London-based TCF Fund Managers has appointed financial analysis specialist Dr Jeremy Bezant to its investment committee.

Dr Bezant - who achieved his PhD through combining molecular genetic screening with complex statistical techniques - has worked as a stockbroker in Australia for the front office COO for Aviva Investors.

Recently, Dr Bezant co-founded RFQ-hub, which is a bi-lateral price discovery and trading platform for listed and over the counter derivatives.

“Jez’s deep practical and mathematical understanding of investment processes and product construction will be of real value in the due diligence and analysis that we perform on the underlying passive instruments in our portfolios,” said Gary Mairs, chairman of the TCF Investment Committee, in a statement. 

Mairs spoke of TCF’s screening process of underlying passive instruments before inclusion in portfolios or funds. “Counterparty risk, collateralisation, replication technique and lending arrangements are just some of the things that need to be taken into account to ensure that you have a low cost, safe product.”

The investment committee provides oversight to the multi-asset investment process, which is applied to all TCF Fund Management investment funds.