Pyramis Announces Global Expansion Plans

February 12, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments company, has announced the expansion of investment and relationship management, distribution and consultant relations outside the United States.

According to the  announcement , Pyramis initially will work with clients and consultants in Europe and the Middle East from the firm’s office in London, and subsequently plans to establish a similar capability in Hong Kong to service clients and consultants in Asia.

“In the past year, we established investment research capabilities in London and Hong Kong in order to continue the build-out of the global investment platform that supports our long-only and alternative strategies,” said Kevin Uebelein, President and CEO, in the announcement. Over the past year, Pyramis has placed six research associates in London and four in Hong Kong augmenting its own 47 proprietary research analysts and the research the firm leverages from Fidelity’s broader research network.

“We’ve seen growing interest in our traditional long-only equity and fixed-income and alternatives strategies from institutional investors outside the U.S,” said Uebelein. “Increasingly, U.S.-based multinational clients expect their asset managers to service them locally, and we see this as a critical component of our global growth strategy.”

Pyramis manages long-only and low-to-medium-volatility equity long/short, 130/30 and market neutral strategies for both U.S. and international clients. In late 2008, the firm was granted regulatory permission to conduct sales and sales-related activities from its U.K. office. Pyramis will have two new London-based sales professionals to launch its distribution efforts across Europe and the Middle East.

One of the sales professionals, who joined Pyramis on January 5, is Owen Thiers. According to the firm, Thiers's experience combines technical knowledge gained as an institutional portfolio manager with extensive business development and client service expertise from more than 10 years in the European institutional asset management industry, most recently with Citigroup Alternative Investments in London.

The second sales professional is expected to join the firm later in the spring, according to the firm. Both will report to Patrick Mc Nelis, who leads Pyramis global distribution and client service, and will focus on European and Middle Eastern institutional clients.

Pyramis established investment management and research capabilities in Hong Kong last year and recently received permission from the Hong Kong regulator to conduct additional business functions in the special administrative region of China. The firm's business plan calls for Pyramis to service clients across Asia through a Hong Kong-based subsidiary. "Being able to provide service and local support is the hallmark of an integrated asset manager today," said Uebelein.

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