Vimal Gor departs Pendal

High-profile bond specialist Vimal Gor has left the Pendal Group to join Australian crypto advisory firm Trovio as investment chief.

Gor will bring across the other members of the team that ran Pendal's alternative duration strategies business.

"Vimal is a key strategic appointment for Trovio as we continue to expand our product offering of new and emerging asset classes to institutional investors," said Jon Deane, Trovio's chief executive.

"Vimal brings nearly three decades of top-tier traditional finance experience, recently managing more than $22 billion in assets. He is a highly regarded thought leader in how the digital asset ecosystem and dynamically evolving macro landscape will change the asset management industry both globally and in Australia," said Deane.

Gor, along with his team, will be bringing their alternative duration strategy to Trovio while also strengthening and evolving the existing risk management and alpha-generating capabilities of the firm's other funds.

"Vimal's appointment reinforces Trovio's firm belief in the integration of digital assets with traditional investment strategies, as a means of optimizing risk-weighted returns in the evolving markets of today," Deane added.

Vimal Gor said having access to Trovio's people, technology, and products will allow his team to build better client solutions.

"Our goal is to be a trusted partner for clients as they engage with these emerging asset classes," he added.

Six months after setting up Pendal's alternative duration boutique, Gor said both parties agreed that the strategies being developed by his team would be best pursued outside of Pendal given the given their high level of specialisation.

Gor added that Trovio was well known to the team as they have worked closely together on potential client solutions in the digital asset space.

"My new role as CIO of Trovio group is to provide bespoke investment solutions to institutional, family office, and high net worth investors," he said.

"The role has two key objectives, the first is to continue to grow and evolve the alternative duration strategy, which is a new approach to asset allocation. The second is to become a trusted partner for clients looking for transparent institutional-grade access to the new asset classes of digital assets and carbon.

"My team will be responsible for all fund offerings for Trovio Group, in both listed and the unlisted assets and in both traditional fund and venture fund structures. We aim to deliver compelling differentiated investment products, managed with a high degree of transparency, process, structure, and compliance."

A Pendal spokesperson confirmed that Pendal's income and fixed Interest team and strategies will not undergo any changes.

Since October when the firm announced that Vimal and his team, would focus solely on a range of specialist alternative duration strategies, the business has been run by Tim Hext, George Bishay, Amy Xie Patrick, and Steve Campbell.

"Vimal and a small team of four will be leaving in the next few months. They will join a technology and asset management company focused on deriving alpha from emerging ecosystems and new asset classes," he said.

"Until then, we will be working together to ensure a smooth transition for all stakeholders, including the single institutional client invested in the alternative duration strategies.

Before joining Pendal in 2009, Vimal held the position of head of global aggregate portfolios at Aviva Investors as well as portfolio manager roles with Scottish Mutual and Murray Johnstone.

Trovio, which licenses digital asset technologies and provides crypto advice for institutional investors, has made several hires recently including Jonathan Caldwell from JPMorgan and Thomas Barton from Aralian Capital.