Based in Hong Kong, he will work closely with Coutts’ three chief investment officers, Alan Higgins in the UK, Gary Dugan for Asia & Middle East, and Norman Villamin for Europe, to determine asset class views.
He reports to Gayle Schumacher, managing director and head of investment office, while also reporting locally to Dugan.
McFarland previously worked at Emirates NBD, where he was chief investment strategist and head of the wealth management investment strategy unit from 2010.
Prior to this, he held a number of chief economist roles in Asia with Santander and Swiss Re. More recently, he worked for NAEEM, managing macro research at a Dubai-based hedge fund.
Schumacher said the appointment will “further build on the strength of our investment proposition and allow us to be both truly global and connected in our investment approach.”
Coutts has seen a number of high profile departures in recent months, including global head of tax and wealth structuring, Steve Griffiths, to JP Morgan Private Bank, and a number of client partners to Arbuthnot Latham.
The big macro news today is that China’s GDP growth is set to slow to 7% by year end.
