Hedge fund firm Man Group shakes up GLG unit

Date: Thursday, January 10, 2013
Author: Tommy Wilkes, Reuters

(Reuters) - Man Group is shaking up its GLG unit in a move that will see two senior managers leave, as chief executive-designate Emmanuel Roman looks to reverse the hedge fund firm's waning fortune.

The changes will see Karim Abdel-Motaal and Bart Turtleboom, who headed emerging market hedge funds at GLG, depart at the end of the month.

GLG also said on Wednesday it has hired Kumaran Damodaran from bond giant PIMCO as a portfolio manager, and Brian Pinto, formerly of the World Bank, as senior macro-economist. Both will focus on emerging markets.

Chief investment strategist Jamil Baz and Sudi Mariappa, who joined GLG in October from Pimco, will co-head GLG's overall macro and fixed income business. GLG also said Richard Bateson joins from Man's AHL unit as a senior quantitative analyst.

Last month, Man Group (EMG.L) chief executive Peter Clarke said he would make way for Roman, bowing to shareholder anger over the slow progress of the company's revival plan and a share price which lost a third of its value in 2012 as its flagship AHL fund struggled.

Tough-talking Roman, CEO of GLG, joined Man in 2010 when it bought London-based hedge fund GLG for $1.6 billion. He has since increased his power base and was widely touted as a successor to Clarke. He takes over as group CEO in February.