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Richard Downs - Managing Director
Richard co-founded OBSR in 1999 and has over 30 years of industry experience, including 8 years with two major life offices and 12 years as an Independent Financial Adviser, Richard has been involved in research for the IFA marketing since 1994. As Managing Director of Buck Investment Consultants he assembled the team which formed the nucleus of OBSR.
Richard, together with Richard Romer-Lee and Nigel Whittingham make up the leadership team at OBSR. In addition Richard concentrates on strategic alliances and product development for the company.
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Richard Romer-Lee - Research Director
Richard is a co-founder of OBSR and has overall responsibility for investment research and consultancy services. Richard has over 20 years of industry experience and has been involved in investment manager appraisal and selection since 1994. Because of his independent viewpoint and detailed knowledge of funds, markets and trends, Richard is a well-known and respected commentator on all aspects of the Investment Industry.
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Nigel Whittingham - Development Director
Nigel joined OBSR in 2007, as executive board director. He has a broad base of experience in life companies and fund management. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge gained from setting up and running the multi manager businesses at both Insight and Edinburgh Fund Managers, where he was Sales and Marketing Director.
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Phil Lindsay - Sales & Marketing Director
Since joining OBSR in 2005, Phil has concentrated on promoting the company and expanding the client base. His working relationship with the business goes back over many years through his previous roles with product providers. Prior to joining OBSR he was head of Bank Distribution for a major provider and was also responsible for liaison with industry commentators including OBSR.
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Gill Hutchison - Investment Research Director
Gill joined OBSR in 2003. She is a senior member of the investment research and consultancy team. Gill looks after many client relationships and is also head of multi manager research. Gill previously worked for two private banking organisations as a Portfolio Manager for discretionary portfolios and has worked in investment management and research since 1992. She holds the Investment Management Certificate as well as an honours degree in French from the University of London.
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Adrian Gaspar - Client Services Director
Adrian has worked with the two founding directors, Richard Downs and Richard Romer-Lee since 1997. He has 20 years industry experience covering life office, IFA and research roles. He oversees the Client Services team and is also responsible for promoting OBSRs web based research tool ‘Selector’ which he helped design and develop.
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Amaya Assan - Senior Investment Research Analyst
Amaya is a senior member of the investment research team and heads up the life and pensions fund research. Amaya has been conducting fund manager research and selection since 2000 for a private clients' stock broker, then a fund research and portfolio management company before joining OBSR in 2002. She has a Joint Honours degree in Economics and Spanish from Kingston University.
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Cyrique Bourbon - Investment Research Analyst
Cyrique joined OBSR in 2006 and is a member of the Investment Research team. He is involved in fund manager research and the Ratings process. He is responsible for quantitative analysis and is also involved in OBSR’s consultancy work. Cyrique speaks French and German and joined directly from Reims Management School, having achieved an MSc in Management (Major Finance). During his studies he spent a year working for Russell Investment Group on an internship as a Portfolio Analyst.
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Simon Molica - Research Analyst
Simon joined OBSR in 2008 as an Investment Research Analyst. He is involved in the quantitative research of retail funds. Simon has a background in investment analysis and discretionary private clients' fund management and has gained experience whilst closely working with Investment Consultants, Fund Managers and IFAs. Simon was awarded a BSc with Honours degree in Mathematics with Management Studies from Sussex University and has the Investment Management Certificate.
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Sarah Bewley – Investment Research Analyst
Sarah joined OBSR in 2008 as an Investment Research Analyst and will primarily focus on qualitative and quantitative research in the North American region. Sarah has worked with both IFA’s and discretionary fund managers. Her previous role in the rotation program in the investment division of a major North American insurance company gave her direct fund exposure to quantitative and risk analysis and equity research. Sarah holds a degree in Business and a Masters in Economics from the University of Guelph in Canada and passed the Canadian Securities Course in 2001.
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Mike Harris – Research Associate
Mike has over 28 years of experience of fund manager appraisal and selection, in a career within financial services spanning more than 35 years. From 1979 to 1998 he worked for a major international consulting company, where he was Investment Director and Head of Retail Research. Mike retired at the end of 2007, and now works part-time for OBSR. He continues to take a keen interest in investment strategy and remains actively involved in the appraisal of fund managers and the review of investment funds.
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Anthony McDonald – Investment Research Analyst
Anthony joined OBSR in September 2008 following the purchase of Crosby Forsyth’s fund research and ratings business. He is involved in fund manager research and the Ratings process. He has also worked for ABN Amro Asset Management and in politics. Anthony holds an Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University.
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Lisa Juniper – Research Analyst
Lisa joined OBSR in 2001. She is responsible for gathering and presenting information for the investment research team to prepare for fund manager meetings as well as co-ordinating post meeting work. She has an honours degree in English from Plymouth University.
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Alex Farlow - Senior Research Analyst
Alex joined OBSR in 2005 and is a Senior Research Analyst. He has overall responsibility for the Selector database in addition to the consultancy work with IFA's and Product and Fund Research he undertakes. Alex joined the industry in 1998 and ran the research area for a prominent National IFA before joining OBSR. Alex is AFPC qualified and holds a BSc Hons degree in biochemistry.
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John Harper - Senior Research Analyst
John joined OBSR in 2004 to look after a number of panel clients. As well as looking after a number of IFA consultancy clients, John is involved in Life & Pension fund research. He is also responsible for the ongoing development of OBSRs online software, fund ratings site and IT. He joined the industry in 1998 and has experience of working within IFA businesses as well as in the development of Financial Services software. John holds a BSc Honours degree in business studies as well as being FPC qualified.
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Julie Danton - Research Analyst
Julie joined OBSR in May 2006 to work in the client services team maintaining selector and the fund ratings service. She is responsible for the OBSR Fund Ratings and OBSR Global Fund Ratings website support and helpdesk dealing with all user enquiries. Julie helps out with panel clients as well as looking after a number of accounts herself.
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