Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO) has appointed Erik Bernhardt as an Associate Director in the firm’s London office.
Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company (PAAMCO) has appointed Erik Bernhardt as an Associate Director in the firm’s London office.
Bernhardt will assume responsibility for the evaluation of European long/short credit managers as well as those focused on emerging markets. He will also assist in servicing PAAMCO’s existing European client base.
Stephen Oxley, Partner of PAAMCO and Managing Director of PAAMCO Europe, said: ‘Erik’s understanding of the needs of institutional investors and breadth of manager research experience will be invaluable in the next stage of the company’s development in Europe.’
‘As we celebrate the Company’s second anniversary in Europe and in addition to increasing the company’s manager research capability, we are also delighted to report that the company has expanded its capital base and has refined and improved its due diligence and client reporting processes.
‘We also continue to develop our client service capabilities to address investor needs and have created a pooled vehicle which is USD, Sterling and Euro denominated for investors requiring a moderate multi-strategy product. Our strategy of focusing on large institutional investors has been successful and we now have significant pension fund and insurance company clients in the UK, Netherlands and Germany’.
Speaking about his new role, Bernhardt adds: ‘I am excited about joining Stephen and the team in Europe. In a market with an increasing breadth of strategies, especially in the credit space, and an ever greater number of new managers starting up, manager research continues to remain a priority for PAAMCO. We continue to look for high quality managers who can make money and actively manage risk.’
Bernhardt transfers to London from PAAMCO’s head office in Irvine, California where he spent almost three years. In addition to his current responsibilities, he has also focused on the equity market neutral space as well as the research and development of risk and performance attribution tools on both a portfolio and hedge fund level.
Prior to joining PAAMCO, Bernhardt was a Senior Consulting Associate at Cambridge Associates where he conducted in-depth studies on asset allocation and portfolio construction in addition to manager research.
He graduated with the highest honours from Principia College in St Louis and has a BA in Business Administration and History and an MBA from the Anderson School of Business at the University of California in Los Angeles.
As at December 2005 PAAMCO’s assets under management were USD 7.4 billion of which approximately USD 500 million is from European clients.
PAAMCO is registered with the SEC and the CFTC, and PAAMCO Europe is registered with the FSA.
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