Brooks Macdonald appoints Niall O’Connor as Fund Manager of the IFSL Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital Fund

Brooks Macdonald Group plc (the "Group", “Brooks Macdonald”), the AIM listed investment management group, today announces that it has appointed Dr. Niall O’Connor to the role of Fund Manager for the IFSL Brooks Macdonald Defensive Capital Fund (“DCF” or “the Fund”), following the decision of current Fund Manager and Group co-founder, Jon Gumpel, to step down.

Niall joined Brooks Macdonald in 2013 and has been Deputy Fund Manager for DCF since 2016.  He has over 20 years of investment experience, including leading the development of a range of derivative pricing and risk models for Independent Risk Monitoring. Niall’s investment background includes five years as an analyst at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, and he was also part of the highly successful Nevsky Capital team.  In his role as lead DCF Fund Manager, Niall will report to Richard Spencer, Group Chief Investment Officer. The Fund will benefit from Richard’s deep investment expertise and 30 years of industry experience.

Caroline Connellan, Chief Executive of Brooks Macdonald, said “Niall has been working with Jon for the past three years as Deputy Fund Manager and is an integral part of the DCF team. As part of our succession planning, I am delighted that Niall has been appointed as Fund Manager to take over from Jon. DCF has been a critical part of the Group’s strong performance in recent years and remains core to our offering going forward. Niall’s deep knowledge of the mandate and portfolio will ensure a smooth transition and I have every confidence that DCF will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Niall commented “Working alongside Jon has been a great experience and I wish him all the best. After three years as Deputy Fund Manager, I am excited to take up the reins as DCF lead manager. I’m confident that we will continue to deliver on the fund’s mandate and build on the long history of strong risk adjusted returns.”

DCF is a UK regulated OEIC sitting in the Investment Association Targeted Absolute Return sector.  It was launched in March 2010 and had £663 million under management as at 30 June 2019.  The fund has won numerous awards and commendations, including Portfolio Adviser’s Gold Fund Award and the Lipper Fund Award for the Absolute Return sector.