The Swiss banking group SYZ & CO has appointed Katia Coudray Cornu (pictured) as Head of SYZ Fund Research, its funds analysis and manager-selection department. The mission of SYZ Fund Research is to identify new themes and emerging talent, with a view to launching new sub-funds in the OYSTER investment funds family.
Before joining SYZ & CO, Katia Coudray Cornu worked for ten years with UBP in Geneva, where she was in charge of multi-management and manager selection, notably for a number of investment funds managed by third parties, and of managing the product range. Prior to that, Katia Coudray Cornu headed the Investment Funds department of Banque Edouard Constant in Geneva (which has now become EFG) from 1998 to the end of 2000. Mrs. Coudray Cornu is a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA) and teaches at the Higher Institute of Banking Training (ISFB) – Investment Funds in Geneva.
As Head of SYZ Fund Research, Katia Coudray Cornu will participate in the development of the OYSTER product range by identifying future trends and finding talented new external managers who will be entrusted with the management of certain sub-funds. Mrs. Coudray Cornu will also have the task of selecting third-party funds for the open architecture platform.
“We have developed sound expertise within the Group in the asset classes that we consider strategic, such as European and global equities, bonds, asset allocation and absolute return. On the other hand, we prefer to entrust to talented external managers the management of asset classes for which we do not have any specific expertise, so as to always be able to offer high-performing funds”, says Alfredo Piacentini, Managing Partner. “Katia Coudray Cornu will assist Xavier Guillon, the CEO of OYSTER Funds, in developing new strategies and then in selecting these fund managers, so as to continue the development of our range of funds”.
Cornu says: “The new managers we are looking for will, of course, have to match the spirit of the existing funds, that is, stand out with a non-indexed, alpha-generating management having high added value."
