Expansion continues with the appointment of industry experts in hedge funds, private equity and operational due diligence.
As part of ongoing efforts to deepen its global capabilities and resources in alternative investments, Russell Investments has announced three new global hires in alternatives.
At Russell’s Australian Investment Summit earlier this month, director of alternative investments Australasia, Nicole Connolly announced a three year initiative to make 60 specialist alternatives recruitments to support expected demand for alternative investments in the coming years.
As part of this initiative, Russell Investments has hired Egidio (Ed) Robertiello as managing director of alternative strategies, with a focus on hedge funds; Stephan Breban as director of private equity; and Samuel Baughn as director of operational due diligence. This brings the total number of dedicated alternatives hires this year to 12, as Russell works to meet increasing demands from institutional investors for alternative investing expertise, advice and solutions.
- Robertiello, who is based in Russell’s New York office, will be responsible for developing and implementing Russell’s hedge fund capabilities on a global scale. He most recently was managing director and head of hedge fund solutions for Credit Suisse Group in New York. Previously, he worked as senior managing director, investments and research at Asset Alliance Corp. and as a managing director at The Blackstone Group, where he created and led the Manager Identification and Selection team for the company’s $12 billion fund of hedge fund affiliate Blackstone Alternative Asset Management (BAAM). Prior to The Blackstone Group, Robertiello managed retirement assets for RJR Nabisco, Inc. as vice president of pension and benefit investments.
- As director of private equity, London-based Breban will be responsible for further developing Russell’s private equity advice expertise accessible to investors globally. Before joining Russell, he served as the founder and managing director of City Capital Partners in London, a firm providing independent advice to private equity investors, and as a partner at Watson Wyatt (now Towers Watson).
- Baughn, also based in New York, will lead Russell’s operational due diligence function across the spectrum of alternative investment strategies. Most recently Baughn served as principal, chief operating officer and chief financial officer for ETFPortfolio Management, LLC in New York. In this role he was responsible for managing all aspects of the firm’s operations, including infrastructure build-out, compliance program monitoring and oversight of operations and reporting. Prior, he was Co-Head of Operational Due Diligence at Société Générale Asset Management, Inc., where he developed the firm’s operational due diligence process for investments located in North America, EMEA, Australia and Asia.
“We are committed to offering greater flexibility to clients in how they interact with Russell so that we can offer investment solutions as well as support our consulting and fiduciary outsourced clients on a global scale,” said Victor Leverett, managing director of Russell’s global alternative investments team.
“Ed, Stephan and Samuel all have a wealth of experience in alternatives, and I am very pleased that they have joined Russell and will be a part of the future growth of our global alternative investment business.”
In June, Russell released its 2010 Global Survey on Alternative Investing, documenting the evolving changes in philosophies, policies and attitudes among diverse global institutions that participate in alternatives. The survey found that institutional investors are recommitting to the use of alternative investment strategies and expecting (on average) an increase of over a third (from 14% to 19%) in their allocation to alternatives over the next two to three years.