London-based hedge fund manager Polar Capital has appointed Karim Vellani, previously head of risk management for the global proprietary trading business at Credit Suisse, as chief risk officer.

At Credit Suisse, Vellani's areas of responsibility included all the group's hedge fund strategies, comprising long/short, event-driven, relative value, energy and commodities, fixed income, statistical arbitrage, macro, convertible bond arbitrage and credit arbitrage, as well as private equity.

Previously he was chief risk officer at multistrategy hedge fund manager DE Capital Management and a senior director and head of risk management with Bayerische Landesbank.

'With 18 years experience in wholesale financial markets across multiple asset classes including equities, fixed income and currencies, Karim is the ideal choice to further build on Polar Capital's risk management programme,' says chief executive Mark Kary.

'A comprehensive and consistent approach to risk forms an integral part of our organisation and is essential for ensuring that Polar Capital continues to operate and develop efficiently.'

Polar Capital describes itself as a research-driven investment management firm that offers an entrepreneurial environment for portfolio managers within a structure that offers a level of marketing, administrative and operational support normally found in much larger organisations.

The firm seeks to build a diversified family of long-only, long-bias, equity long/short and other fundamentally-driven hedge fund strategies managed under the Polar Capital brand.

The firm has a staff of 63 at its offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo and Kiev, including 35 investment professionals, managing 14 funds, one managed account and two advisory relationships with combined assets of USD3.2bn for institutional and professional investors.