Adrian Lee & Partners Continues Build Out

Currency manager Adrian Lee & Partners has unveiled two senior appointments in London and Sydney with the hiring or Dr Rabia Shirazi and Danica Hampton. The firm says the hires are in response to increasing demand from institutional investors for currency management.

Shirazi has been named senior partner and global head of business development. Based in London she joins from Insight Investment, where she worked for nine years, most latterly as head of portfolio management, currency solutions. Shirazi moved to Insight as part of that firm’s merger with Pareto Investment Management, where she worked for eight years, latterly in client portfolio management.

Hampton joins in Sydney as APAC head of business development and was most recently head of investment specialists at Citi in Sydney. Prior to this she worked for just over a year at Natixis Global Asset Management as director in institutional sales, having joined from NAB, where she worked for almost 10 years, initially at BNZ, and then at NAB in Sydney as head of currently overlay and solution sales. She started her career as a currency analyst with spells at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 4Cast and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Earlier this year Adrian Lee made two appointments in the US, Scott Glickman and Robert Zeidman, as co-heads of business development for North America. The firm says it is in the process of employing a business development leader for EMEA.

“We are seeing a major increase in demand from institutional investors who want to address their currency risk while generating returns through active currency management,” says Adrian Lee, president and CIO of the firm. “In today’s challenging macroeconomic and market conditions, the additional alpha generated through currencies strategies has become very attractive, even needed. Currency alpha is quite uncorrelated with assets markets and it requires no additional capital.

“This is a very exciting time for our business, and we are delighted to have people of Rabia and Danica’s calibre join our team,” he continues. “Their impressive experience will be tremendously helpful in tailoring our offerings to the needs of institutional investors and in expanding our market coverage.”

The re-emergence of sustained currency volatility has heightened the focus on hedging amongst institutions and corporates, and provided opportunities for macro funds, This is reflected at Adrian Lee with the firm, which now manages over $16 billion of assets, saying its Global Macro Alpha Strategy is up 19% year-to-date.

“I believe that at the current time, amid significant macroeconomic and geopolitical changes, more and more investors will come to realise the importance of currency management solutions for their international portfolios,” says Shirazi. “I’m very much looking forward to working with the team to bring AL&P’s solutions to institutional clients and consultants.”

Hampton adds, “Active currency management has consistently enhanced investment outcomes for institutional investors and should be part of every investor’s toolbox. I’m convinced that AL&P’s thoughtful approach to currency management, innovative offerings and rock-solid performance track record will prove attractive for a broad APAC client base.”