Ardea tags former PIMCO, Aussie Super specialist as first head of research

Ardea Investment Management has named Dr Laura Ryan as their first head of research.

The former senior VP of quantitative research at PIMCO and senior analyst at AustralianSuper will lead the client solutions team. She will partner with clients to help build brand equity and improve their intellectual property through rigorous research on investment themes.

In comments to Financial Standard, a spokesperson said that Ryan would bring a wealth of knowledge to the firm. "Laura's 21 years of global financial markets experience brings depth of technical knowledge and experience across a range of fixed income investing capabilities, including Ardea's specialisation of 'relative value' investing," they said.

"Laura also has a breadth of experience extending beyond fixed income to portfolio construction, asset allocation and portfolio risk management."

Ryan spent the last nine months with Inferential Capital, an investment fund she co-founded that focused on ethical, independent, and research-backed fund management services.

Ardea CEO and co-founder, Stephen Clout, said Ryan was a perfect fit. "We are thrilled to have someone of Laura's calibre joining our investment team. Not only is she exceptional in terms of technical skills and investment experience, she is also a great cultural fit, being strongly aligned with our core values around client service and teamwork," he said.

"Creating a research team under Laura is a key component of our strategic plan to prepare Ardea for a strong pipeline of long-term growth opportunities.

"This is a pre-emptive investment in resourcing to ensure we maintain our highest standards of alpha generation and client service as we continue to grow in a considered and sustainable way."

Reporting from Ally Selby at Financial Standard contrtibuted to this story.