New Faces At Foord
Our Foreword newsletter over the past two quarters has profiled the recent new hires at Foord. For those who may have missed those inserts, we set out below a short profile of the new faces to have most recently joined the Foord team:
PRAKASH DESAI
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: FOORD INTERNATIONAL
Prakash joined Foord in November 2012, after retiring as a senior partner of Deloitte in Singapore, after 17 years with that firm. His role as COO of Foord’s international operations will be to manage and oversee all non-investment activities of the global business. As such, Prakash has been appointed to the boards of Foord (Guernsey), Foord (Singapore) and Foord Sicav, the newly formed investment company with variable capital in Luxembourg. Prakash holds a B. Comm (Accounting) from the University of Durban Westville, B.Compt (Hons) degree from UNISA and is a registered chartered accountant (CA) in South Africa, ACA in Australia and CPA in Singapore.
HEATHER McCULLOCH
REGIONAL HEAD: RETAIL INVESTMENTS (WESTERN CAPE)
Heather joins Mike Soekoe’s business development team as the regional head of retail business in the Western Cape. This team prioritises the financial advisor market by sharing and communicating the Foord investment philosophy, approach and excellent long-term track record. Heather has enjoyed a very successful career in retail investments, having worked for Allan Gray for almost a decade before joining the RE:CM team in 2009, where she made a big difference to their distribution efforts over the last three years. We are very pleased to welcome her to Foord.
NICK CURTIN
INSTITUTIONAL CLIENT SERVICES MANAGER
Nick has joined Foord in an institutional client services capacity and will take the lead role in coordinating the client report-back programme. He will act as a liaison between the investment team and institutional clients in reporting on performance, portfolio positioning and the team’s investment outlook. For the past five years Nick has been with the Russel Investments group, first in Australia and more recently in SA where his roles included consulting and client relationship management. Prior to this, Nick spent almost ten years with Alexander Forbes and Investment Solutions. Nick holds a BA (Economics and Politics) from UNISA and is a CFA Charter holder.
GRACE RUDDY
SECURITIES DEALER: FOORD INTERNATIONAL
Grace has been appointed in Foord’s Guernsey office as a securities dealer for the Foord Sicav sub-funds, domiciled in Luxembourg. She will also assist the international securities dealing efforts for the Foord Global Equity Fund, domiciled in Singapore, by covering the western markets while the Singapore team focuses on the Asian and Australasian share markets. Grace holds a BA (Hons) degree in Economics and Politics from the University of York and an M.Sc. in Economic Policy from the University of London and is a UK Chartered Accountant.
WIM MURRAY
EQUITY ANALYST
Wim has joined the Foord investment team as an equity analyst focusing on South African companies listed in the retail and food producer sectors. He previously worked as an investment analyst for Peregrine Capital, South Africa’s largest hedge fund manager, before joining the group CEO of Peregrine Holdings as an analyst focusing on investment opportunities. Wim holds an LLB degree, with additional subjects in physics and chemistry. He is currently studying towards his CFA Charter.
ALEXA PEARCE
PERFORMANCE AND ATTRIBUTION ANALYST
A Durban native, Alexa chose to pursue her studies at the University of Cape Town. She completed a B.Com in Financial Accounting followed by a B.Com (Hons) in Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management. Alexa joined the Foord performance team in March as a performance and attribution analyst. She will focus on performance measurement calculations and reporting as well as managing the performance composite programme. She is enrolled in the CFA Institute’s CIPM certification (Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement).