Schroders has made its head of institutional business, Miles O’Connor, the new CEO of NewFinance Capital, the firm’s USD4.5billion hedge fund division, reported Financial
Schroders has made its head of institutional business, Miles O’Connor, the new CEO of NewFinance Capital, the firm’s USD4.5billion hedge fund division, reported Financial News this week. O’Connor succeeds Marc Romano who decided to leave the role which he’d held for two years for personal reasons. NewFinance was acquired by Schroders in February 2006 and currently employs 19 investment professionals. As a fund of hedge fund manager it leverages a range of strategies to offer tailored solutions to clients by way of managed accounts. Its dedicated UCITS platform, Schroder GAIA, gives investors the opportunity to invest in regulated onshore hedge fund strategies. Managers on the platform include CQS, Sloane Robinson and Egerton. David Mooney, NFC head of commodity products, and Benjamin Moute, who has been appointed head of investment, will both report to O’Connor. Commenting on his new role O’Connor said he would retain his existing distribution responsibilities adding: “I believe NFC can benefit from greater access to the resources of our global distribution team and I want to help that process along.” He believes that “mainstream investors will increasingly want to access hedge fund products” and thinks Schroders is providing a kite mark of quality for NFC products.