SYZ Asset Management, the institutional asset management arm of SYZ Group, has named macroeconomic and currencies specialist Stephen Jen as chairman of the firm’s advisory board on total return startegies.
Jen is CEO and co-CIO of Eurizon SLJ Capital, a London-based asset management company specialised in emerging market debt, currency management and macroeconomic research, and part of the Intesa Sanpaolo Banking Group. He has been appointed as chairman of the external advisory board on the recently formed total return strategies team, headed by Adrien Pichoud. The advisory board will work closely with Pichoud and the total return strategies team, benefitting SYZ’s full range of investment strategies.
From 1996 to 2009, Jen held various roles at Morgan Stanley, including global head of currency research and managing director. Prior to this, he spent four years as an economist with the IMF, covering economies in Eastern Europe and Asia. Jen holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Irvine and a PhD in Economics from MIT.
SYZ Asset Management CEO William Nott says: “Given our long-term view of the ‘Japanification’ of the world, where persistent low growth and low rates increase our customers’ need for income, Stephen’s expertise in emerging markets and currencies is going to be more important than ever. Stephen will elevate SYZ Asset Management’s investment expertise as the total return strategies team expands.”
The total return strategies team was formed last month, building on SYZ Asset Management’s longstanding expertise in multi-asset investing, which rests on an investment philosophy of flexible asset allocation, a combination of sound risk and liquidity management.
Under the new structure, portfolio manager Maurice Harari oversees equity selection and draws on the insights of the SYZ AM global equity team. On the fixed income side, Adrien Pichoud, head of total return strategies, has formally integrated the Milan-based credit team, which is under the leadership of portfolio manager, Antonio Ruggeri. Christophe Buttigieg provides oversight for emerging market debt, while Wanda Mottu, portfolio manager, provides oversight on FX. Benoît Vaucher, head of quantitative investment solutions, provides stewardship on quantitative solutions and global premia.
