Fund management group Liontrust has added Antonio Forte (pictured) to the firm’s international sales team.
Forte joins from Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, having previously worked at Luxgest Asset Management (Intesa San Paolo Group) and Philip Morris International. Antonio is also a CAIA holder.
Forte is based in Luxembourg and will work with James Beddall and Jonathan Hughes-Morgan to expand the distribution capability of Liontrust’s Dublin range of funds, with a particular focus on Italy and Spain.
“Italy is attractive for fund management groups because of the large savings market and the recent and ongoing move away from bonds and property into equities and alternative investments,” says Antonio Forte. “We will be marketing Liontrust’s funds through various distribution channels in Italy, including financial advisory networks, banks, private banks, funds of funds and other institutional investors.
“Liontrust is building a strong and diverse fund range in Dublin, notably through alternative investments across equities and bonds. We are confident these will appeal to intermediaries and their clients in Italy and Spain given the current uncertainty about markets.”
Beddall adds: “Antonio is a key hire for us as we continue to expand our distribution across continental Europe. He has excellent contacts and experience of selling funds in Italy and will enable us to grow our presence in this thriving market.
“We have been building an attractive range of alternative UCITS funds at Liontrust, and will continue to diversify our teams and fund range in the future.”
Liontrust launched the Dublin-based GF Global Strategic Equity fund, which is managed by Patrick Cadell and Kristof Bulkai, on 17 July 2015 to add to the existing GF Global Strategic Bond fund, which is managed by Michael Mabbutt and Felix Martin, and the GF European Strategic Equity fund, which is managed by James Inglis-Jones and Samantha Gleave. All these funds are UCITS funds with daily liquidity, and deploy differentiated long/short strategies.
From the start of 2015 to 31 August, the GF European Strategic Equity fund (Euro share class) delivered a return of 6.3 per cent while the GF Global Strategic Bond fund (USD Accumulating) has returned 8.6 per cent.
