London 16 April 2008 – Fidelity International today unveils the new, expanded line-up for the
MultiManager investment team led by Geraldine Stewart, Head of Investment - MultiManager.
Through a combination of external hires and internal promotions, Ms Stewart has already brought the team back up to its original strength of 12 and is now expanding that number to up to 16, most of whom will be in place by the end of August this year.
Richard Skelt, Head of Multi-Asset Investment in Fidelity’s Investment Solutions Group, will continue to work closely with the MultiManager business. The new MultiManager team responsibilities are as follows:
- UK equities: Geraldine Stewart – 15 years investment experience, including five years as Fidelity Head of European Equity Research. Ms Stewart will be supported by Stefano D'Agostino, a Cass Business School graduate who joined Fidelity in 2007.
- European equities: Dermott Whelan – joined from Morgan Stanley and brings 12 years of investment experience.
- Fixed Income: Eugene Philalithis – previously at Russell Investments, he has 11 years investment experience.
- Asian and Emerging Markets equities: Ayesha Akbar – joins in June 2008 from Barclays Wealth, where she focused principally on manager research and portfolio management in Asian and Emerging Equities. Ayesha has nine years’ investment experience.
- US equities and commodities: Nieves Benito – has been with Fidelity for 11 years and has a total of 14 years’ investment experience.
- Japan equities: Steve Gibson – joined Fidelity MultiManager in 2005 as a quantitative analyst, assuming his current role in July 2007.
In addition, three business school graduates with MBAs have been hired to join the MultiManager research team.
Ms Stewart will take on oversight responsibility for the portfolio management of the Fidelity MultiManager Growth, Fidelity MultiManager Distribution and Fidelity MultiManager Income funds, as well as direct responsibility for the Fidelity MultiManager Special Situations and the Fidelity MultiManager Equity Income funds.
Richard Skelt will continue to have day-to-day involvement in the MultiManager investment team, advising on asset allocation and overseeing the more complex multi-asset funds. He will also continue to run his fettered portfolios, including Fidelity WealthBuilder and the Retirement range of target funds.
Geraldine Stewart comments: “Richard Skelt and I have spent the past six months building what we consider to be a first-rate MultiManager team. With Ayesha Akbar adding her experience to the team from June, we’re on track to have a full complement of up to 16 investment professionals by the end of August. Together, we will have a combined investment experience of more than 100 years.
“While some of the team will be new names to the UK retail market, they bring considerable experience and strong performance records. Dermott Whelan, for example, delivered market-beating returns on European equities for many years while at Morgan Stanley, while Eugene Philalithis was responsible for $8 billion of fixed income assets during his time at Russell Investments.”
Simon Ellis, Managing Director of Fidelity’s MultiManager Business, adds: “Geraldine has an excellent record as a leader of investment teams, as well as a portfolio manager in her own right. Our plans to build the team out by developing our own talent, in addition to this experienced group, underline Fidelity's commitment to excellence in multi-management.”
FIL Limited (“FIL”) and its subsidiary companies serve the major markets of the world by providing investment products and services to individuals and institutional investors outside the US. FIL Limited manages a total of £150.9 billion of assets*.
Notes to editors:
* Source: Fidelity as at 31.12.07
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