(May 7, 2014) — The former head of distribution for Europe and the Middle East at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) has joined one of the world’s largest hedge funds, aiCIO has learned.
Hugh Cutler started at Och Ziff this month as head of European investor relations, according to sources close to the matter. He quit LGIM, one of the UK’s largest insurance-backed investment managers, last month after a five-year tenure. Previously he had spent nine years at Barclays Global Investors—departing around the time of its acquisition by BlackRock—but began his career as an consultant and actuary at Towers Perrin.
This month, Och Ziff announced its estimated assets under management had grown from $35 billion in March 2013 to $43.5 billion at May 1, 2014. This reflected year-to-date capital net inflows of approximately $3.6 billion and performance-related depreciation of $290.5 million. In contrast, LGIM revealed today that its UK assets under management had reached £462.6 billion by the end of March this year.
Chairman and CEO Daniel Och said the company was pleased with its progress in 2014 towards its “strategic objective of becoming a multi-product, alternative asset manager,” adding :“Our year-to-date net inflows through May 1st are the highest for this period that we have had since going public in 2007, and are reflective of the growing diversification of our platforms.”
The inflows came despite a tough time for the hedge fund manager. On March 18, the firm’s stock slipped 6% in the first hour of trading after an admission it was under scrutiny by two US government agencies for possible breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related laws prohibiting public US companies from bribing overseas officials. In just two days, however, it has recovered the majority of those losses. Trading under the ticker symbol OZM, by close on March 20 the firm had regained all but 2% of its pre-disclosure value.
However, the firm faces stiff competition. 2013 was the most prolific year for hedge fund manager launches in the UK to date, with 38 new groups setting up business, data published today by Preqin showed.
Och Ziff had not returned calls for comment by the time of going to press.
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