Sail builds exec committee as it targets expansion

Sail Advisors, the Hong Kong-based fund-of-hedge-fund manager overseeing $1.9billion in assets, has expanded its management team as part of the firm’s initiative to grow and diversify its product line and investor base on a global scale.

Sail has doubled its management committee to six members since January, with the additions of Sail chief financial officer Joanne Choy, portfolio manager Allen Sing and the firm’s head of sales and marketing Gunther Jost.  Choy and Sing have been with Sail for several years, while Jost joined the firm in 2008.

They come from its key functional areas, which will help the firm to provide products and services that meet the specific needs of its investors globally, according to Sail managing director Harold Yoon.

"In 2011, our plans are to launch new funds and enhance our capabilities in advisory and customised services," he says.  

Sail’s executive committee is chaired by firm founder Robert Miller who established the Duty Free Shoppers retail chain. Sail is part of Search Investment Group which was set up as a Miller family office in the 1970s and later extended to manage third-party capital in 2003.  

The new committee appointments come as the firm seeks to expand its research and marketing operations in Europe, which may include the founding of a London office. It launched a New York operation in early 2010 that was facilitated by a deal with ING which saw Sail take over the management of three fund of funds operated by the Dutch bank.

Sail’s five funds are mostly global investment mandates, with the exception of its regionally focused Asia Pacific Managers fund.

"We plan to add to client capabilities globally where we see investor interest, particularly for our Asian-focused products and services,” says Yoon.