Biographies of Team
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar is a co-founder of EPIC. He is Managing Director, CEO and Chief Investment officer of EPIC Asset Management Limited. He was previously with Benfield Greig Asset Management (BGAM) and before that at Norwich Union where he was an Investment Director and a member of the Investment Policy Committee. Mr Shankar also spent nearly four years as Director, Fixed Income Strategy at Kemper (Zurich) Investment Management and four years as Head of Investments at the Ministry of Finance in the Sultanate of Oman. He holds an MBA in finance from Drexel University in Philadelphia and a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Engineering, India.
Jonathan Freeman
Jonathan Freeman, Group Chief Executive of Syndicate Asset Management plc ("Syndicate"), our parent company, is the Non-Executive Chairman of EPIC Asset Management Ltd. Jonathan has worked in corporate finance since 1993, including four years on the creation and launch of the pan-European stock market EASDAQ, which was subsequently taken over by NASDAQ. He joined Beeson Gregory's corporate finance department in 1997, where he became a Director. Jonathan is a founder Director of Syndicate and is also a Director of a number of other companies, including AIM listed and privately held finance and investment companies.
Donal Mullane
Donal Mullane, Director, Head of Credit. Donal works on front office and relative value credit, property, structured and specialist investments. He has over 20 years credit and legal experience in banking and capital markets. He holds a BSc Econ Hons degree; a Diploma in Banking; a Diploma in Law; a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice; and an MA in Legal Research (where his thesis was on Derivatives under English Law). Prior to joining EPIC he was an Associate Director of Tokyo Mitsubishi International. Previously he was Head of Credit for both the EU and CEMEA Regions of Visa International. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and is a former tutor in Banking Law.
Bryan Bazin
Bryan Bazin, Director of Investment, has over 23 years experience of running conservative fixed income portfolios for insurance companies and Lloyd's syndicates. He was Senior Investment Manager with Whittingdale Limited before joining JR Butler Investment Management as Managing Director. He remained a Director with its successor, Apsley Investment Management, where he was jointly responsible for all investment policy and the management of £1.6 billion. Prior to joining EPAM Mr Bazin established a UK investment dealing desk for City Capital Counselling UK. He has a masters degree in Economics.
Darren Sadek
Darren Sadek is Director of Operations and Compliance. He is a co-founder of EPIC Investment Partners. He was previously with Benfield Greig Asset Management and before that with Barclays Global Investors and Kemper (Zurich) Investment Management where he was an Assistant Vice President responsible for the supervision of fixed income and equity settlement and client service. He has over 25 years experience in the industry.
Nigel Davies
Nigel Davies, Director, joined EPAM in December 2008, having held similar posts at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander and Tilney Fund Management. Throughout his career Nigel has specialised in all aspects of treasury business with particular emphasis on the UK and European bond markets. He has managed fixed income and short-term liquidity portfolios for major institutions and advises a large number of building societies on their liquid assets.
Jo Welman
Jo Welman is a consultant. A co-founder of EPIC with Ravi Shankar, he resigned as Chairman and Chief Executive at the end of February 2010 and is now a non-executive consultant. He was a Director of Brit Insurance from its flotation in 1995 and was Chairman from January 2000 to September 2002. Prior to this he was a Director of Rea Brothers Group and Managing Director of the investment management subsidiary. Previously he had spent over 10 years at Baring Brothers where he managed several large segregated UK and US public company pension funds. Jo graduated in Economics from Exeter University.
Bob Devine
Bob Devine is an Asset Manager for EPIC advising on product development and strategy. He is employed by Ashcourt Rowan Asset Management Ltd, a private client wealth management subsidiary of the Syndicate Group. Bob has over 45 years experience – the last 10 years of which he has been managing fixed interest portfolios. Previously he worked for 5 years in consulting, 20 years in global bond trading and sales with Nat West Bank and Barclays Bank; and 10 years in foreign exchange and money market trading and sales with Barclays Bank and Scotia Bank.
Adam Tyrrell
Adam Tyrrell is a Fund Manager. He has a Masters degree in Economics, is a certified Financial Risk Manager, and has completed the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) examinations. He is responsible for economic research and econometric modelling, and is jointly responsible for the formation of investment strategy. His previous experience in the City includes risk analysis, credit research, and model development.
Achilles Sofroniou
Achilles Sofroniou is a Fund Manager. After completing a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College London, Achilles undertook a Masters degree in Finance at Cass Business School. He began his career in the City with a fixed income derivatives trading company and subsequently joined EPAM in July 2007 to enhance the research capabilities of the Fixed Income team. Achilles is also jointly responsible for economic research and econometric modelling, together with portfolio analysis. Achilles has completed the UKSIP Investment Management Certificate and is a CFA candidate.
Emma Butler
Emma Butler, Fund Manager, has a BSc honours degree in Economics and is also a Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. She has extensive knowledge of the institutional sector, specialising in the management of fixed income and money market securities on behalf of such bodies as universities, building societies, friendly societies and local authorities. Emma joined EPAM in January 2009 to enhance their institutional business, having fulfilled similar roles at Tilney Fund Management and more recently at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.
Viji Thambyrajah
Viji Thambyrajah, Operations Manager has over 20 years of experience in investment administration. She joined EPIC from New Flag Asset Management. Viji previously worked at Kemper (Zurich) Investment Management. She holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Wales, Cardiff.
Rob Steele
Rob Steele is a Portfolio Administrator. He has over 20 years experience in the industry. Before EPIC he worked for Threadneedle Asset Management, which he joined from Zurich Investment Management. Previously he worked for an investment management company and a stockbroker which were both based in Edinburgh. Rob holds the UKSIP Investment Management Certificate.
Phil Riches
Phil Riches is a Portfolio Administrator with over 20 years experience in the Fund Management industry. Before EPIC he supervised the Operations team at Cigna Investment Management which he joined from the settlements department of JP Morgan Chase Bank. There he was responsible for Fixed income and Equity trade settlements. Previously he worked for a UK Stockbroker. Phil holds the FSA Investment Management Certificate.
