The Cadence team story
The Cadence partnership was formed in 2015 by ex-colleagues from Martin Currie. Jason Mccay (lead partner) and Richard Evans had worked there as co-managers of Asia ex-Japan equities, developing and launching the Asia Long-Term Unconstrained (ALTU) product which was the precursor to the Cadence Strategic Asia strategy. Brian Canavan was the third integral member of the original management team, responsible for the forensic financial and governance analysis which are central planks of the investment process.
Stewart Higgins was previously head of European equities at Martin Currie, and took responsibility for operations and business management for the partnership. The final founding partner was Keith Donaldson, who sadly passed away in 2020 after a long illness. Thomas Larsen joined as a partner in 2018, having previously worked on the ALTU product with the team as an analyst before spending several years covering global emerging markets. Most recently, Peter Baillie has joined us as head of operations, bringing a wealth of experience in dealing and fund administration.
Experienced individuals working together towards a single strategy.
Jason McCay, ASIP
Jason has over 32 years of industry experience and was formerly a Director and Head of Asia at Martin Currie Investment Management where he built their Asian business into its largest product group before leaving in 2013. He conceived, developed and built the Martin Currie Asia Long term Unconstrained Strategy, Martin Currie’s first long-term intrinsic value based product. After extensive development, the product went live with its first segregated client in July 2008. At the time of his departure, Jason was running US$2.3b.
Richard Evans, CFA
Richard has over 25 years of investment experience. He started his career at Gartmore Investment Management and worked on the Asian team at Martin Currie from 2004 until 2011. He was co-manager alongside Jason on the Martin Currie Asia Long Term Unconstrained Strategy and played a major part in its development over that time. Richard Evans is a CFA® charterholder.
Stewart Higgins, ASIP
Stewart has over 36 years of industry experience, almost all at Martin Currie where he was head of the European team and a Director of Martin Currie Investment Management from 1987 until 2010. Stewart has a proven investment record in UK and European equities. He is experienced in managing and building investment teams and investment processes.
Thomas Larsen, CFA
Thomas has over 13 years of investment experience. Prior to joining Cadence in 2018, he worked at Martin Currie from 2010 to 2017, where he left as a portfolio manager on the Emerging Markets team. During his time at Martin Currie, Thomas also worked with Jason McCay and Richard Evans on the Asia team. He has an MA degree in International Business from Edinburgh University. Thomas Christian Larsen is a CFA® charterholder.
Brian Canavan, FCA
Brian has over 27 years of investment experience. He was Director of Global Accounting Research at Deutsche Bank where he worked from 1996 to 2005. Latterly he was Director of Accounting Research with the Asia-ex Japan team at Martin Currie from 2007 to 2014 and played a significant role in helping build the Asia Long Term Unconstrained Strategy. Brian qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse Coopers in 1993.
Pete Baillie, Head of Operations
Joining in 2021, Pete brings over 23 years of investment operations experience to Cadence. Prior to Cadence, Pete spent his investment career at Martin Currie where he was a Multi Asset Trader between 1999 and 2019. Pete also carried particular responsibility for Client Transition activities, Valuation and Cashflows, Counterparty Risk and Front Office Systems. He was instrumental in developing Martin Currie’s electronic and algorithmic trading capabilities.
