It’s been an interesting journey for UBS’s new Global Head of Hedge Fund Distribution, John Dyment: a newly created role within Global Prime Services that befits someone of his standing and expertise in the financial services industry.
The New York-based role, which Dyment began earlier this month, will see him drive forward and develop UBS’s hedge fund franchise, taking responsibility for sales, capital introduction and business consultancy services. What makes this unique, however, is that no one else is doing it: that is, breaking down the communication flow across product to service and grow a strategically important client segment. “It’s a pretty unique role that they’ve created for me across product,” explains Dyment over lunch at UBS’s London office.
Then again, in terms of experience, there are few that can boast as broad a range of knowledge as Dyment, which crucially, over the last 25 years, has seen him work not only across every division of the investing banking community, but also on the other side of Wall Street at Shumway Capital; a multi-billion dollar Connecticut hedge fund.
Some 15 years ago, Dyment started spending more time with hedge funds whilst at Goldman Sachs. It was around this time that he pioneered the idea of capital introduction along with David Barrett of Morgan Stanley, nowadays an integral part of prime brokerage that helps connect hedge funds to global investors and vice-versa.
During his time at Deutsche Bank, after leaving Goldman Sachs, Dyment was introduced to Chris Shumway. He went on to become President, where he and the COO helped run the business side of the hedge fund. The fund’s assets peaked at USD9billion before falling to USD5billion through client redemptions during the financial crisis; this year they’ve since climbed back to USD8billion.
It’s this 360 degree view of the market, both from an investing banking perspective and a hedge fund perspective, that prompted UBS to create the role for Dyment when Chris Shumway decided to step down as CIO and return investors capital this March.
The fact that Dyment also used to work under Yassine Bouhara – UBS Co-Head Global Equities – at Deutsche Bank no doubt made the decision easier. “Yassine has been attracting some terrific folks so I decided to join the team. My responsibilities are to grow and manage the hedge fund products globally to expand our footprint with hedge fund clients globally,” says Dyment.
Long term, the objective is to add value to UBS’s hedge fund clients by making them aware of all the various products the bank has at its disposal in order to help them maximise returns. It fits with Dyment’s background. He knows what they need. “My job is to help our bank find ways to add more value to each hedge fund client. We have fantastic products and capabilities and by focusing our efforts, we can be more meaningful in helping our clients meet their goals,” adds Dyment.
Dyment is likely to make a big difference in improving the bottom line for Global Prime Services. His hiring underscores the forward thinking approach UBS applies to prime brokerage; a fiercely competitive environment. At the time of announcing his appointment, Bouhara said: “John comes to UBS with deep knowledge and experience, and we are pleased that he will lead our hedge fund distribution business globally. We are equally pleased to demonstrate continued investment in our senior team in the Americas, which is of critical importance to our global business.”
