Man, a leading alternative investment management business, has announced the appointment of industry veteran Luke Ellis as its new head of multi-manager business.

Luke, who has over 25 years investment management experience, succeeds Herbert Item, who is retiring after 13 years at Man, said a statement from the company.

He has held a number of senior positions including managing director at Financial Risk Management (FRM) and head of JPMorgan’s Global Equity Derivatives and Equity Proprietary Trading businesses.

Latterly Luke has been non-executive chairman of GLG’s Multi-Manager business and manager of the GLG Multi Strategy Fund.

Luke will be responsible for continuing to build out Man’s Multi-Manager range of investment solutions for private and institutional clients, and further developing Man’s leading position in structured products, funds of funds, managed accounts and tailored portfolios, the statement said.

Peter Clarke, chief executive of Man, said, "I am delighted that Luke will be joining Man to head our Multi-Manager business, bringing with him a long and distinguished track record in investment management, both in trading markets and allocating capital to underlying managers."

"Luke's experience and relationships will be invaluable in continuing to drive our focus on providing comprehensive, tailored investment solutions to Man's investors globally," he added.

On his appointment, Ellis said, “Investor demand for intelligently constructed and managed portfolios of hedge funds continues to grow. The future of the multi-manager industry will be all about addressing specific client needs with a range of services, from ready made portfolios to direct access through managed accounts to risk analysis and management."

"Man’s Multi-Manager business brings together tremendous depth and expertise in manager selection, managed accounts and risk management. This is a period of great opportunity and I am thrilled at the prospect of leading this business," he added.-TradeArabia News Service