People Moves

BDO Stoy Hayward Bolsters Alternatives Investment Team

Tariq Sami 7 October 2008

BDO Stoy Hayward Bolsters Alternatives Investment Team

UK-based BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management has added to its asset management division with three senior appointments at its alternative investment team. Two hedge fund analysts, Dev Jadeja and Rahul Saito, join John Smutniak who gives up his role as a portfolio manager at Lynross Capital Management.

Mr Smutniak has also worked as a financial journalist at The Economist for four years. Both Mr Jadeja and Mr Saito have a background in the funds sector.

BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management says that despite the downturn, it continues to expand.

The firm says its hedge funds have outperformed market averages. According to the Dow Jones AIG Index, BDO’s Fitzwilliam Commodity Plus Fund is estimated to have lost only one per cent compared to an 11.5 per cent average fall in the commodity markets. The investment management company is one of the fastest growing segments of its parent, BDO Stoy Hayward, which is the UK division of the accountancy giant BDO International.

The investment management arm, founded in 1997 as Fitzwilliam Research, is split into three divisions. The internal asset management division, led by Shaun Port, now grows to being a team of sixteen. It compliments separate wealth management and pensions departments.

Commenting on why it was continuing to hire, a spokesman told Wealthbriefing that it was planning for the long-term:  “Our strategy focuses on active managers, who have long term track records in commodity market cycles. We target a wide range of commodities - instead of ones most commonly traded. It is this strategy that has enabled us to preserve capital in extremely volatile markets.”

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