Management Team
The organisational structure of Overlay Asset Management is depicted in the chart below. Overlay Asset Management is governed by its Executive Committee, which is comprised of the following members:
- Hélie d’Hautefort, CEO and Chief Investment Officer
- Xavier Lefevre, Head of Portfolio Management Paris
- Ashid Mahmood, Head of Portfolio Management London
- Hai Xin, Head of Overlay Asset Management Asia-Pacific
- Andrew Broadhurst, Global Client Relationship Management and Services
- Yann Rault, Global Chief Operating Officer & Head of Strategic Development
Overlay Asset Management offers quantitative absolute return programmes in developed and emerging currency markets, as well as a discretionarily managed absolute return currency options programme. The following people are the key senior team members directly involved in the investment process and strategic management of Overlay Asset Management:
Hélie d’Hautefort, CEO and Chief Investment Officer
Hélie has 24 years’ experience in currency management. Before setting up Overlay Asset Management in 1998, Hélie was the manager of a currency fund (Rosebud) for a period of two years. His previous assignments include five years at PSA International, within the exchange-risk management unit of Peugeot Citroën group in Geneva, where he was in charge of the use of derivative products in currency management. Prior to that, he was in charge of currency options trading and their applications to customers in three different banking institutions. He began his career in New York in the currency options market in 1985 within Crédit Lyonnais’ trading room. Hélie graduated from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Paris.
Hélie is the Chair of Overlay Asset Management's Executive and Investment Committees, and a member of the Research Committee.
Xavier Lefevre, Head of Portfolio Management - Paris
Xavier has 18 years experience in currency management. He is the Head of Portfolio Management and Trading at OAM. Before joining OAM in May 2005, Xavier spent seven years as head of foreign exchange for the Louis Dreyfus Group in charge of hedging and proprietary trading and has experience as treasurer of GIAT industries, managing the Company's foreign exchange exposure. He has also been a trader for two years at Credit Agricole in Geneva. Xavier is graduated from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris (French top 3 business school) and has a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the Paris Dauphine University.
Xavier is a member of Overlay Asset Management’s Executive, Investment and Research Committees.
Ashid Mahmood, Head of Portfolio Management - London
Ashid joined OAM in January 2010. He worked at BNP Paribas Asset Management for 11 years, where he was responsible for currency management and foreign exchange execution. Prior to joining BNP Paribas Asset Management, he was a foreign exchange and fixed income trader at Zurich Investment Management for 2 years. He also spent 10 years at Swiss Volksbank where he worked as a forward foreign exchange trader before moving into the asset management side of the business to manage money market funds. Ashid has over 25 years experience in the foreign exchange sector.
Ashid is a member of Overlay Asset Management’s Executive Committee.
Dr Hai Xin, Head of Asia Pacific
Dr Hai Xin joined BNP Paribas Asset Management in April 2005. Hai had previously worked as a financial engineer in the Foreign Exchange division of UBS Investment Bank in London for over eight years, advising a diverse group of institutional investors, central banks, private banking clients and multinationals in currency investment and risk management. His book Currency Overlay: A Practical Guide was published by Risk Books in October 2003 and is considered one of the most authoritative works on the subject. Hai transferred to the Equity Capital Market Group in Hong Kong with UBS in 2004 to work on IPOs of Chinese companies in the overseas market. Hai obtained his PhD in Quantitative Finance from the Imperial College, University of London and MSc in Economics from London School of Economics. His BSc in Radio and Electronics was awarded by the University of Science and Technology of China.
Hai is a member of Overlay Asset Management’s Executive, Investment and Research Committees.
Andrew Broadhurst, Head of Client Service
Andrew has 25 years experience in currency management. He joined OAM in April 2004 to spearhead business development and to provide expertise for OAM's marketing and sales efforts worldwide. He started his career in 1985 in the international equity group of JPMorgan IM, London. He was responsible for the creation of a multi currency operating platform dedicated to the management of FX exposures for the firm's global equity business. From 1994 to 2001, he held various responsibilities in JPMorgan IM's currency overlay group in London, first as a currency portfolio manager and then as Chief Operating Officer (COO). From 2002 to 2004, he was involved with Anchorage Capital Partners in London, assisting in the establishment of active currency management and portfolio allocation within a global macro hedge fund. Andrew has a Diploma in Law from the College of Law England.
Andrew is a member of Overlay Asset Management’s Executive Committee.
Yann Rault, Global Chief Operating Officer & Head of Strategic Development
Yann Rault has worked in the finance industry since 1993, when he started his career as a structurer and broker of fixed income products at Banque Indosuez, Paris. He has then held various positions at BNP Paribas, in charge of the credit risk management of a portfolio of large corporate clients (1996 to 1998), as an Inspector of the bank (1998 to 2001), and as a senior analyst with the Department of Strategy (2001 to 2004). Before moving to OAM, he was Head of Corporate Development and Strategy for BNP Paribas Investment Partners (2005 – Jan 2010), the asset management arm of BNP Paribas, where he led multiple acquisition and new joint venture projects. Yann graduated as a civil engineer from Ecole Spéciale des Travaux Publics (Paris), and holds a specialised masters degree from Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris.
Yann is a member of Overlay Asset Management’s Executive Committee.