Towers Watson appoints 3 senior investment specialists
Towers Watson has strengthened its global hedge fund research and advisory capabilities with the addition of Aongus O’Gorman and Victoria Vodolazschi as Senior Investment Consultant, and Abbas Alighanbari as Senior Investment Analyst.
Prior to joining Towers Watson, Aongus O'Gorman worked as a Managing Director at Round Tower Solutions for almost six years. At the boutique consulting firm, he worked across the fields of investment governance, process improvement, and product management. Prior to this, between 2002 and 2009, he was a Director at QIC, where his responsibilities included managing the firm’s manager alpha programme. He started his career as Fund manager for the IIU in 1995, a role he held for six years. O’Gorman holds a Masters in Business Studies and a Bachelor of Commerce, both from University College Dublin.
O’Gorman joins Towers Watson’s Sydney office, bringing his more than 20 years’ experience in the investment management industry to the firm. His new role, as Senior Investment Consultant, will see him take responsibility for the firm’s liquid diversifying strategies in Australia, as well as broader client responsibilities.
Victoria Vodolazschi joins Towers Watson from her Strategy Specialist role at PivotalPath, where she worked as a consultant in the evaluation of hedge fund managers for just over a year. Prior to joining PivotalPath in 2014, she worked at the Northern Trust Corporation for more than seven years, in the role of Director of Hedge Fund Investments. Previous roles include a short stint as Senior Vice-President of Hedge Fund Manager Selection at Asset Alliance Corporation in 2006, Vice-President of Hedge Fund Research at Bainbridge Partners between 2002 and 2005 and Assistant Vice-President of Hedge Fund Research at Tremont Capital Management between 2001 and 2002. Vodolazschi started her career at Bear Stearns & Company in 1997 as an Investment Banking Analyst, before moving to JPMorgan Chase in 1999 as an Investment Banker. Vodolazschi holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business, New York, a BA in Economics from Trinity College-Hartford, and is a CFA Charter holder.
Victoria Vodolazschi joins Towers Watson’s New York City office, as a Senior Investment Consultant. In her new role she will leverage her more than 15 years’ experience in finance and investment strategy for the firm, supporting clients on long/short equity, macro and systematic strategies.
Abbas Alighanbari started his career as a Junior Trader at APA Capital in 2012, after which he moved to International Asset Management (IAM) in 2013 to take on the role of Investment Analyst for almost three years. At IAM, his responsibilities included research into a wide range of hedge fund strategies, as well as assisting in the management of client portfolios totalling $4.1 billion. Alighanbari holds a BSc in Mathematical Science focused on Finance and Economics from the City University London, and an MSc in Finance from the Cass Business School.
Alighanbari will strengthen Towers Watson in London, and will, as a Senior Investment Analyst, provide the firm’s clients with a range of hedge fund strategies, initially working on long/short equity.
Commenting on the appointments, Luba Nikulina, Global Head of Manager Research at Towers Watson, says: “Aongus, Victoria and Abbas are very welcome additions to our team at a time when these investments are very popular among institutional investors seeking to diversify, notably into liquid alternatives […] Our new colleagues have significant prior experience and will help us expand our capabilities in finding alpha and getting access to the skill premium across a broad range of strategies.”