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The Polar Capital Global Convertible Team

Managers David Keetley and Stephen McCormick are part of a six-strong team that runs the Global Convertible (GCB) and Global Absolute Return funds. They typically invest in convertible bonds to provide income and capital growth (GCB) or a positive absolute return over rolling 12-month periods, in all market conditions. Both funds also aim to limit downside risk.

Total AUM (as at 29.02.2024)

2010

Established

134

Combined years of experience

6

Team members

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David Keetley

Fund Manager
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Stephen McCormick

Fund Manager
None

David Sugarman

Fund Manager, Head of Convertible & Credit Research
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Uttkarsh Lal

Fund Manager
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Jake Collins, CFA

Senior Analyst
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Michael Provvisionato

Investment Analyst

David Keetley

David joined Polar Capital in October 2010 to establish the global convertibles team and is co-manager of the Global Convertible Fund and the Global Absolute Return Fund.

David is an experienced convertible bond specialist, having spent 36 years in the asset class in both investment banking and investment management. Before joining Polar Capital in October 2010 to establish the Convertible team, he was joint CEO of Vicis Capital (UK) Ltd which he joined in 2006 to set up and manage the international convertible portfolio of the New York-based hedge fund. David started his career at Salomon Brothers International and moved to Baii (a subsidiary of BNP Paribas) in 1987, where he first started managing convertibles. He joined Schroders in 1996 and Citigroup in 2000 following the Citi takeover of Schroder Investment Bank.

  • BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering, University of Glasgow
  • Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment
  • 37 years
FE Alpha Manager Ratings do not constitute investment advice offered by FE and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. © 2023 FE. All rights reserved.

Stephen McCormick

Stephen joined Polar Capital in October 2010 and is co-manager of the Global Convertible Fund  and the Global Absolute Return Fund. 

Prior to moving into convertible trading, Stephen was a research analyst at Tucker Anthony. In 1993 he became a partner in Forum Capital Markets, eventually joining Paine Webber in 1994 where he went on to manage their convertible department until 1998. He was a senior member of the convertible sales team at Morgan Stanley before establishing and managing Valmiki Capital Management in 2005. The following year, he moved to Moore Capital where he, as a member of a three-person team, managed a $1bn global long/short equity portfolio before joining Vicis Capital to manage the US convertible bond portfolio in 2008.

  • BSc in Finance, Providence College, Rhode Island
  • 37 years
FE Alpha Manager Ratings do not constitute investment advice offered by FE and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. © 2023 FE. All rights reserved.

David Sugarman

David is an experienced convertible bond professional with over 20 years in the asset class. He joined Polar Capital in 2011 and is a Portfolio Manager on the Global Convertible and Global Absolute Return funds as well as the Head of Convertible & Credit Research. David began his career at Barclays Capital in London where he set up and ran their US convertible bond proprietary trading book. In 2007 he moved to CQS, then a US$7bn multi-asset hedge fund, to co-run their US convertible bond positions before leaving to join Polar Capital. David has also worked as an economic policy researcher for the United Nations and as an economic policy consultant for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

  • BA (magna cum laude) in Economics, Bowdoin College, MaineMA in International Economic Policy, Columbia UniversityMBA, Columbia University
  • 21 years

Uttkarsh Lal

Uttkarsh joined Polar Capital in 2016 as an experienced convertible bond professional and has now spent over 23 years managing convertibles. He started in 1999 at JP Morgan in convertible market-making and issuance before moving to BAML in 2004 to manage $2bn of proprietary capital. In 2007, he moved to Barclays as Head of US Convertible Bonds and again traded proprietary capital. After helping with the transition of the convertibles business through Barclays’ acquisition of Lehman’s capital markets departments, in 2010 he joined Deutsche Bank to expand his mandate to include investing across additional geographies and parts of the capital structure. In 2013, he partnered with Greenway Capital to formulate cross-capital structure investment processes and develop the necessary fund-related hedge fund infrastructure.

  • BSc in Computer Science, Finance and Information Systems, Boston College
  • Passed CFA Level II
  • 25 years

Jake Collins, CFA

Jake joined Polar Capital in October 2013 and is an Investment Analyst for the Global Convertible and Global Absolute Return Funds.

  • BSc (1st Class Hons) in Mathematics, University of DurhamMSc (Merit) in Finance and Investment, University of Durham
  • CFA Charterholder
  • 10 years

Michael Provvisionato

Michael joined Polar Capital as an Investment Analyst in the Convertible Bond Team in July 2022. He completed a four-month internship with the team earlier in the year, carrying out ESG and sustainability research as the Funds transitioned to be SFDR Article 8 compliant. He graduated magna cum laude in Finance from Providence College, Rhode Island, in summer 2022.

  • BSc (magna cum laude) in Finance, Providence College, Rhode Island
  • 2 years

Funds managed by the Global Convertible Team

i

Global Absolute Return Fund

Launch date31.12.2018
AUM
6Team size

Global Absolute Return Fund

The Fund's investment objective is to generate a positive absolute return over rolling 12-month periods, in all market conditions. There is no guarantee the Fund will achieve this objective over any given period.
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Global Convertible Fund

Launch date30.08.2013
AUM
6Team size

Global Convertible Fund

The Fund’s investment objective is to generate both income and long term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of securities, primarily in the global convertible market.