Toscafund Asset Management, Martin Hughes’ long-running equity-focused hedge fund, has appointed Aberdeen Asset Management co-founder Martin Gilbert (pictured) as chairman.
Veteran money manager Gilbert, who co-founded Aberdeen in 1983, is currently chairman of Aberdeen Standard Investments, and vice-chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen. He recently announced his intention to step down from his directorship at Standard Life Aberdeen.
He takes up the new position of Toscafund chairman with immediate effect, and will also join the board of Old Oak Holdings, Toscafund’s parent company.
Hughes, a well-known and high-profile figure within the hedge fund industry, launched Toscafund in 2000, having earlier worked at US hedge fund Tiger Management.
Toscafund now manages more than USD3 billion in assets, spanning a range of strategies including global long/short equity, activist, long-only equity, commercial real estate and bespoke private equity.
“The two Martins have known each other for many years and managed their respective businesses through good and difficult times,” Toscafund said in a client note seen by Hedgeweek on Monday.
“They share a common view that bespoke global fund management companies offer the best opportunities for clients seeking superior returns. We are all looking forward to benefiting from Martin Gilbert’s guidance and collaborating on future opportunities.”
The Tosca Micro Cap UCITS Fund, which trades UK micro-cap names, lost almost 25 per cent last month during the unprecedented market turmoil, with several of the firm’s larger funds also understood to have suffered heavy monthly losses.
Earlier in April, the firm overhauled Tosca Mid Cap Fund, its activist-focused fund launched in 2008 to invest in publicly-listed and private-held midcap companies, restructuring the strategy’s less liquid positions into a separate side-pocket.
It is understood that by splitting off certain unquoted investments into a separate illiquid portfolio – including private healthcare provider Circle and challenger bank Atom, which were difficult to value during market volatility – the fund was then able to draw fresh capital from new investors.
