New management To Steer UBS Hedge Funds Business

The Swiss bank’s cherished hedge fund boutique O’Connor is reshuffling its top management at a time when the industry is seeing significant outflows.

UBS is naming Blake Hiltabrand as global head of UBS O’Connor business, and is appointing Bernard (Bernie) Ahkong and Casey Talbot as co-CIOs of the unit, it said in a statement Friday.

All three will replace Kevin Russell, who carried out the roles of CEO and CIO at the bank’s hedge fund business and looks back on a 29 year career in the industry, it said.

Hiltabrand, who currently co-heads event driven strategies will assume his new role on October 1. Hiltabrand has worked at UBS O’Connor for over 15 years and is a senior member of UBS O’Connor’s management team and capital allocation forum.

Talbot currently heads of credit strategies for the global multi-strategy portfolio and will assume the additional role of co-CIO for the portfolio. Casey joined UBS O’Connor in 2013 from Deutsche Bank and is a senior member of the UBS O’Connor capital allocation forum.

Ahkong, who heads UBS O’Connor in Europe and is the portfolio manager for the European long/short equity team, re-joined the firm in 2016 from BlueCrest Capital, having previously been a portfolio manager at UBS O’Connor from 2006-2013. He is also a senior member of the UBS O’Connor capital allocation forum.
Hedge funds have seen huge outflows this year, with institutional investors withdrewing an estimated $27.5 billion from hedge funds in the second quarter as they position themselves for global inflation and a recession.