HFA expansion rolls on

Alternative investment groupHFA Asset Managementhas added two further staff members to its team as part of an ongoing push to boost its capabilities.

The firm has appointed a senior research and investment analyst along with a manager to oversee its internal administration.

Luke Hartmann, who steps into the analyst role, joins fromMercer Investment Consultingwhere he was investment and actuarial analyst, while Amber Stoney, who will oversee the custody, administration, reporting and taxation of HFA funds, joins fromKPMGwhere she provided assurance and advisory services to the funds management industry.

The latest appointments follow the recent joining of industry investment specialists Les Balzer and Jonathan Pain to the group’s Investment Strategy Committee, Balzer as head of investment research and Pain who last week was appointed chief investment strategist.

Earlier in the year HFA expanded its distribution force by appointing five new business development managers (BDMs) to what became a national team of eight.

“We have made a strategic decision to invest strongly in the business over the past year in order to capture the groundswell of interest in absolute return strategies we are seeing from planners and investors across the country,” HFA managing director Spencer Young says.

In February the group also launched two new fund-of-funds into the Australian and international equities space - the HFA International Shares Fund and the HFA Australian Shares Fund - which are targeting the retail market and investors seeking absolute returns and a low correlation to traditional equity markets.