Deals and People April 12, 2011

Russell Expands Hedge Fund Team

April 12, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Russell Investments is expanding its hedge fund team with the addition of Brian Burke as risk management officer and Lance Babbit as senior portfolio manager, hedge funds.
Reported by

In his new position, Burke will be responsible for analyzing market risk exposures in individual alternative investment manager portfolios, as well as aggregate Russell fund of funds portfolios. As a senior portfolio manager, Babbit will oversee the firm’s multi-strategy hedge fund of funds portfolios, both custom and commingled, for institutional and private clients.   

Both will be based in Russell’s New York office and will report to Ed Robertiello, managing director, hedge funds. The hedge fund team includes 13 professionals with experience working at pension funds, funds of hedge funds, direct hedge funds and trading firms.   

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.

According to a press release, Burke brings to the team nearly 10 years of experience in providing risk services to institutional investors in hedge funds and other alternative investments. Most recently he was executive director and head of the analyst team at Measurisk, a risk analytical system for hedge funds.   

Babbit joins Russell from Credit Suisse Group where he was director, head of North America portfolio hedge fund of funds in the Alpha Strategies Group.
Deals and People April 12, 2011

Mercer Sentinel Group Appoints North America Business Leader

April 12, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Mercer Sentinel Group, the operational and execution risk assessment business of Mercer LLC, announced the appointment of Arti Sharma as Principal and Head of Business Development, North America.
Reported by

Based in Toronto, Sharma will be responsible for the ongoing development of the Mercer Sentinel suite of products and services throughout North America. Mercer Sentinel Group is focused solely on evaluating and advising clients on nonfinancial risks, primarily operational and implementation risks, according to the announcement.   

Before joining Mercer Sentinel Group, Sharma was Senior Vice President at Thomas Murray North America Inc., a specialist custody consulting group headquartered in the UK.

«