Martin Currie has appointed Zehrid Osmani, to lead its Global Long-Term Unconstrained (GLTU) team. Osmani’s appointment builds on Martin Currie’s equity capability, as it looks to further extend its presence in the institutional and wholesale markets.
Based in Edinburgh, Osmani (pictured), who joined the business on 14 May, reports into John Pickard, Head of Investment.
Osmani has taken over from industry veteran, Tom Walker, who has stepped down as team head as part of a considered succession plan. Walker and Osmani will work together during a transitional period, which will involve the gradual handover of Tom’s key responsibilities.
With over 20 years’ experience, Osmani brings a depth of knowledge and relevant skills to the role. He joins from BlackRock where, during his ten years at the company, he played a key part in building their successful European equity franchise. He held a number of senior roles there, including Head of European Research, with responsibility for a 23-strong team of analysts. In this role, he developed and implemented a fundamental research platform, demonstrating his strong understanding of equity research.
Osmani was also responsible for managing a number of pan-European equity funds at BlackRock, with a specific focus on managing the team’s unconstrained, high conviction, long term portfolios, driven by fundamental research.
Prior to this, Osmani managed equity portfolios at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), and was a specialist sector analyst at Commerzbank Securities, UBS Warburg and Credit Lyonnais.
John Pickard, Head of Investment at Martin Currie, says: “Zehrid is an outstanding appointment. With such a well-established career in equity investment, he brings experience in high conviction portfolio construction, team leadership and business development. He is the perfect fit with our investment philosophy and our ambition to accelerate the growth in our assets under management. It’s great to welcome Zehrid to the team.”
Osmani says: “I was able to relate to Martin Currie’s investment philosophy and their differentiated, active approach. I have a strong track record of managing unconstrained concentrated strategies, which aligns itself perfectly to the Martin Currie team’s belief in high conviction equity portfolios, based on fundamental proprietary research analysis.”
“And as the flagship international active equity specialist within the Legg Mason group, there are also exciting opportunities for Martin Currie to leverage the capability of one of the world’s largest asset management firms and grow assets. I’m delighted to be joining a firm with a dynamic and innovative culture led by an outstanding management team, and an excellent team of investment professionals. I look forward to working with the team and driving the GLTU capability forward.”
Tom Walker at Martin Currie says: “I am very pleased that we have appointed a strong and experienced equity investor, with proven leadership skills to work with our talented GLTU team. This demonstrates our commitment to the ongoing success of this investment capability.”
“I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to lead and shape a great team and will work with Zehrid to implement the next phase of growth in our GLTU strategy.”
