Investec hires Guinness' Nelson & Newton's Whall for energy arm

Investec has hired Tom Nelson from Guinness Asset Management and Newton Investment Management analyst Charles Whall to plug the gaps in its global energy team, Wealth Manager can reveal.

Both join as co-managers and the appointments comes after previous managers Jonathan Waghorn and Mark Lacey left the firm to join commodities traders Mercuria Global Energy Solutions last month.

The move sees Nelson back on the $1.5 billion Investec Global Energy fund, which he helped manage alongside veteran Tim Guinness when Investec outsourced management to the Guinness team, which ran the mandate between May 2003 and February 2008.

Meanwhile, Whall has 19 years' experience in the sector, a decade of which was spent working for oil companies before joining the City with Newton in 2000 as an oil and gas analyst.

The Investec energy division also includes the Luxembourg-domiciled Investec GSF Enhanced Global Energy fund, which has the power to use derivatives. 

Bradley George, head of the firm’s commodities and resources team, will continue to lead the management of the funds for the interim until Nelson and Whall join.   

Nelson joined Guinness in April 2005 and is co-manager of the Guinness Global Energy fund and the Guinness Global Thematic Equity fund. The funds will continue to be managed by Tim Guinness, with Will Riley and Ian Mortimer providing support.

Commenting on the hires, Investec managing director David Aird said: 'We are delighted to have hired two people with the quality Tom and Charles have. We will give more details on the hires soon but at the moment we want to give their current employers time to orcherstrate a smooth transition.'  

Tim Guinness added: ‘We are a quality outfit with a high profile team and track record which attracts attention from investors and indeed competitors. We can appreciate that Investec needs to find people to replace its two energy fund managers. We are flattered the Investec wants to maintain the Guinness connection and we wish Tom well.'