Polar Capital has said it spied liquidity and cost benefits from shifting trading responsibilities from investment teams to a dedicated function.
Alex Jenkins (pictured) will become its first head of trading joining from Highbridge Capital where she was head of European trading. Jenkins was previously an equity sales trader at both Cantor Fitzgerald and Knight Capital.
Polar chief executive Gavin Rochussen described her as an “experienced and accomplished” trader in a press release announcing her appointment. “Alex’s appointment is strategic for us; managing liquidity and minimising transaction costs are high priorities for Polar Capital.”
A spokesperson told Portfolio Adviser investment teams had previously carried out their own trading functions but the growth of the company and “ambitious plans for further growth” meant it was now able to offer a full-time in-house service.
Polar Capital’s assets under management were £14.2bn at the end of December, down from £14.3bn over Q4 2019 thanks to client redemptions.
Willis Owen head of personal investing Adrian Lowcock thought a head of trading role could be particularly beneficial for specialist funds as the trading team “can really build relationships and knowledge of those areas of the markets”.
“Polar Capital are a largish fund manager but I don’t think they are alone to make the change at this stage,” Lowcock added. “Each asset manager group and indeed each individual fund managers will have different trading demands and therefore the timing of introducing a head trader to an asset manager will vary quite significantly.”
Liontrust, which now has £19.1bn thanks to its Neptune acquisition, has had a head of trading since launch in 1995 and Premier and Miton both had dedicated people heading up trading ahead of their £11.1bn merger.
Woodford Investment Management also had a head of trading from the outset with Grant Wentzell taking on the position from the fund boutique’s launch in 2014 to its wind-down.
