New York-based commodities trading advisor Quest Partners has appointed Nigel Ekern as its President.  Ekern joins Quest with over 13 years experience managing alternative investment firms and will oversee operations and business development.   “This is an exciting time for Quest given the addition of Nigel to the senior management team," says Quest’s CIO and founder Nigol Koulajian. "Nigel brings to Quest his broad experience and technical skills that deepen the senior management pool and we are very optimistic about the growth of Quest in the coming years.”   Prior to joining Quest, Ekern was the COO and co‐founder of Noroton Capital Management LLC, a Connecticut‐based hedge fund. Previously, he practiced law with Debevoise & Plimpton before becoming an investment banker and then a partner with an alternative investment advisor. Ekern holds a JD‐MBA degree from New York University and an AB from Dartmouth College.

Multi-family office MaxCap Partners has appointed award winning investment experts, Michel Piette and Ittan Ali as investment managers.   Piette and Ali will be co-managing the investment team, with Piette focusing primarily on hedge funds and commodities and Ali taking greater responsibility for equities.   “MaxCap was founded four years ago to meet the investment needs of the ultra high net worth families dissatisfied with the offerings of traditional private banks and wealth managers," says Mohammad Syed (pictured), MaxCap CEO. "Our investment team is formed of experts with deep, specialist knowledge to carefully strategise and manage clients’ investments. We hire

Alternative asset management firm Equinox Fund Management has appointed David P DeMuth, to the Executive Committee of The Frontier Fund, its public managed futures fund. The Frontier Fund is a family of funds available to retail investors, which carries a low minimum investment requirement (USD1,000 in most states) and features daily liquidity.   DeMuth replaces Ajay Dravid, PhD, who served on the Executive Committee from March 2009 through December 2010 and was recently named Director of Risk Management at Solon Capital, LLC, an affiliate of Equinox. DeMuth has many years of experience as a senior finance and operations professional. He

Guernsey law firm Collas Day has seen in the New Year with three senior appointments across the firm. Paul Wilkes, a former Senior Associate within the Commercial department who joined the firm in 2007 from another law firm in Guernsey, having previously worked at Mallesons Stephen Jacques in Australia, has been appointed as a Group Partner from the start of January. The focus of his practice is investment funds and banking. He regularly speaks on company law and regulatory matters locally and in London.   In the Property Department, Advocate Paul Nettleship, who has been with Collas Day since 2002 after

Robert Klap has joined Platinum Equity as a principal based in London, where he will assist the firm’s investor relations, capital raising and deal origination programs. Most recently, Klap was an executive at UBS in London, responsible for managing private equity fund investments in the bank’s wealth management group. Previously, he was a private equity portfolio manager at Shell Asset Management Company and a fund manager at Mn Services, each of which are institutional investors in Platinum’s private equity funds. "I am delighted that Robert is joining Platinum Equity," says Tom Gores (pictured), chairman and CEO of the firm. "We

Dublin-based alternative investment manager Abbey Capital has appointed David McCarthy as a non-executive director. McCarthy is a prominent figure in the alternative investment business with a distinguished track record of investment management since 1977. He has extensive experience in the managed futures industry and is also a respected educator and commentator on the industry.   Most recently McCarthy served as Chief Investment Officer of Absolute Return Strategies with Sciens Capital Management in New York.  In 2002, he co-founded Martello Investment Management, a specialist fund of funds and advisory firm concentrating on absolute return hedge fund strategies including global macro and

Eze Castle Integration has expanded its West Coast team with the addition of Regional Service Director Michael (Mike) Hartig (pictured) and Technology Director Zachary (Zach) Lehman. Both Hartig and Lehman previously served as hedge fund senior technology officers and bring extensive technology and client service expertise to the company. As service director of West Coast operations, Hartig will build upon the strong growth and success of Eze Castle’s Los Angeles and San Francisco operations to extend the company’s reach further within California and the West Coast region. In the role of technology director, Lehman’s primary focus is serving as a

Oddo & Cie’s Executive Committee has appointed Nicolas Wirz (pictured) as Managing Director of Oddo Securities. Wirz replaces Charles-Henri de Trédern, Managing Partner of Oddo & Cie, who is taking over as Head of the Group’s Human Resources department.   As a member of the Executive Committee, Nicolas Wirz will supervise all of Oddo Securities’ activities: equity trading, bond trading, equity research and credit research.     Wirz brings has 25 years of experience in financial markets, notably at Morgan Stanley where, from 1995 to 2006, he was Managing Director Equity for continental Europe and Managing Director of Morgan Stanley International