Pain joins HFA investment committee

By Jason Spits

FormerRothschild Australia chief investment officer, Jonathan Pain, has joinedHFA Asset Management(HFAAM) as a member of its newly established investment strategy committee.

The committee, to be headed by HFAAM managing director Spencer Young, will also include HFAAM analyst Peter Coates and new appointees Dr Les Balzer and Brian Price.

The five member committee will oversee the investment operations, including the establishment, approval, review and quality of investment processes and decisions made by the absolute return manager.

Pain is currently a non-executive director of HFA and Price is the derivatives and financial markets

specialist and director of niche consultancy Iron

Mountain Limited.

Balzer is Professor of Finance at the University of NSW. He has also worked as a principal of global asset consultant withWilliam M Mercerand former senior portfolio manager atState Street Global AdvisorsandMLC Investment Management.

The investment committee will work in

conjunction with two

further committees inside the group’s structure,

with the compliance committee governing the group’s conduct in line with financial services laws, while HFA Research will provide asset allocation recommendations where HFA acts as investment adviser to the HFA funds.

HFA has 12 absolute return funds available to retail and institutional investors and $250

million in funds under management. It is owned by HFA Management, specialist US hedge fund adviser Lighthouse

Partners LLC andMFS Group,which also

owns McLaughlins Financial Services Limited.