First State rebrands GEM equities team
From Products Feb 17 2012 BY: Esther Armstrong
, Senior Reporter
, Portfolio Adviser
Angus Tulloch
First State Investments has renamed its Asia Pacific/global emerging market (GEM) equities team, in an attempt to prevent confusion among clients with its new emerging market debt group.
The Asia Pacific/GEM equities team, which is led by Angus Tulloch and Stuart Paul, now operates under the sub-brand "First State Stewart", while the emerging market debt team keeps its name.
It is understood that the launch of the Emerging Markets Bond Fund last year, which is run by Helene Williamson and her emerging market debt group, had created some confusion among clients, who thought the fund might be run by Tulloch and Paul's team.
The Stewart element of the new sub-brand harks back to the team's heritage - it was following the acquisition of Stewart Ivory in 2000 that Tulloch joined the firm. No funds or job roles within the team will change as a result of the rebrand, the firm said.
Paul, joint managing partner of First State Stewart, said: "We welcome the new development which we believe will assist our investors in differentiating between products managed by different teams at First State Investments."
Williamson joined First State last September, after she was poached from her position of head of emerging market debt at F&C, where she ran the €100m ($130m) F&C EM Bond Fund. At the end of 2011, her team had assets under management of £465m ($740m).