Mariner Investment Group has named Jonathan Loflin, formerly a senior portfolio manager and partner of BlueMountain Capital, to run a global derivatives relative-value portfolio on the Mariner Incubation Platform.
The platform is a multi-strategy mandate Mariner launched in April 2013 to be managed by leading investment talent sourced from the hedge fund industry.
The announcement follows the firm's recent appointments of Peter van Dooijeweert to manage a global equity volatility portfolio, Richard Rumble to manage a global emerging market equity portfolio, and Eric Pellicciaro to manage a global macro portfolio on this new platform.
The Mariner team will employ a derivatives relative-value strategy that capitalises on Loflin's experience in structuring, analysing, and managing portfolios of derivative securities at banks and hedge funds since 1999. The strategy will identify and seek to exploit recurring dislocations in derivatives markets caused by structural flows from end-users. The strategy seeks to produce market-neutral, all-weather returns, stressing discipline and diversification in portfolio construction.
"Jon brings an impressive track record of trading in derivatives markets, demonstrating an ability to perform well throughout market cycles with low correlation to mainstream asset classes and other hedge fund strategies," says Bracebridge Young, Mariner's chief executive officer. "The natural pools of capital necessary to offset risk from derivative trades done on behalf of the clients of global investment banks are constrained, creating an improved opportunity set for derivative relative-value investments. We are excited to have Jon and his team managing this portfolio on our Mariner Incubation Platform."
"Mariner provides a proven institutional infrastructure for derivatives portfolio management, as well as a substantial and reputable strategic partner for building and growing our business together," says Loflin. "Investment banks have long been the dominant players in exploiting relative-value opportunities in derivatives markets and, as banks reduce risk-taking within their proprietary and flow trading desks due to Dodd-Frank and other constraints, we believe that our disciplined approach to derivatives relative-value should be able to generate consistently attractive returns for our clients with low correlation to major asset classes and other hedge fund strategies."
Loflin began his career in structuring and trading derivatives at Goldman Sachs in 1999. Subsequently, Loflin was a senior portfolio manager and partner at BlueMountain Capital, where his focus was launching and managing the BlueMountain Equity Alternatives Fund. Most recently, Loflin managed a portfolio at Wells Fargo/Overland together with Benn Eifert, who joins Loflin at Mariner. Eifert had previously served as head of research at Wells Fargo/Overland, with prior experience as a macroeconomist at the World Bank in Washington, DC.
