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Premier Merges Funds, Promotes New CIO As Jennings Resigns
Sandra Kilhof
12 November 2013
London-headquartered has promoted
Neil Birrell to the position of chief investment officer, as the current CIO
and head of global equities, Mike Jennings, leaves the firm to pursue other opportunities. The Premier Global Strategic Growth Fund, co-managed by Mike
Jennings and Jake Robbins, will now be managed solely by Jake Robbins, who
joined Premier in 2011 from Investec Asset Management. In addition to his new
role as CIO, Neil Birrell will continue as manager of the Premier Diversified
Fund, having joined the firm in January 2013. Birrell has over 25 years of
investment experience including serving in the role as CIO at Framlington Asset
Management. Premier also announced that it will merge its China
Enterprise Fund, the Global Strategic Growth Fund and its Global Alpha Growth
Fund, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. The funds respectively
had £8.7 million (about $13.9 million), £56.2 million and £18.4 million in
assets as at 31 October 2013. The new global equity fund will have critical mass and a
focused portfolio of global equities, including emerging markets and the
greater China
region, managed by Jake Robbins, the firm said. “We are committed to building our global equity proposition,
as we believe this is one of the exciting areas for our clients in the future.
The proposed creation of a new, larger Premier global equity fund is designed
to help us ensure we are well placed to deliver the best possible investment value
to clients in this area,” explained chief executive Mike O’Shea. As at 31 July 2013 Premier Asset Management had £2.3 billion
($3.68 billion) in assets under management.