Another PM jumps to sovereign fund

After more than six years at Russell Investments Philip Cheong has left to take up a role at the Abu Dhabi Pension Fund.

Cheong has been appointed portfolio manager, strategy and asset allocation.

He is the second investment professional to join an offshore sovereign wealth fund in two months prompted by the freedom to invest without having to think about monthly peer surveys and annual APRA benchmarks.

Former LGIA investment chief Troy Rieck was recently appointed chief investment officer at Emirates Investment Authority based in Abu Dhabi.

Also, former AMP Capital Nader Naeimi relocated to the US774 billion Singapore-based GIC eleven months ago before being promoted to a senior role in June.

Before his six-year stint at Russell,  Cheong spent more than two years as an investment risk analyst with the Victorian Funds Management Corporation and a similar amount of time at CareSuper Analyst as an investment analyst.

Earlier, he worked at Macquarie Group in corporate and asset finance.

Commenting on his departure, Cheong said he was "tremendously fortunate" to have worked with the highly talented people at Russell, both past and present.

While Cheong was not actively searching for an international role, he was always open to one for career development.

"I'm excited about the new opportunities that await in my next adventure, taking me to the Middle East for a new role at Abu Dhabi Pension Fund, which I'll start next month," he said.

The investment professional said he looks forward to an increased focus on pure investing with the luxury of a longer-term time horizon without constraints of Your Future, Your Super and other regulations, tight scrutiny on fees, and pressures of peer ranking and performance over short-term horizons.

"These can all detract to varying degrees from the goal of investing for the client's benefit," he added.