PiRho Investment Consulting Ltd offers bespoke investment advice to all types of institutional clients, particularly those considering absolute return, liability-driven and hedge fund solutions. We believe such approaches typically offer a better chance of meeting investment objectives than the traditional long only framework, dominated by ‘active’ mandates measured against mainstream indices. We focus on risk as much as return, and believe that skill, or alpha, needs to be measured relative to the risk taken to achieve it.
Phil Irvine and Nicola Ralston co-founded PiRho as an independent, wholly owned company in September 2008, having previously worked together within the Advisory business of Liability Solutions Limited and held senior positions with both asset management companies and investment consultancies.
PiRho has clients with a variety of strategies, including diversified growth funds, hedge funds, other absolute return mandates, matched bond portfolios, and specialist equity portfolios. PiRho offers advice on overall investment strategy, manager selection and portfolio evaluation. In the past seven years, PiRho and previously Liability Solutions Advisory consulted on assignments relating to over $8bn of assets, for a variety of pension funds, insurance companies, banks, endowments and investment companies in the UK and elsewhere. We have also given advice on potential and actual corporate finance transactions relating to firms in the hedge fund or fund of hedge fund business. PiRho specialises in providing customised solutions appropriate for each individual client assignment; we are happy to work with clients on overall strategy or specific asset classes as required. Phil and Nicola both speak regularly at conferences and are in demand as commentators on the industry.
Key Staff
Contact Nicola
Direct: +44 (0)20 7399 3341
Mobile: +44 (0)7770 496 396
Email: nicola.ralston@pirho-ic.com
Nicola Ralston
Nicola is a director of PiRho Investment Consulting which she co-founded with colleague Phil Irvine. She has over thirty years investment experience as an analyst, portfolio manager and investment consultant. She is now a director and co-founder of PiRho Investment Consulting, which specialises in absolute return and hedge fund investing. Nicola spent over 20 years at Schroders, where her roles included managing the UK institutional business and Head of Investment for the Group. She was subsequently Head of Global Investment Consulting at Hewitt, and then a director of Liability Solutions. Nicola is a Fellow of CFA UK , a former Chair of CFA UK and has been a Governor of CFA Institute since 2003. She is also a director of the Edinburgh Investment Trust, and a member of the FTSE Policy Committee. She has a first class honours degree in Modern History from Somerville College , Oxford and is an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College.
Contact Phil
Direct: +44 (0)20 7399 3340
Mobile: +44 (0)7939 013 379
Email: phil.irvine@pirho-ic.com
Phil Irvine
Phil is a director of PiRho Investment Consulting which he co-founded with colleague Nicola Ralston. Between 2003 and 2008 he was Director of Advisory Services at Liability Solutions, and he headed the consultancy business assisting institutions on absolute return strategies. Phil was previously Chief Investment Officer for TriAlpha (the offshore investment arm for South African bank, ABSA), where he had responsibility for long-only as well as hedge fund products, which he joined in 1999. Prior to TriAlpha, Phil spent 15 years at the UK Life Assurance company, Colonial Mutual, where he was CIO. In 2008 he chaired the Hedge Fund Review’s award for European Fund of Hedge Funds for the fourth year and has been a member of the panel of judges for the past six years. Phil graduated from London School of Economics with a 2:1(Hons) degree in Economics.