London-based investment house RWC Partners has appointed Mike Corcell to launch a new US long/short equity fund.

Mr Corcell was most recently with SAC Investment Management, working for Steve Cohen. Prior to this he worked at Threadneedle between 2003 and 2008, during which time he launched and managed the firm’s American Crescendo fund. The American Crescendo fund grew to $700 million and generated an annualised net return of 19.1 per cent during Mr Corcell's tenure; the new RWC fund will be managed along the same lines, taking both long and short positions on US stocks.

The new fund is expected to launch in the third quarter of this year and Mr Corcell will be recruiting a full team to work with him, RWC Partners said in a statement.

RWC Partners, which currently has $2.3 billion under management, runs a range of absolute return strategies, along with institutional mandates and UCITS III funds.