Reporting to chief investment officer Nancy Curtin, Alster will lead a centralised team of investment professionals dedicated to fundamental equity research in support of the firm’s investment managers.
Alster joins Close Brothers as head of research after leaving his previous company, AllianceBernstein, last spring. Here he had managed the global industrials component of a global growth fund, for which he was also lead the analyst team.
Commenting on the hire, Curtain said, “The global economy is picking up and we believe that security selection will be a key driver of return performance. We take a global perspective on investment opportunities and we believe in deep fundamental research.”
She added that it is more important than ever for the company to have a strong research team to identify the most rewarding investment opportunities for its clients.
A spokesperson was unable to confirm whether or not Alster's role is a brand new position or whether he is a replacement for an existing head of research.
Just last week, Close Brothers announced the hire of Seton Craven, who joined the bespoke investment team as investment director on 6 January.
At the time Robert Alster left AllianceBernstein, the company was starting to globalize its portfolio construction process of global research growth and international research growth and combined the teams to more fully leverage its insights and expertise. The team is now run by Dan Roarty and Tassos Stassopoulos. In connection with these changes last year, Robert Alster left the firm, AllianceBerstein said.
