majority of which he has spent within European asset management, and prior to CAAM was Global Head of Sales and Marketing for Indosuez Asset Management. He joined Indosuez from Credit Commercial de France, having held similar positions and previously led the firm’s corporate finance division.
UBP Asset Management has announced that Matt Auriemma will join the firm as Co-Head of Structural Risk Analysis. Auriemma was previously Head of Operational Due Diligence for Barclays Wealth. “Matt’s unparalleled experience and skill in designing and implementing operational risk platforms will ensure that our clients benefit from the industry’s most rigorous structural risk analysis,” said Matthew Stadtmauer, Chief Executive Officer of UBP Asset Management. “This is one of many steps we are taking to refine our risk analysis process and reinforce our commitment to alternative investments.” Auriemma has tackled hedge fund operational risk from virtually every angle during a 15-year career as an auditor, administrator and senior executive, including building three operational risk departments from the ground up.
RBC Capital Markets has announced that it has hired Marc Fleischman as a Managing Director and Head of Hedge Fund Sales, Europe. Fleischman joins RBC Capital Markets with 17 years’ experience, most recently at Citigroup where he was a Managing Director. Prior to that, Fleischman was at Bear Stearns, where he was European Head of Interest Rate Derivative Marketing to Hedge Funds. He has also held positions at Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Commenting on the appointment, Avril Pomper, Head of Fixed Income and Currencies and Financial Products Sales, Europe, said: “The hire of Marc to our Hedge Fund team in London reflects our focus on growing our rate distribution to hedge funds in Europe. We see hedge funds as a growing client segment and are keen to develop our relationships with these important institutions.”
Cheyne Capital Management has announced two new Partners in Paul Ruddleston and Paul Keohane. Alongside former colleague and head portfolio manager Jorge Giampaoli who joined Cheyne in June, they will be managing the Cheyne Equity Macro Fund employing a liquid, macro-based trading strategy. Ruddleston and Keohane join from Morgan Stanley where they worked for a combined 26 years, much of which as Managing Directors. Ruddleston headed the Global Market Trading Strategy Unit at Morgan Stanley, working with the firm’s principal market risk takers and with key clients across all asset classes. Ranked number one in Extel Surveys for both global strategy and technical analysis, Ruddleston is credited with calling a host of major market turning points over the years, most recently predicting the exact 666 low point of the S&P 500 this March. Paul Keohane worked as number two to Ruddleston and brings with him extensive experience in bond trading and fund management from his career in the City. Chris Goekjian, Cheyne’s Chief Investment Officer, commented, “We are delighted to have a team with such strong analytical and trading skills on board and look forward to continuing to build the track record of our new equity macro offering.”
Rose & Sky Investments has expanded its team by adding three senior capital markets professionals. Thomas Colucci joins as Head of Investor Relations, Anthony Lombardi as Chief Operating Officer and Sven-Rainer Emme as Head Equity Trader. Colucci will coordinate Investor Relations for Rose & Sky Investments globally. He was previously Global Head of Prime Brokerage Sales at Fortis Bank Nederland in London. Lombardi will oversee all operational issues, including managing key counterparty and external relationships, and enhancing internal business procedures and practices. Emme will oversee equity trading and is a member of the Trade Execution Group.
Aladdin Capital Holdings has announced the appointment of Kathleen Stephansen as Chief Economist. Stephansen brings extensive international economics experience to this new position, having served as Head of Global Economics at Credit Suisse and Co-Head of Economic Research/Chief International Economist in the Fixed Income Division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Stephansen was most recently a Senior Advisor and task force member for the Asia Society on Rebalancing the US-Asia Economic Relationship. Neal Neilinger, Chief Investment Officer at Aladdin, commented: “Economic research is a key ingredient to business strategy. Current market events and investment decisions are being driven by macroeconomic developments as the economy faces the double challenge of overcoming a dramatic cyclical downturn and equally profound structural changes. In light of this, we are thrilled to have an economist of Kathleen Stephansen’s calibre join us at Aladdin. Her appointment adds a great deal of depth to the firm in terms of forecasting, client focus and brand.”
Markit has announced the appointment of Richard Paddle as Managing Director and Head of its European structured finance business based in London. Paddle will be responsible for developing Markit’s product offering for the European structured finance market. The company’s existing structured finance product set includes European asset-backed securities (ABS) pricing and performance data; a credit default swap (CDS) of ABS spread service; and a CDS of ABS trade settlement calculation service. Markit is also the owner of the widely traded synthetic structured finance indices, the Markit ABX.HE and the Markit CMBX which reference US home equity ABS and US commercial mortgage-backed ABS respectively.
