Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) has hired former BlackRock fund manager Rob Weatherston to run its offshore Japanese Equity fund.
Weatherston will assume control of the £40 million (€52 million) Dublin-domiciled vehicle next month. He will report to Josh Crabb, head of the firm’s Hong Kong-based Asian equities team.
From 2006-2014, Weatherston managed a number of BlackRock’s Japanese and Asia Pacific equity funds, before leaving the firm to take time off from work. Among others, he was in charge of the £168 million Japan Flexible Equity fund. He currently resides in Hong Kong, where he relocated in 2010 from Tokyo.
A spokesperson for the firm said his long track record of managing Japanese equities, including total return, value and growth strategies, and his localised knowledge of the region, were clinchers in the recruitment process.
Weatherston is expected to generate alpha for the fund via qualitative stock selection and a quantitative screening process, combined with an overall thematic overlay.
In a statement, Weatherston said that while the Japanese market is currently out of favour, many stocks continue to perform well.
OMGI’s funds hold assets of £327.9 billion.
©2016 funds europe
