Solent brings in CFO

Solent Capital Partners, the London-based collateralised debt obligation and hedge fund manager, has hired Desmond Dundon as its chief financial officer, from Merrill Lynch.

Dundon most recently headed the emerging markets group at Merrill Lynch in London. Solent Capital says that the move to create an internal chief financial officer role is a response to the growth of its business. "We had previously outsourced the accounting function and are now bringing someone who brings administrative expertise and valuable experience in investment banking,” said Ray O’Leary, partner at Solent in London.

Solent has also appointed Genia Diamond as investor relations director in London. Diamond joins from London-based BlueCrest Capital Management, where she worked on its equity long/short hedge fund. “The strong performance of our opportunities fund has attracted significant demand, and this hire will augment our existing marketing capabilities in that sphere," said O’Leary. Since the beginning of the year, Solent’s hedge fund capital under management has grown from around $200 million to $420 million.