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Turcan Connell announces Investment Advisory Board

Turcan Connell announces the launch of its new Investment Advisory Board (IAB).  The firm has appointed five very highly experienced investment industry figures to the Board, each of whom will work on a non-executive basis, to help develop the asset management element of the business over the next few years. 

Working with high net worth individuals, Turcan Connell differentiates itself from other players in the wealth management industry by integrating investment management with legal, tax and financial planning services. This joined up approach has particular relevance for investors in the current fast-moving environment with an increasingly complex tax climate.

The primary objective of the IAB is to assist Turcan Connell in setting investment strategy working closely with Turcan Connell Chief Investment Officer Haig Bathgate. The five members of the Board will also provide valuable, complementary perspectives on how the investment world is evolving and pinpoint key industry trends in close liaison with Head of Asset Management Alex Montgomery to set the direction for the development of the business.

This announcement comes at a time when Turcan Connell’s asset management business and asset class coverage are at a scale and level of complexity where the breadth of input from a number of industry experts is now appropriate. For the past six years, Turcan Connell has benefited from the input of respected industry figure Hamish Buchan who has acted as a non-executive adviser. 

Appointments include: -

Lesley Knox: Knox, who will chair the IAB, is the Chair of the Alliance Trust and is highly regarded in the industry, having recently been listed as one of the 10 most powerful investment trust directors in the UK by Citywire.

Jan Luthman: Luthman will provide input on UK equities based on his extensive experience as a working fund manager.  Having graduated in Civil Engineering, he is now Co Manager of the CF Walker Crips UK Growth, Equity Income, UK High Alpha and Corporate Bond funds.

Karim Abdel-Motaal: Abdel-Motaal with Turtelboom manages a range of hedge and other emerging markets funds for GLG Partners.  Prior roles have included Global Co-Head of Emerging Markets at Morgan Stanley, Global Head of Emerging Local Markets Research at JP Morgan where he developed a suite of models that have since become indices that benchmark the asset class, and Portfolio Manager at Tudor Capital. Abdel-Motaal has a PhD in Economics from Harvard University.

Bart Turtelboom: Turtelboom manages a range of hedge and other emerging markets funds with Abdel-Motaal for GLG Partners. Formerly Global Co-Head of Emerging Markets at Morgan Stanley, Emerging Markets Portfolio Manager at Vega Asset Management and Director of Deutsche Bank with responsibility for the firm’s largest emerging market clients. Turtelboom was an economist with the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC and has a PhD in Economics from Columbia University.

Michael Thomas: Thomas will provide input as an Asian Market Specialist and one of the most well known and successful Japanese equity investors outside Japan. Thomas was initially with Vickers da Costa and subsequently Martin Currie. He retired from Martin Currie as head of their Japan team after a career which saw him launch their first absolute return hedge fund in 2000 – a fund which has since become a stable of funds.

Haig Bathgate, Chief Investment Officer at Turcan Connell says: “These appointments represent an exciting move forward for Turcan Connell’s asset management business and I look forward to working with the Board and benefiting from their extensive experience in the formulation of our investment strategy. They will also provide oversight to Turcan Connell’s Partners on the functioning and investment performance of our Asset Management Group. To have this calibre of industry experts joining our Board is a significant endorsement for our business which, along with the investment markets generally, has grown in complexity over recent years.”

Lesley Knox, Chair of the Alliance Trust says: “I am looking forward to chairing the IAB; its members combine depth of experience and a wide range of investment perspectives which will help the further development of Turcan Connell's asset management business.”

Turcan Connell was recently featured in the top 100 law firms by LSN Research and is ranked highly by Chambers and Legal 500. It was named 2009 Adviser of the Year for Scotland & Northern Ireland by New Model Adviser Magazine and was shortlisted at the 2009 STEP Awards for its flagship wealth management service, Turcan Connell Family Office. Alex Montgomery was also listed in Spears’ ‘50 best high net worth wealth managers in Britain’ earlier this year.

This story has been covered in The Scotsman, The Herald, The Journal, Citywire, The Wealth Net* and Hedge Funds Review. Please click on any of these titles to view the respective articles.

* Please note that a subscription is required to view content on The Wealth Net.com.

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