Since the emergence of “Modern Portfolio Theory” and the “Capital Asset Pricing Model” in the late 1960s, institutional investors have taken a quantitatively driven approach to portfolio construction, looking to create portfolio diversification and obtain better risk-adjusted returns by balancing their asset-class exposures. This journey has seen several important advancements in thinking about how to optimally achieve desired results.
Funds that want to take the total portfolio approach first need to get the total portfolio view. To do that they not only need data – and lots of it – but a rock-solid understanding of exactly how they’re going to use it.
Mercer fills the gap at Mercer Sentinel in Sydney
(pictured: Ravi Nevile)
Mercer Investments has permanently filled the gap at the top of Mercer Sentinel in Australia and New Zealand, with the planned transfer of Ravi Nevile from the firm’s Singapore office.
Mercer’s COO, Jodie Hampshire, had been filling in as the Australia and New Zealand head of the specialist operational efficiency and transitions business, but she left last week to return to Russell Investments.
The previous Australia and New Zealand head of Mercer Sentinel, Robin Solomon, left in April after six years with the firm. He had been in the top role only since July last year, after a disruptive time when the two most senior specialist consultants, Lounarda David and Marian Azer, had also left.
Nevile has been a principal with Mercer in Singapore since October 2010. Before that he was a principal with Investcorp in Bahrain and the UK. He is a graduate of King’s College, the research university in London.
Simon Eagleton, the head of Mercer Investments, which includes both investment consulting and investment management, confirmed the appointment last week. He said Mercer Sentinel had been running well in the past few months, with other Mercer consultants assisting, and had been particularly busy performing new operational risk assessments for super funds and other clients because of all the regulatory changes in Australia.
Sydney-based Eagleton had also been based in Singapore, as the head of Asia Pacific, until last July.
The three main components of Mercer Sentinel, which is a worldwide practice group within Mercer, are transitions management, operational and custody consulting, and risk consulting.
Hampshire had been recruited from Russell by the former regional boss of Mercer, Stephen Roberts, who left last December after a major restructure in the firm split Australia and New Zealand’s reporting lines away from Asia.
She will take up the vacant role of head of institutional business at Russell from early August.
