Asset manager GAM has absorbed Julius Baer’s alternative risk trading team en masse. The move expands GAM’s structured product capabilities and is "designed to realise the synergies between the alternatives expertise of the ART team and the hedge fund capabilities of GAM".

The team will continue to focus on high-end structured solutions, from tailor-made private placements to full public offerings to all types of clients.

Now renamed GAM Structured Investments, the team of five is headed by Yoshiki Ohmura and reports to Craig Wallis, group head of institutional and fund distribution at GAM. They are based in GAM’s Zurich office.

The appointment enables GAM to further its expertise in the creation and distribution of GAM-branded structured products using an open architecture approach including both GAM and third party sources. GAM says the team’s move is a logical one for the Julius Baer group, as GAM funds of hedge funds already accounts for some 85 per cent of the structured product team's underlying assets. The team has also co-managed GAM’s portable alpha strategies since 2006.

Bank Julius Baer will continue to act as issuer for the products and Julius Baer Private Bank will continue to be a key client of the structured products team.