Morley Fund Management has today appointed Niall Paul as head of equities.
Morley Fund Management has today appointed Niall Paul as head of equities. He will report directly to chief investment officer (CIO) Katherine Garrett-Cox. Previously Niall was head of emerging markets and Asia at Morley.
Katherine Garrett-Cox, chief investment officer at Morley Fund Management, said: “Niall Paul is already a highly respected member of the equities team and has delivered not only a successful investment process but also excellent performance across our emerging markets funds. We want to see that approach replicated across the whole equities department and I believe he has the right skill set to do it.”
Niall has been promoted because of his track record leading Morley’s successful Emerging Markets and Asia team. He has been with the company for seven years (see achievements below) and has strong views on how the fund management industry approaches investment.
Niall takes over from Tim Thomas who has left the company.
Garrett-Cox added: “Across all our asset classes, the investment team has made good progress over the last two years. We have won a number of new equity mandates this year and seen some excellent performances within UK, European, and global funds.
"We have also recently recruited a number of high profile and highly regarded UK equity fund managers. But there is always more to do and I am confident Niall has the right qualities to lead the team in the next stage of its development."
As head of equities at Morley, Niall will oversee more than Ł34bn of Morley’s Ł156.8 billion assets under management across active UK, European, US, emerging markets, Asian and global equities, including socially responsible investments. He will have overall responsibility for Morley’s equity investment process and performance. Working with Morley’s distribution team, he will also focus on maximising the commercial potential of Morley’s equity products.
Niall Paul, head of equities at Morley Fund Management, said: “I want Morley’s equity products to be among the best available in the market. To do that we need to embrace a fundamental shift in the industry: it is not enough for active fund managers to comfortably hug benchmarks. I want more fund managers investing to win, rather than investing not to lose. Many of Morley’s fund managers’ strongest convictions are winners; we need the confidence to truly back them within the mandates given to us by our clients.
“My immediate priorities include reviewing each team’s progress and performance, looking at how well we are meeting client expectations and making any changes that become immediately apparent and appropriate. We will focus on building a winning team that delivers what our clients want, fund by fund over the long term.”
Niall joined Morley in 1999 after four years with Foreign & Colonial Emerging Markets as a fund manager. He holds a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Liverpool and is an Associate of the UKSIP.
Emerging Market Equities
Under Niall’s stewardship Morley’s emerging markets funds have had award-winning performances in three of the last five years:
- S&P Micropal for 2002 (first place)
- Lipper Fund Awards, Singapore, one and five year performance award 2005, 2006
- Personal Finance Awards 2005, South Africa, one and three years for the European Convergence Fund
- As at July this year the Aviva Emerging Countries Equity Fund is ranked first quartile over one, two, and three years, and second quartile over five years. It has delivered 37% per annum gross return over three years and gross out-performance of 3.36% per annum
- Funds under management in the Emerging Markets and Asia team has grown by over 10 times under Niall’s management.
Niall will continue to manage the Emerging Markets and Asia team until a suitable replacement is found.
Morley employs 44 equity investment professionals (as at 30 June 2006).
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For more information contact:
Strahan Wallis
Corporate Communications
Telephone: 020 7809 8618
Notes to editors:
Morley Fund Management
Morley Fund Management Limited is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage Ł156.8bn from offices around the world as at 30 June 2006.
Morley’s asset classes can be broken down to:
- Ł54.7bn invested in equities, with Ł20bn of that invested in passive and quant equities
- Ł26.5bn invested in property
- Ł56.5bn invested fixed income
- The rest invested across a growing alternatives business and the remainder in cash, private equity and a range of other specialist areas.
Morley manages both institutional and retail funds under the Morley brand. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds, marketed in the UK under the Norwich Union brand, and international funds marketed under the Aviva Funds brand.
Awards
- Property Fund Manager of the Year, Pensions Management Awards 2006
- Best Commitment to Raising Standards of Trustee Education, Engaged Investor Awards 2006
- Property Fund Manager of the Year, Property Week Awards 2006
- SRI Provider of the Year, Global Pensions 2006
- Central European Property Awards 2005 - Outstanding Company of the Year & Investor of the Year
- UK Pensions Awards 2005 – Property Manager of the Year
- Property Week Awards 2004 – Best Property Fund Manager
- Pensions Management Provider Awards 2003 – Best Property Fund Manager
- Fund Manager of the Year - Pensions Week Awards 2002
- Specialist Manager of the Year - UK Pensions Awards 2002
Further information about Morley Fund Management can be found at www.morleyfm.com