Newsmaker: Robyn Grew, the trusted insider to lead Man Group hedge fund

Pershing Square Holdings

11/05/2023 18:17

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      14 year insider with years on senior executive committee
    

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      Analysts watch for any possible changes in strategy
    

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      Becomes one of the most powerful women in fund management
    

  
    By Nell Mackenzie and Sinead Cruise
       LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - 
    There are few jobs Robyn Grew has not mastered at the $145
billion hedge fund Man Group  EMG.L , where money keeps rolling
in to a fast-growing business she helped to transform.
  
        Grew, named incoming CEO on Thursday, has held executive
positions in compliance, trading, legal and operations over 14
years, as Man has evolved from a disparate group of siloed
businesses to a big, technology-driven investment manager.
        As she becomes one of the most powerful women in fund
management, Grew must apply her insights to a host of challenges
from mounting competition, expanding regulations and heightening
geopolitical tension.
  
    "There aren't many people who have covered as broad a range
of activities as she has. She knows the business inside out,"
said Jonathan Sorrell, president at New York-based $10 billion
Capstone, who worked alongside Grew at Man and previously held
her current job as president.          
    "She'll be comfortable making the big calls that are
required," he told Reuters.    
    The London-listed firm will be led by two women for the
first time in its 240-year history by the end of 2023, after
long-standing CEO Luke Ellis retires in September and Anne Wade
replaces veteran banker John Cryan as chair.
    Grew showed her mettle alongside CEO Luke Ellis and
predecessor Emmanuel (Manny) Roman in executing a decade of
repositioning and growth for the hedge fund, said Dev Sanyal,
CEO of Varo Energy, and former Man non-executive director.
    That achievement, he said, might mean only tweaks are
needed.
    "There's a nimble agility to the company today and it's not
in need of massive change. Robyn has been an ally of Manny and
Luke in creating the success of the company," said Sanyal. 
    Roman doubled the size of Man's executive committee when he
took over from Peter Clarke as CEO in 2013. That committee
oversaw a revival plan to recoup falling assets and reverse poor
stock performance. 
    Sanyal credited Grew, a member of the leadership team at the
time, for subsequently championing the hedge fund's solutions
business, where clients were given opportunities to select
investment bets and strategies better suited to their needs
rather than investing in a one-size-fits-all portfolio. 
    The business helped Man turn the tide on years of years of
erratic net inflows. Man Group now has over 60% of its assets
working this way.
    Grew also improved the firm's compliance, he said. "She has
never taken a tick-the-box approach. She helped people truly
understand what was needed. She took the time and actually
helped people become better at their jobs," he said. 
    Under her guidance, Man executed a further corporate
overhaul in 2019, which simplified the company's regulatory
capital requirements and laid the foundations for bigger
investment in product innovation. She spearheaded its diversity
programme and works with several industry-level initiatives. 
    "Ultimately, she is someone you can always count on," said
Sorrell. 
    Currently based in New York, Grew will relocate to London by
the time she takes up her role but Man has flagged that she will
continue to spend substantial time in the U.S., where it is
focused on building its brand to compete against its rivals
there. 
    While some might view the transatlantic leadership plan as a
slight on London's hedge fund scene, others were more optimistic
about the role Grew could play in advocating for UK funds in the
U.S., where billionaire managers like Bridgewater founder Ray
Dalio and Pershing Square boss Bill Ackman are household names.
    One senior hedge fund source told Reuters her appointment
might help the UK asset management industry become more visible
to U.S. investors, looking to Europe and Asia much more as the
dollar weakens.  
    "Any CEO of Man Group will spend a decent amount of their
time in the States as it is where the majority of the client
capital comes from and where a lot of the money is invested
from," said Capstone's Sorrell. 
    Grew lives in New York with her wife, son and "energetic
cockapoo," it says on Man's website. But she grew up in Essex,
to the east of the UK capital, where she attended a grammar
school before reading business law at Coventry University. 
    Moving to finance, Grew held senior compliance roles at
Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital and later worked at LIFFE, the
futures exchange subsequently named ICE Futures Europe. 
    She joined Man GLG in 2009 as its chief compliance officer
but moved on to work as global head of legal and compliance, 
chief operating officer, general counsel, group COO and head of
ESG and currently works as its president. She'll take up the
role of CEO on September 1. 
    "Well, what a day," said Grew in a LinkedIn video post.

 (Reporting by Nell Mackenzie and Sinead Cruise; editing by
Elisa Martinuzzi and David Gregorio)
 ((Nell.Mackenzie@thomsonreuters.com;))