Gottex Expands U.S. Team, Starts New Office, Reach

NEW YORK (HedgeWorld.com)–Europe-based fund of funds firm Gottex Fund Management has hired two top executives to build a new team in Boston and increase its presence in the United States.

Richard Leibovitch joined as senior managing director and deputy chief investment officer. He will share responsibility for the firm’s hedge fund investments with fellow deputy CIO J.P. Bailey and investment chief Peter Bennett, who work out of New York and London, respectively.

Mr. Leibovitch’s focus will be on equity managers but he will give back-up opinions on fixed-income funds, as well. He also was appointed head of North American business, responsible for sales and distribution in this part of the world. Gottex manages offshore vehicles, however, that are not available to American investors except certain tax-exempt institutions.

“We’ve evolved into a global firm,” he says. “We’re no longer a Swiss fund of funds.” Gottex has offices in Lausanne (Switzerland) and London as well as other European and offshore financial centers. There is a small operation in New York.

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Working with him at the Boston office is Dr. Kevin Maloney as managing director and head of U.S. research. Both were previously with Putnam Investments, the mutual fund group. Mr. Leibovitch was recently head of derivatives and global trading while Dr. Maloney led product design.