eFinancialCareers

Scottish fund manager Martin Currie has been extolling the virtues of being independent, and is set to capitalise on recent strong performance by hiring 18 investment professionals.

The firm reported a 60% growth in pre-tax profits for 2007, to £25.6m. And it reckons the credit crunch has yet to affect growth plans for 2008.

Willie Watt, chief executive of Martin Currie, says: “We have no plans to cut jobs and we are still hiring people. We are going to stick with expansion plans that we set in the middle of last year. It is one of the benefits of being employee owned.”

One headhunter tells us that the independent fund managers in Scotland have been hiring, and that they’re increasingly being seen as a more attractive option for portfolio managers than the investment arms of larger organisations.

“The strength and confidence within the likes of Martin Currie and Baillie Gifford is reflected in their expansion plans. Larger businesses are either struggling or, even if they are still doing well, do not offer the same degree of independence, as the parent organisations take a tighter rein on the investment arms. This is having an effect on their appeal to investment professionals.”

Martin Currie’s finance director Ralph Campbell says: “During the bottom of the last market downturn we invested against the cycle. The results show we are now reaping the benefits of those investments and we are continuing to hire world-class talent.”

The numbers might not seem huge, but Martin Currie currently has 49 investment professionals, so it’s a hefty proportional increase.

It recently appointed Kimon Kouryialas as country head for a new Australian office and Toby Hogbin as global head of product development.