People
International law firm Mourant Ozannes has boosted its highly-ranked Cayman investment funds team with the recruitment of Simon Palmer, Robert Duggan and Caroline Spottiswoode.
Palmer is a leading practitioner in the field of offshore investment funds, with over 14 years’ experience of Cayman Islands law. He joins Mourant Ozannes as a Partner from Maples and Calder, where he was a Partner for seven years. Simon has extensive experience of corporate and commercial law. His practice focuses on hedge funds, private equity funds and funds of funds (including distressed funds, fund restructuring and corporate governance issues), asset and structured financing and capital
Credit Suisse has appointed Dale Westhoff as Global Head of Structured Products Research, based in New York. Westhoff brings significant experience and will focus on delivering the Bank’s exceptional research in mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and other structured products to clients.
Structured Products is one of Credit Suisse’s best performing businesses, continuing to garner significant market share and top ratings from clients. Westhoff will help strengthen this leadership position in his role as Global Head of Structured Products Research. He will continue to develop the Bank’s market-leading suite of structured product analytics, with a particular emphasis on Credit Suisse’s highly
Global hedge fund investment specialist Financial Risk Management (FRM) has appointed Anthony Simpson as co-head of global business development, based in London.
In this new role, Simpson will lead FRM’s client development activities globally, partnering with Akio Shimazu, who is responsible for FRM’s business in Japan and Korea. Simpson will also join FRM’s Executive Committee.
Previously, Simpson was co-head of global business development for Ramius, the alternative investment management business of Cowen Group. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade with Merrill Lynch in London, holding a number of senior business development roles including managing director of the
With its business expanding rapidly, emerging markets debt specialist Finisterre Capital has appointed Ursula Newman as in-house General Counsel, to replace the firm’s external legal counsel.
Ursula joined Finisterre from Altima Partners LLP, where she worked as General Counsel. Prior to that she was employed at HSBC and Deutsche Bank where she worked on EM transactions. Ursula started her career at Macfarlanes, a leading corporate and commercial law firm.
Meanwhile, Frode Foss-Skiftesvik, a founding partner in Finisterre and the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, has relocated to the London head office. He was previously based in Finisterre’s US office in
The Guernsey and Jersey governments have announced that the current British Ambassador to Bulgaria, Steve Williams, will be heading up the islands’ new joint office in Brussels.
Williams will take on the role of Director of European Affairs at the Channel Islands’ Brussels Office on Monday 4 April 2011. He will be Guernsey and Jersey’s senior representative in Brussels, leading efforts to develop the islands’ influence, while advising the respective governments on European and international matters.
Guernsey’s Chief Minister, Lyndon Trott, says: "I am delighted with the appointment of our new Director. His experience and track record are of an
Heptagon Capital, a USD3.3bn specialist asset management business set up in 2005 by former Morgan Stanley executives, has made two new senior hires – Alexander Gunz joins as a fund manager in the Asset Management division while Sebastian Hybbinette joins as vice president within the ultra high net worth advisory group, focusing on Scandinavia.
Gunz started his career in 1997 at Hoare Govett as an analyst before moving on to Credit Suisse where he became a top-ranked analyst in European telecoms from 2001-2004. He then became a senior salesperson at JP Morgan covering UK and European long-only and hedge-fund accounts
Alternative asset management company Man Group has hired Miriam Tai as Head of US Consultant Relations. Tai, who is responsible for advising on the full range of Man’s products and services to the US investment consultant community, will be based in Man’s New York office and reports to Raffaele Costa, Managing Director and Head of Sales for North America and Europe.
Tai joins Man from BlackRock where she was the Director of Global Consultant Relations and responsible for developing and managing the firm’s relationships with strategic investment consultants. Her appointment underscores Man’s strategic commitment to the US institutional market as a top
BNY Mellon Alternative Investment Services (AIS) has named Alan Flanagan as head of global product management. He will continue to be based in Dublin and reports to Brian Ruane, BNY Mellon AIS chief executive officer.
"The alternatives industry will see continued progress in 2011 and will look to trusted providers like BNY Mellon to service the array of complex new funds, structures and strategies being introduced," says Ruane. "In his new role, Alan will only sharpen our ability to deliver timely, innovative products – such as our asset validation-price verification service – that help fund managers satisfy today’s investor audience.
Asset Control has opened an office in Zurich, Switzerland and hired a new senior sales executive for Europe, Patrick Odoni. The financial data management solutions provider is also expanding its professional services and sales staff in Zurich to meet growing customer demand in the region.
After completing his master’s degree in finance at the University of St. Gallen in 1998, Odoni was a consultant at SunGard in Zurich and New York focusing on large-scale trading and risk management projects. He then returned to Switzerland to become managing partner at talkfinance, which specialised in risk and return measurement services for asset
Thames River has strengthened its property team with the appointment of Raymond Lahaut as manager of the Longstone long/short real estate equity fund.
Since its launch in November 2007, Longstone has grown by 23.65% (figures from 30.11.07 to 31.12.10, for euro share class), a period in which the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund Index rose by only 3.7% and EPRA, an index of European listed real estate securities, fell by 32.4%.
Lahaut has been managing portfolios of property securities since 1999, first with Insinger de Beaufort and later at Ohra Asset Management (part of the
